Hey friends, it's been a while. Like many of you, we've been navigating a lot on the environmental and overall news front lately, so today I'm doing something a little different.

I think back to those early days kayaking with friends here in Florida, searching rivers for trash. Some days we'd arrive and the water was pristine. We almost felt bad, like we had nothing to do. My mentor smiled and said, "just enjoy it,  sometimes we need to remember why we do what we do."

That's what this episode is. No interviews, no talking. Just the sounds of the living world.

This nocturnal soundscape was recorded deep inside Kichwa tribal territory in the Ecuadorian Amazon by artist Rafael Diogo. Bats cutting through the dark, insects surging into something almost electric, a monkey rustling unseen branches, a distant howl, and underneath it all a stream threading through the night.

A beautiful reminder of what we're working for.

Big thank you to Rafael and our friends at Earth.fm — a nonprofit repository of over 1,200 pure, immersive natural soundscapes from around the world, recorded by the best artists. Based on empirical evidence as well as numerousrecent studies from all over the world, listening to natural soundscapes has a great positive impact on our wellbeing, and potentially on our respect for nature. However, these soundscapes are increasingly scarce as we humans continue to destroy the natural ecosystems which produce them. That's where Earth.fm comes in: as well as sharing a new natural soundscape every day, they're actively helping the community go out in nature more often and discover a deeper, more direct connection with the wonders around us. Visit www.earth.fm and download their app on Android or Apple devices.

Stay tuned! exciting interviews are lined up. And if you have questions or just want to say hello, it genuinely means a lot to hear from you. (send me some good vibes!)

Find me on Instagram @frankoscarweaver or email connect@indigenousearth.org

aguye!