Orangutan Dad
Conservationist. Storyteller. Sign-language pioneer with orangutans. Sharing 50 years of wild insights from Borneo and beyond. Author of "Out of the Cage: My Half Century Journey from Curiosity to Concern for Indonesia's 'Persons of the Forest'"
Sunday, July 13, 2025
The Fruit of My Heart: A Durian Tree, a Memory, a Legacy
Saturday, July 12, 2025
The Flow of Love: Expressions of Life’s Deepest Meaning
What if the meaning of life is simply this—love?
Not the love shaped by romance novels or fleeting emotions, but the profound, abiding presence that flows through all of creation. Love, in this context, is not something we possess or chase. It is the essence from which we arise and the current that carries us forward. When we say "life is love," we are pointing to something deeper than sentiment—a foundational energy, a universal intelligence that animates our existence.
Love as the Ground of Being
Many wisdom traditions point to love as the source and purpose of life. In Christianity, "God is love" (1 John 4:8). In Sufism, divine love is the driving force behind the soul’s journey toward union. Buddhist compassion (karuṇā) is a form of love rooted in awareness of suffering and the wish to alleviate it. Even secular thinkers, such as Erich Fromm, have emphasized love as the highest form of maturity—a practice, an art, and an orientation toward others and the world.
In this view, we are not separate agents trying to find love. Rather, we are channels through which love expresses itself. And when we surrender to that current, we enter what psychologists call a flow state.
The Flow State of Love
The “flow state” is often described as the psychological condition where one becomes fully immersed in an activity—with energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment. But what if flow is more than just productivity? What if it is love in motion?
When a dancer loses themselves in movement, or an artist becomes one with the brush, or a parent gazes into the eyes of a newborn with complete presence—these are not just moments of peak experience. They are manifestations of love expressing itself through us. Not for accolades, not for outcome—but as a pure outpouring of being.
A Moment in Banda Aceh
I felt this flow of love with unmistakable clarity during the 2025 Orangutan Caring Scholarship (OCS) ceremonies in Banda Aceh. As I looked out at the faces of the students, officials, and families—many beaming with pride, some with tears welling in their eyes—I was overcome with the quiet power of shared purpose. These young men and women, recipients of the scholarship, were not merely names on a list or statistics in a report. They were the future of conservation. They were love in action.
One student approached me after the ceremony and said, “You changed my life.” But in that moment, I knew the truth ran deeper: we were changing each other. Their hope, their resilience, their commitment to protect orangutans and their forest homes—this was love taking shape in the world. It moved through their words, their gratitude, and the generations of care they would carry forward.
In that conference hall in Banda Aceh, under banners and lights and the weight of decades of work, I felt more than pride. I felt alignment. A deep stillness wrapped in joy. The love I had poured into the program for years was returning, not as a reward, but as a living wave of connection. It was the flow of life acknowledging itself.
Manifestations of Love in Action
If life is love, then everything we do—when done with awareness, compassion, and authenticity—is an expression of that truth. Some examples:
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Teaching with patience: A teacher who nurtures curiosity in their students is transmitting love as learning.
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Crafting with care: The artisan who pours attention into detail is shaping love into form.
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Listening deeply: When we offer someone our undivided presence, we practice love as spaciousness.
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Protesting injustice: Even righteous anger, when rooted in care for others, can be love demanding dignity and fairness.
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Forgiving with grace: Releasing resentment is love choosing peace over pride.
Even the quiet moments—the tending of a garden, the preparation of a meal, or a simple breath taken in stillness—can be offerings of love when we are attuned to the present.
Living from the Current
To live in alignment with the meaning of life as love is not to be naïve or perpetually cheerful. It is to recognize that beneath the chaos, confusion, and clamor of the world, there is a still stream flowing. And when we step into it—through mindfulness, compassion, creativity, or service—we remember what we are made of.
It is also a call to discernment. Not all actions are love in disguise. Some are fear, control, or ego cloaked in noble language. The challenge is to constantly inquire: Is this coming from love or from fear?
Love Is the Practice
If love is the meaning of life, then our task is not to define it—but to embody it.
This may look different for each of us. For some, it’s teaching children. For others, it’s building bridges between cultures, healing wounds, protecting nature, or telling stories that awaken hearts. When aligned with love, these actions are not just tasks; they are sacred expressions of purpose.
And in this sense, the meaning of life is not a puzzle to be solved. It is a dance to be joined. A melody to be played. A current to be followed.
So let us ask ourselves each day:
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Where is love asking to flow through me now?
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What can I do today that opens the channel just a little wider?
When we live the answer, the meaning is no longer elusive. It pulses through our hands, our breath, our gaze.
It becomes us.
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Doing and Being: The Mirror and the Mystery
“I’m a conservationist.”“I’m a mother.”“I’m a CEO.”“I’m a 25-year-old white woman from Nebraska.”
Sunday, July 6, 2025
Celebrating 20 Years of the Orangutan Caring Scholarship: A Journey of Hope and Commitment
Saturday, July 5, 2025
Beyond Signs and Sounds: Could Brain-to-Brain Tech Bridge the Gap Between Humans and Apes?
- Emotional resonance: Orangutans are contemplative, gentle beings who experience joy, sadness, curiosity, and even grief. A brain-to-brain link might allow us to directly feel their emotional states, and vice versa—a true empathy machine.
- Shared spatial awareness: Orangutans navigate their complex canopy world with a 3D mental map of fruit trees, vines, and dangers. What if we could glimpse their world as they experience it, understanding their decisions in real time?
- Conceptual thought exchange: Apes already demonstrate planning, deception, and problem-solving. A direct neural interface could allow us to co-create solutions to tasks, understanding not just what they do—but why they do it.
- Cross-species learning: Could a young orangutan, linked briefly to a human brain, gain insights into tool use or survival skills faster than with traditional training? Could we, in turn, learn better how to live in harmony with nature?
Thursday, July 3, 2025
In Praise of Inefficiency: How Nature’s “Flaws” Gave Rise to Sentience
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
Meeting Sandra: Completing a Decade-Long Journey
The last weekend of June 2025 brought me to Florida, where I came not only for a mini-fundraiser in support of orangutan conservation, but also for a profoundly personal reason: to finally meet Sandra, the orangutan whose story helped change the way we think about great apes and personhood.
One decade ago, I found myself virtually in a Buenos Aires courtroom on Skype, speaking on Sandra’s behalf. Then confined to the Buenos Aires Zoo, Sandra was already remarkable—not only for her quiet dignity, but for the legal challenge her existence inspired. That case asked a question the world was only beginning to grapple with: Could a nonhuman great ape be recognized as a person under the law? Could someone like Sandra, with intelligence, emotion, and an inner world, have a right to freedom and dignity?
The ruling that followed was historic. The court recognized Sandra as a legal person—the first nonhuman great ape to receive such status. Yet even as this decision echoed around the world, her transfer to a better life took time. Years passed before Sandra was finally moved from that aging urban zoo to the Center for Great Apes in Wauchula, Florida—a sanctuary that could offer her the peace and care she deserved. I had followed every step of her journey, but until now, I had not stood face to face with the being whose story I have shared in so many talks and writings.
On the cloudy day following the fundraiser, with rain threatening, our small group arrived at the Center. We were greeted by Patti Ragan, the Center’s founder and my friend and colleague of many decades, who made this encounter possible. After touring the sanctuary and meeting the many great apes—some well-known (like Bubbles, Michael Jackson's former chimpanzee pet), others quietly living out their days—we finally reached Sandra’s enclosure.
And there she was: Sandra, declared a person by Argentinian law, nonhuman yet undeniably an individual in her own right. She sat in the corner of her spacious enclosure next to a large outdoor fan, cooling herself with a blue plastic tub perched playfully over her head. Nearby, her companion Jethro rested in the cooler shade of the night house.
I approached, and Sandra’s dark eyes met mine. In that instant, the years and miles seemed to fall away. I felt the connection I had imagined so often—a connection born of advocacy, hope, and shared history. Perhaps Sandra felt it too, though surely for her own reasons. She didn’t smile, but there was a calm in her gaze, a quiet contentment as she enjoyed the sanctuary’s peace, surrounded by enrichment items and fresh browse that engaged her inquisitive mind.
As she held my gaze, I peered into her eyes and felt the weight of that legal milestone, the hard-won path that led here, and the privilege of finally meeting this extraordinary individual. Completing the circle of Sandra’s story, for me - the Orangutan Dad, meant not just helping begin her legal journey, but standing before her at last and bearing witness to the sanctuary life she so rightly earned.