The Man Who Stayed Silent for 17 Years & Became a World Renown Environmentalist

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THIS ISSUE

1. The amazing story of Dr. John Francis: 17 years of silence, 22 years of walking.

2. Four lessons we can apply to make our lives better NOW.

3. A curation of four other articles to dive deeper into the power of silence.

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FEATURE STORY

“Thank you for being here.” Dr. John Francis begins every talk with these 5 words.

Why?

Those were the exact 5 words he used when he spoke for the first time after 17 years of being silent.

He was in Washington D.C. on April 22nd, 1990, the 20th Anniversary of Earth Day addressing the audience on the Exxon Valdez oil spill that happened the previous year.

When he started to speak, he startled himself as he hasn’t heard his own voice for so long! He thought it was someone else who was putting his thoughts into sounds.

His mum yelled out “Hallelujah! Johnny can talk!”

(What would your mum say if you didn’t speak for 17 years and one day decided you WERE going to? My mum would have disowned me way before that 😂)

What I found particularly extraordinary about John’s story is how his entire saga of:

• being on foot for 22 years

• staying silent for 17 years

• earning his PhD in environmentalism

• becoming an ambassador for the United Nations

• writing oil spill regulations for the United States Coast Guard

It all began with a simple action that was triggered by a sense of loss.

When two Standard Oil Company tankers collided in San Francisco Bay, spilling more than 800,000 gallons of oil into the water in 1971, the wildlife around the area was decimated, it made such an impression on John, that he decided to say goodbye to cars and any motorized vehicles.

He walked.

And as a passionate young man, John began to have arguments with people about the environment.

After many heated arguments, he decided that on his 27th birthday (just like the Hobbits would) he was going to give people a gift - to stop talking.

At first for only a day, then a vow to be silent for a year, then 17 straight years.

His travels led him across the country, hearing stories, attending school and being dubbed the “Planet walker.”

How did he communicate? Simple sign language, writing and a newspaper clipping explaining what he was up to.

Today, he is still walking, although not exclusively doing that anymore. He is a visiting associate professor at the Gaylord Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, at University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also the first education fellow at the National Geographic Society where he has published two books, Planetwalker: 17 Years of Silence, 22 Years of Walking, and The Ragged Edge of Silence: Finding Peace in a Noisy World.

(Watch Dr. Francis on the TED stage in 2008 with 220K views and the recent trailer for the documentary, Planetwalker)

Here are 5 lessons from the journey of Dr. John Francis, the Planetwalker:

1/ Start walking: the path appears as you walk it

Dr. Francis ended his TED Talk urging people to start now, act now, change now.

You’ll never know how the journey transpires and the difference you can make if you never start. He would have never made ANY difference if he never took that first step.

2/ Reflect and rediscover through silence

During the first month of Dr. Francis being quiet, he was just hearing himself in conversations, then it truly became quiet. That’s when he started to rediscover who he truly was.

I don’t think we need to take a vow of silence for a month, but what about a daily habit of silence?

3/ Create space for discussions by saying less

During his time at the University of Wisconsin, getting a PhD., he had to teach… but he didn’t speak. What he found was that by doing simple sign language, it actually spurred more discussion because his students were trying to figure out what he was trying to communicate, all through thoughtful hypothesis and lively discussions.

4/ Making a commitment is powerful

When I first read about this, I was blown away. Telling the school he was going to enroll and it would take him 2 years to get there. And to get from Washington to Montana, he had to build a wooden boat, sail across the Puget Sound and walk for 24 months to get to school.

5/ Escape the cage we have built for ourselves

Dr. Francis was silent for 17 years and was on foot for 22. Even though it was so difficult and uncomfortable at the beginning, it became his identity and it became his cage. He acknowledged that if he wanted to impact more people and the environment, which consisted of living, breathing, speaking people, he would have to change. He would have to start speaking and he would have to travel faster.

What cage have YOU built for yourself?

LEGENDARY CURATIONS

🔗 4 pieces across the interwebs about the power of silence:

1. I posted on LinkedIn the 6 ways the power of silence can change your life.

2. Learn about the science of silence and why’s it’s essential for mindfulness.

3. Another science based article, this one talks about how it can enrich our creativity.

4. This is a Harvard Business Review article that gives us a 60 min routine to master our “sphere of silence”.

ONE ACTION

I’m going to start a habit for being silent in the morning. I’m typically up at ~4.30am and I’ve been wanting to get back into meditating. This story of Dr. Francis is a much needed kick in the butt. I’m going to start with 10 min of silence, just mindful breathing every morning. How about you?

Make your mark, live your legend 🤘🏽,

Howie Chan

Creator of Legend Letters

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QUOTE OF THE WEEK

SOURCES

1. John Francis: Walk the earth…my 17-year vow of silence, TED, YouTube, 2008 - LINK

2. The Planet Walker, Florida Wildlife Corridor Foundation, YouTube, 2023 - LINK

3. Cook, Isabella, ‘Planetwalker’: one step at a time, Pacific Sun, July 30, 2024 - LINK

4. David, Heather, John Francis, the Planetwalker: A champion of the environment, NWF Blog, February 21, 2019 - LINK

5. Fidgen, Jo, Why I Stopped Talking for 17 Years, BBC, JUly 7, 2022 - LINK

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