Where did Three Trees Institute go and why is the link taking me here?
Three Trees Institute and Three Trees Lifestyle started out in 2018, founded by me and Michael Blasi. It formed organically with many local holistic health practitioners. We began offering services to the public.
For Michael and me, Three Trees began as a dream to incorporate our authentic paths with our means to a livelihood...a life immersed in and amongst holistic wellness communities. Michael had been in police work for twenty-eight years, but in the last few had begun craving a different sort of life. He wanted to heal from on the job trauma, as well as help other officers heal.
I was raised in Indonesia in a spirit based community, and craved a life here in the USA that felt more alive. I had been in business for almost two decades, and was not giving myself the time or intention to manage my wellbeing, often getting obsessed with work, followed by periods of burnout. I had grown up struggling with attention related issues, likely triggered by early childhood trauma from losing my mother at a young age. I had a lot of related healing to attend to as well.
The inception of Three Trees Enterprises was deeply rooted in spirituality, leading us to select a name that embodied the concept of the Trinity. Our enterprise operated from the premises of a local non-denominational spiritual organization in Marin County, California. Here, we curated an array of wellness events, along with dance and yoga classes, catering to the diverse needs of our community. We were incredibly fortunate to have the opportunity to coordinate and host a multitude of remarkable events and classes.
A Turn of Events
However, as often is true on spiritual paths, our lives took a humbling turn when Michael, my partner in life, love and business, was accused of committing a racist act. The irony was that we have been part of the mission to spread peaceful co-existence among community members from the get go, so why this was happening to us, we felt was yet another "sign from the universe" that we have our work cut out for us. Michael was already in the process of, with me through Three Trees Enterprises, formulating a program to help Veterans and First Responders. We were starting with Police, to help them learn to "respond" versus "react".
Another issue that goes part and parcel to DEI issues, is the experience of just how wrong things can go when one is caught on the wrong side of a political issue. We now have an intimate, life-changing experience of being in this position, which from a positive perspective one could say gives us more context and understanding.
The Accusation
Michael was accused of "reacting" in the Tiburon case where a well-known movie star's adopted son YEMA refused to obey the law by simply showing Michael his ID. Michael raised his voice after much taunting, because he was frustrated, and from there everything spiraled down. Michael and even the chief of the Tiburon police department lost their jobs for political reasons.
But that didn't stop Yema. After Michael's case went through an extensive investigation, Michael was exonerated by the city for any wrongdoing, Yema went on to sue the city for 2 million US dollars, but received $150,000.
So where to go from here?
Our business then received a negative rating from a member of the black lives matter movement, and left commentary about Three Trees being owned by a "police officer who harasses members of the community". Because we've been unsuccessful thus far in obtaining Facebook's attention on this matter in order to remove the comment, and because we have to move on, we have decided to put it the business on hold.
We have other plans in the works, and Michael has written a book about his experiences, which we will be publishing.
I am now working on a psychology degree, and will specialize in organizational psychology and DEI - Diversity Equity and Inclusion. I have a passion to tell the full story from the perspective of both sides, and I hope to bring some light to some issues in the community which I feel are the root cause of many DEI issues.
Stay in touch by subscribing to my blog. I'll post updates here.
In the meantime, thanks for your interest and for reading this. If you have any questions about anything feel free to reach out to me and I'll do my best to answer them.
All the best, Alicia