DIGGING FOR THE DEEPER RESPONSE
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In the March-April issue of Spirituality and Health, Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul (and also author of the foreword to my book, The World Is a Waiting Lover), discusses what he calls the "mega-soul," that part of each of us that is mystical, intuitive, occasionally given to "absurd ideas and outrageous fantasies," and authentic.
One obstacle to developing the mega-soul is what Moore calls "small-idea syndrome," the tendency to use popular phrases and terminology just because they're convenient. For example, we may urge people to "stay in the moment" when, as Moore points out, "maybe it's better sometimes to drift out of the moment and reconnect with the past or future." Another one I myself hear a lot when I'm running into obstacles in some project, is "Maybe the universe is telling you that this isn't a good time." My response: maybe the universe is telling me I haven't figured out the right approach yet!
We mean well, and because we want to make those we care about feel better, we reach for a quick answer, assuming that because it's easily available it's probably true.
How do we access responses that are more authentic? One possibility is simply to acknowledge that you don't know what to say. When my brother died last year, I was deeply touched by every single one of the messages of sympathy and condolence I received--including ones by people who simply said, "I can't imagine what you must be going through."
To get in the habit of responding in ways that are truer than they are prompt, you can also remind yourself before you speak or write that, simmering within you, there is always a trove of knowledge and experience lying deeper than what's on the surface. Taking a moment to sink down into what you really want to communicate instead of saying what's convenient allows your deeper wisdom to percolate to the top.
Finally, try for one day only (you can always renew it) to make everything you say authentic and original. Make a game of it. If, in conversation with a friend, you tend to be unquestioningly supportive, try asking some searching questions instead. If you're normally argumentative in a discussion about world affairs, try calling on your intuition for a change.
The big ideas of your mega-soul are pushing to emerge!
Painting above, "Digging for Treasure," is by William Armstrong.
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FRACKING QUILTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Virginia "Gina" Kellogg, a life coach and founding partner of Leadership That Works of Troy, Pennsylvania, began quilting in 2006, as a way of expressing her deep grief after her brother died. Since then she has created dozens of what she calls "journal quilts," works in fabric that are creative responses to emotional states. Now she is sharing what she has learned with others.
Gina formed her "Fracking Quilts" workshops in response to the massive gas drilling that has invaded northeastern Pennsylvania. Fracking is short for hydrofracking, a technique that entails blasting a mixture of sand, water, and chemicals deep into the Earth to release natural gas. The industry has invaded this quiet, rural area with noise, light pollution, contaminated water wells, exploding gas wells, and leaks in pipelines. It has also caused physical, psychological, and social damage to individuals, families, and communities. Gina decided to offer women an outlet for their feelings through the process of making a quilt.
Last month I attended one of her Fracking Quilt events. We began on Friday night by choosing a square of fabric from one of the antique quilts that Gina collects. We used that piece as the seed for the rest of the quilt. In the quilt pictured above, the seed pieces are the jagged green shapes that represent the fracking penetrating the land.
Gina has an enormous collection of fabrics that we could choose from to build our quilts. As we worked, she was there to answer questions and provide guidance, but as she frequently stressed, the point was not to make a "good" quilt, but to express our deep feelings . When we got stuck, she urged us to pick a fabric we "hated or would never consider using." An essential part of the process was to "frack" our quilts themselves--cut them up--after we had gotten the design just the way we wanted it. Although most of us felt some reluctance to do so, slicing through the design helped us to realize that we did not have to hold on to what we were attached to.
The quilt I made is above. It's called, "They are Piercing the Earth and All, All, All Is Falling into the Cracks." The yellow and orange bands represent the hilly landscape in this part of the state and the towns and farms nestled among it. The fracking is cutting deep into the Earth, and the villages are collapsing. The large striped "crack" that runs from top to bottom symbolizes the extent of the fracking, which fractures not only the Earth but families and communities as well. The circular part on the lower right is still a bit of a mystery. It seems to token life and growth and wholeness, even at the depths, when everything around you seems to be irreparably broken.
All of us felt transformed by this remarkable event. We were able to express feelings about the gas drilling that we had been unable to articulate in any other way. Sharing our stories about both our experiences with the gas drilling and, as we moved through the process, the design of our quilts, made each of us feel less alone. And by transforming fear, grief, and anger into a creative act, we became empowered and ceased to be victims of an overpowering force.
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RADICAL JOY FOR HARD TIMES NEWS
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Why Sarajevo?
For the Global Earth Exchange on June 23, people will be going to places all over the Earth that have been damaged by human and natural acts. Wendy Steele, of Belfast, Northern Ireland, will be hosting an Earth Exchange in Pigeon Square, Sarajevo. Here Wendy writes about what drew her to this particular wounded place.
In June I fly to the city of Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where I will work in a clinic with other therapists . We will be giving treatments to survivors of the Bosnian conflict.
The Siege of Sarajevo, in the 90s, was the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. It lasted nearly four years with 10,000 killed or missing including over 1,500 children. An additional 56,000, roughly a quarter of the population, were wounded.
The treatments we will provide are for those suffering Post Traumatic Stress, the after-effects of warfare, rape and disaster, the Forgotten Ones.
A few years ago, I participated in a vision quest in Ireland. It opened my heart and consciousness to the Living Earth beneath my feet and the memories she holds. Living in Northern Ireland and working as a craniosacral therapist in Belfast, I am conscious of trauma held as compression and pain in my clients as well as in my own cells and the healings that release can offer.
Realising the date of Earth Exchange coincided with my time in Sarajevo, I thought: Why not bring my attention and compassion? Post an Event.
I will be there. Pigeon Square seemed an obvious choice as a well-known landmark in the Old City. As well as the people, the offspring of pigeons surviving the conflict will be there. I owe those birds a few bags of grain!
If you are around, let's meet and make laughter in an Act of Beauty in Pigeon Square and leave some joyful memories.
Tell us why you are compelled to bring beauty and attention in particular wounded place. Write about where you'll be for the Global Earth Exchange and I'll print it here next month.
2012 Global Earth Exchange
It's easy to sign up for the Global Earth Exchange on our interactive website page, the Earth Exchange Network. Your event will automatically be posted and you'll get a "pin" in our world map. You can always change the details later if you need to.
Global Earth Exchanges are planned so far at Los Alamos National Laboratory, along beaches all over the world in honor of dolphins, at a temple in Bali built where a trash dump used to be, and many other places. See our website to read more.
Join the world in making beauty for the Earth!
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RECENT NOTEWORTHY BOOKS, FILMS, IDEAS and EVENTS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Book: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. The chapter in the middle about an evening in the life of a family in the mid-sixties is stunning in the way it captures the deep inner reality of two preoccupied adults and two young boys.
Film: Pina by Wim Wenders. Not enough of a narrative arc for my taste, but the dancing, especially that by Pina Bausch herself, is extraordinary.
Idea: Washed Ashore, an organization devoted to raising awareness of beach litter and plastic pollution by making sculpture out of trash. (Founder Angela Haseltine Pozzi is pictured here with one of her sculptures.)
Event: The annual meeting of the Wilderness Guides Council two weeks ago, in which, through discussion, contemplative time on the land, council, and ceremony, we solved an organizational crisis and created exciting, collaborative new ways of moving forward. It made all of us believe anew in the power of people to make change with compassion.
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WRITING AND WORKSHOP NEWS~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My book, The World Is a Waiting Lover, with a foreword by Thomas Moore, author of Care of the Soul, is available from Amazon.com or from your favorite bookstore. It's also available as an e-book!
UPCOMING PROGRAMS from VISION ARROW
 Der Weg der/des Geliebten
Der Weg der/des Geliebten ist ein Herangehen, das Dich ermutigt, lockt und Dich auf etwas ausrichtet, das Dich bereits aus Deiner Tiefe ruft. Während dieses Wochenendes arbeiten wir mit inneren Bildern, der Herstellung von Lebenslandkarten, Dialogen mit Partnern und der inneren Stimme, Storytelling, einer Wanderung in der Natur und vielem mehr.
April 27-29
Eschwege Institut
Eschwege, Germany
For German-speakers.
3rd Annual Global Earth Exchange
June 23
Worldwide
Sponsored by Radical Joy for Hard Times
Join people all over the world as they go to wounded places to find and make beauty, pioneering a path of Earth activism that reconnects people and the places they love and affirms that all places, no matter what has happened to them, are part of the circle of life and worthy of honor and care.
 Endless Mountains Vision Quest
June 27-July 1
Northeastern Pennsylvania
This four-day program, held in a secluded 400-acre nature preserve, is specially designed for those who seek a meaningful rite of passage in a beautiful, yet accessible place. You explore many of the same processes and practices as in the longer vision quest, but with a focus on reading Nature's lessons and discovering how they apply to your own life. For the twenty-four-hour solo you may choose from among diverse ecological niches: glacial pond, meadow, beaver habitat, clear stream, and indigenous forest. Minimal backpacking.
Guide: Trebbe Johnson
Cost: $605, plus $75-$125 for one night's lodging in a local bed & breakfast
Youth Vision Fast
(recommended for people ages 17-23)
July 14-24
In the high desert of eastern California
Sponsored by the School of Lost Borders
To recognize and mark the moment when a young person turns toward adulthood takes great courage, especially in a culture that has all but forgotten the importance of honoring this transition. With the intention of finding and facing your deepest truths, your strengths and weaknesses, you then turn toward the critical questions: "Who am I to be in the world?" and "What are my gifts?" This opportunity is both a great challenge and a simple task, providing the possibility of returning home with a timeless memory in your bones and a profound connection to the Earth, ready to embark on the life-long quest of finding and making your place in the world.
Guides: Will Scott and Trebbe Johnson
Tuition: $700-$1,100 (sliding scale)
Lead Like a River was chosen by the Times of London as one of the "20 Retreats That Will Change Your Life"!
Lead Like a River
August 4-11
Atlas Mountains, Morocco
Being clear on who you are and what you stand for, defining your vision and inspiring others to act are all key competencies of your leadership. Mastering this is a lifelong journey, and this program in the Atlas mountains provides the ideal opportunity to reflect on your path, gain strength through connecting with nature, and listen to what is important and meaningful to you.
We stay at the beautiful Kasbah du Toubkal, just one hour from the Marrakech airport. This hidden Shangri-la is pearched on rocks with stunning views of remote valleys and the summit of Mount Toubkal, the highest mountain in North Africa. We will spend five nights in the Kasbah and one night in a mountain lodge that we will trek to. You will have a dawn-to-dusk solo in a wilderness place of your choosing, where you will reflect on both the landscape around you and the landscape within as you mark your passage to a new height of personal leadership.
Program is limited to ten participants.
For information, contact Will Jackson.
Guides: Eugene Hughes and Trebbe Johnson
Cost: €3,300 / $4,250 (includes all meals and lodging and transportation to Kasbah du Toubkal Lodge; does not include airfare)
Fifth Annual Bali from Within
August 23-September 4
Bali, Indonesia
Only 2 places left!
Bali from Within is a journey into the heart of one of the most beautiful places in the world, geographically, culturally, and artistically. In this trip, which is limited to only 6 participants, we work with Balinese guides who, over the years, have become dear friends. Together you will explore Bali in ways that tourists cannot do:- visit the sacred spring Tirta Empul and receive a blessing there, hike through beautiful, lush forests to visit a great waterfall, a gigantic and historic banyan tree, and maybe drop in at the home of gamelan orchestra leader, Made Trip
- join in the gala celebrations of Galungan, when the Balinese welcome the spirits of the ancestors back to the villages
- take a village walk and learn about sacred architecture and its role in everyday life
- enjoy a day at Bali Botanica, a spa by a riverside in Ubud
- hike through rice paddies and forests where native trees mix with cultivated plan and share reflections and responses each night in a Council with our own small group
Guides: Trebbe Johnson, Rucina Ballinger, A. Agung Detra Rangki, and Nyoman Sutarya
Cost: $3,900. For a complete itinerary, see Bali from Within on the Vision Arrow website.
 2-Week Sahara Desert Vision Quest and Camel Caravan December 29, 2012-January 12, 2013 Southern Algeria Sponsored by Foundation Iferouane Following the steps of intrepid seekers throughout the ages who have been drawn to the desert to fast and pray for guidance, we venture into the greatest desert of all: the Sahara. Our guides are a group of nomadic Tuareg, a matriarchal people known for their love of the desert, poetry, camels, and beauty.
Our base camp is truly remote, reached after 1-2 days travel by Land Rover, followed by 4-5 days in a camel caravan. Your three-day solo will take place in a place of your choosing, in a desert valley or in a black basalt wilderness. To undertake this quest, you must have an adventurous spirit and be prepared to sleep under the stars, immerse yourself in the ways of another culture, experience hot days and cold nights, live three weeks without a shower, and move fearlessly into a life of meaning and fulfillment.
Guides : Sabina Wyss, Trebbe Johnson, Adem Mellakh, and Tuareg hosts
Cost : 4,444 Swiss Francs, (approximately $4,900.00 as of 2/28/12), including all meals, camping fees, riding camel, land transportation in the desert, and air travel from a European city to Tamanrasset, Algeria
For more information about Vision Arrow programs, see our website.
Call 570 727 4272 or email Trebbe if you have questions or would like to talk about any of these programs. |
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