WHO COPES HOW? PESSIMIST vs. OPTIMIST
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Learning that both my friend and my husband view me as a pessimist (see Introduction above), was a revelation. My first instinct was that I needed to change my ways, start developing a cheerier outlook on life. Then I realized that my deep-seated conviction that things are probably not going to work out has actually had a positive effect. Instead of making me give up, this attitude has always, for as long as I can remember, pushed me to dive in head-first with whatever I want to do and refuse to give up on it. I also really revel in the fun and beautiful and enchanting whenever it occurs.
So I sort of wish I were more of an optimist. But not entirely.
You might assume that pessimists lead a more stressful life than optimists. However, according to an article in Psychology Today, that's both true and not so true. Optimists do tend to experience less stress on a daily basis, either because they are better able to cope or because they can look past current problems and assume a favorable outcome. However, in times of serious problems, it seems that optimists "have a lower immune response" than pessimists.
Perhaps we could all benefit from the perspective offered by former UN Ambassador Jonathan Moore: "We need to be pessimistic enough to recognize... unprecedented realities for what they are, not deny or hide them; becoming sufficiently aroused to embrace the commitments necessary to mobilize the great reservoir of optimistic energy with which we might prevail. This comes close to being pessimistic in thought and optimistic in action."
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ONE WOMAN CHALLENGES THE GAS INDUSTRY--AND WINS ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My friend Silvia Figel was horrified when she discovered that the gas industry was preparing to start hydrofracking around Hohenfels in southern Germany, where she lives. Silvia had visited my husband and me in northeastern Pennsylvania several years ago, and to her it was "paradise." When I told her that the land all around was being penetrated and poisoned by fracking, she was determined that such a fate would not befall her own homeland. This is her story:
It took 15 months from first learning that our beautiful Bodensee region was threatened by the fracking industry until my community officially declared "NO! We do not want this to happen here."
At the beginning, most officials of our community and especially our ex-mayor considered me hysterical. They accused me of producing panic. Then because I would not stop my actions I was looked at as an enemy.
Finally, now I am a winner! And this is because I just did not give up against all ignorance, arrogance, obstacles and malicious attacks. (For example, my first two presentations had to take place in our neighboring community, because I was not welcomed at the Hohenfels Guesthouses and Community Centres.) Luckily, we have a new mayor since April 1st, who is supporting me and welcoming my ideas and inputs.
On May 24, I will educate students (13 years of age) at the renowned Salem College about fracking. For one week they are studying projects about energy, i.e. energy saving, different technologies of heating, and the respective resources needed. I am taking over a share of the gas part. If the students like my information, I will offer it to other schools as well.
I am very grateful that other communities around Hohenfels took my information seriously from the beginning and are also saying NO to fracking. Hopefully--and I will do my very best--all communities located in the claims areas will follow. I am organizing a tour for an expert. My experience is people, especially men, do hesitate and have kind of a problem with me as a female presenter of a male theme. However, until now all men who attended appreciated the way I was presenting. So in a way it's also about letting go of prejudices. Evolution is evolving where it needs to be in order to protect our Earth Mother. For that it needs us women to stand up against more ignorance and destruction and to safeguard nature and our foundations of life.
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RADICAL JOY FOR HARD TIMES NEWS:
JUST 23 DAYS TILL THE 2012 GLOBAL EARTH EXCHANGE!
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There are just three weeks left till the 2012 Global Earth Exchange!
Here's a checklist to help you get ready:
1. Pick your spot (if you need a suggestion, contact us).
2. Let your friends know about your event (to download a flyer to publicize your Earth Exchange, click here). (See yellow box on right side.)
3. Go to your place in advance and take a picture. Post it on your Facebook page.
4. Join our webinar on June 9 at 2:00 PM and meet Global Earth Exchange hosts from around the world. It's free! Email Trebbe for details.
4. Tell us in one sentence or a 30-second video why you're going to this place. Send it to us and we'll feature it on our website home page and our Facebook page.
5. Do you know that we have a special package for families and teachers working with children?
6. Share about your place and your event on Facebook and/or Google+.
7. Tweet about it. Be sure to use the hashtag #GEx2012.
8. Do you know anyone in another state... or in another country... who loves the Earth and might want to do a Global Earth Exchange at a wounded place near them? Will you ask them?
9. If you sign up for the Global Earth Exchange on our website, you'll receive a free organic, made-in-the-USA t-shirt. So if you haven't signed up yet, this is a good time to do so!
10. Did know you can make a donation to Radical Joy for Hard Times on the internet?
No matter how you do your Global Earth Exchange, or who attends, when you give beauty to the Earth on June 23, you become part of a worldwide community of people who affirm their love and connection with the all places in their lives. We need your help to make it happen!
Read Recent Articles about RadJoy:
"Learning to Love a Wounded World" by Dianne Monroe
"Making Beauty for Wounded Places" on the website of the Foundation for Alternative and Integrative Medicine (FAIM).
Watch our Videos:
 | | 2012 Global Earth Exchange Invitation |
 | | What Is An Earth Exchange? |
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 | | 10 Ways You Can't Do It Wrong |
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WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A HERO/INE? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The concept of the "hero" has become very popular, especially since September 11. Every cop is a hero now, every firefighter, every person in the military, everyone who muddles through a terrible illness. What is a heroine or hero, really?
How often has it happened that someone falls on the street, someone gets hit, and many, perhaps most of us, who witness the act hold back? What is the fear of reaching out? That we'll do it wrong and be judged badly for a good act? That we'll be pulled inextricably into the other's mystery, catch it like a disease or at the very least get tainted with dirt or blood or just plain rotten luck?
According to an article in Washington Post Weekly (sadly now defunct) shortly after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, it wasn't only the flood waters that inundated coastal communities and delayed decent assistance, but fear. It turns out many people ceased to act promptly because they felt they needed to ask permission first. There was a reluctance to take action lest someone of authority not approve.
P.L. Travers, the author of Mary Poppins and one of the founders of Parabola, wrote in that magazine's premier issue: "Could it be that first and foremost the hero is one who is willing to set out, take the first step, shoulder something? Perhaps the hero is one who puts his foot upon a path, not knowing what he may expect from life but in some way feeling in his bones that life expects something from him."
The best advice I ever got was from a dear and wise mentor, Judith Mosson, who used to urge me to ask myself, whenever I found myself hesitating: What would I do if I weren't afraid? Listen carefully. Then act. That's taking the first step into heroism.
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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
 Endless Mountains Vision Quest
June 27-July 1
Northeastern Pennsylvania
2 places left!
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
Full
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)
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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