Cultivating Connections Recommends:
Events and More for Metro Louisville - January 2013
Affirming Connections between Planet, People, Power and Possibilities
With this edition of Cultivating Connections Recommends we are extending
our content beyond events to include a few related initiatives,
emerging organizations, books and online resources.
Let us know what you think!
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Recommended:
Joanna Macy's Recent Book and Her "On Being" Extended Interview 
We highly recommended the wonderful book by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone - Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We're in without Going Crazy. It serves as an excellent hand book for the Great Turning (the transition to a sustainable society) offering updated processes from, and resources on, Macy's "Work That Reconnects".You can hear a recently released extended version of Joanna's "On Being" Interview "A Wild Love for the World" online here.From the program description: Joanna Macy is a philosopher of ecology, a Buddhist scholar, and an exquisite translator of the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. We take that poetry as a lens on her wisdom on spiritual life and its relevance for the political and ecological dramas of our time. |
Louisville Sustainability Forum
Wednesday, January 2 12 - 1:45 pm
Passionist Earth and Spirit Center
(located behind St Agnes Church at 1920 Newburg Road)
Featured Presentation
Energy Efficient Design for New and Existing Homes Gary Watrous, President, Watrous Associates Architects
Watrous Associates Architects designs for year-round energy efficiency. Their designs for homes and other buildings, such as churches, offices, and daycare centers, are based on national standards developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Gary specializes in passive solar design. Passive solar, rather than active solar, is best for energy efficiency in the Midwest region. This is because active solar requires clear days, while passive solar works well on partially cloudy days more typical of our region. And even on an overcast day, more solar energy is gained through south facing windows than is lost -- just as one can get a sunburn at the beach on an overcast day.Shorter PresentationsSustainability as a Way of LifeRamsi Kamar - Owner, Ramsi's Café and Raising Hope Farm You Can't Control What You Don't MeasureKurt Barrett - Intelligent Services Team Leader, Harshaw Trane
Now in its fifth year the purposes of the Louisville Sustainability Forum are:
1. We hold and promote the intention of sustainability for Louisville.
2. We establish and nourish relationships that strengthen community and create change.
3. We create a space for discussion that inspires, motivates and deepens our ability to catalyze social change.
Food & drink:
Heine Bros. provides us with Heine Bros. coffee. Feel free to bring a bag lunch. If you'd like to prepare extra food or drink to share with others, that is always welcome!
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 Tuesday, January 8 * 7pm
Sun Come Up
Film Screening
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Louisville
On January 8 at 7pm St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Louisville teams up with KIPL for a screening of the climate refugee film Sun Come Up.
Sun Come Up is an Academy Award® nominated film that shows the human face of climate change. The film follows the relocation of the Carteret Islanders, a community living on a remote island chain in the south Pacific Ocean, and now, some of the world's first environmental refugees.
When climate change threatens their survival, the islanders face a painful decision. They must leave their ancestral land in search of a new place to call home. Sun Come Up follows a group of young islanders as they search for land and build relationships in war-torn Bougainville, 50 miles across the open ocean.
Sun Come Up provokes discussion about climate change, displacement, and the rights of vulnerable communities around the globe. See the film's trailer by clicking here.
Sponsored by
Kentucky Interfaith Power and Light and St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church
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Recommended:
Becoming the Hero of Your own JourneySee Jean Houston on the Oprah Winfrey Network Online  It's been said that truth is greater than fiction, but according to philosopher and author Jean Houston, the greatest truths of your own life can often be found in pages of your favorite stories. Jean's new book, The Wizard of Us, uses the classic film as an example of how the life lessons found in the greatest myths of our time can help you become the hero or heroine of your own life -- a life full of purpose, heart and courage.Read the Q and A article here.Read a book excerpt here.Watch Jean's interview with Oprah here and here.
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Tuesday, January 15, 7:00 PM Greater Louisville Sierra Club Moving the Ball Forward for Farm Animals
Clifton Center 2117 Payne St Please join us on Tuesday, January 15 for an important and timely program. Our guest speaker will be Matthew Dominguez, Public Policy Manager, Farm Animal Protection for The Humane Society of the United States. Mr. Dominguez will lead us in a presentation about the most pressing issues facing farm animals in Kentucky, the progress being made to help them, and how you can help.Born and raised in northern California, Matthew Dominguez spent his childhood on his family's cattle ranch. He graduated with honors from California State University in Sacramento, with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration and a minor in Philosophy. In 2007, he moved to Portland, Oregon to attended Lewis & Clark for the Environmental Law program, but quickly changed his focus and began devoting his time and energy to the Animal Law program after learning about the plight of animals. He has gained practical experience as a legal clerk for the Center for Animal Law Studies and as an Intern in the Equine Protection unit at the Human Society of the United States. After graduating from Lewis & Clark law school with his Juris Doctor degree, Matt joined the Farm Animal Protection Campaign at Humane Society of the United States and works to expand the number of and breadth of laws that protect farm animals from cruelty as the campaign's public policy manager.The Greater Louisville Sierra Club meeting is at the Clifton Center 2117 Payne Street (www.cliftoncenter.org) and will begin at 7:00 p.m. Our programs are free and open to the public.
Free and open to the public.
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 Sunday, January 20 * 6:30 - 8:45pm
Earthsave Movie Night
The Journey of the Universe
at The Baha'i Center 3808 Bardstown Road
The unique emphasis of this monthly Earthsave event is to enjoy thoughtful
desserts and snacks while viewing a good film together.
So, please bring a healthy snack to share.
The screening is free if you bring a snack, $2 if you arrive empty handed.
This month's film is the Emmy Award-Winning documentary
Journey of the Universe by Brian Thomas Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker. "Ask acclaimed author and evolutionary philosopher Brian Thomas Swimme about our role as humans in this awe-inspiring universe, and his insights will light up the night skies. As our host, co-writer, and fellow traveler, he shares his infectious curiosity about life's biggest questions in the epic JOURNEY OF THE UNIVERSE. Using his skills as a masterful storyteller, Swimme connects such
big picture issues as the birth of the cosmos 14 billion years ago,
the invisible frontiers of the human genome, and
our current impact on Earth's evolutionary dynamics.
Through his engaging and thoughtful observations, audiences everywhere will discover the profound role we play in this intricate web of life." Cultivating Connections' Mark Steiner will be around
for some post-screening discussion. Please forward this invitation to your friends, family, acquaintances,
teachers and pupils... Let's get the word out! |
Monday, January 21 6:00 pm
Social Change Book Club
So Far From Home:
Lost and Found in Our Brave New World by Margaret Wheatley
Heine Bros. Coffee 119 Chenoweth Lane, St Matthews. 
We open the new year with Margaret Wheatley's new book, So Far from Home: Lost and Found in Our Brave New World. This book describes how we can do our good work with dedication, energy, discipline and joy. This book provides maps into the future and, tells how we can transform our grief, outrage, and frustration into skills of insight and compassion, to serve this trying time with bravery, decency and gentleness.
So Far from Home: Lost and Found in Our Brave New World consists of personal reflections on lessons learned and trends observed in the twenty years since the publication of Wheatley's groundbreaking book Leadership and the New Science.
The Social Change Book Club is now in its seventh year of monthly meetings.
The Social Change Book Club is open to everyone who is interested in understanding, participating, leading, or supporting social change. Each month we select a book and get together to discuss. Selections rotate among three themes: social changes, how we work with others to make change happen, and the inner qualities needed to bring change into the world.
Please just show up if you are interested--no RSVP, commitment, etc. It is great when people have read the book, but that is not a requirement to come and discuss.
We got this going because there is a lot to learn about how to make social change happen, and people who are interested in changing the world need opportunities to share stories and experience community with others who care.
Hosted by Howard Mason
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Grief, Ritual and the Soul of the World
Join us as we walk the ground of grief together in ritual. Bringing forth and sharing our individual and collective sorrows in sacred communal space.
with Doug Van Houten & Marilyn Stoner Saturday, February 2, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Location to be announced
Suggested donation $80 Feel free to contact us if money is an issue.
PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Grief dares us to love once more. -Terry Tempest Williams
Where there is sorrow there is holy ground. -Oscar Wilde
Embrace your grief, for there your soul will grow. -Carl Jung
It is because we love that we feel profoundly sad and sometimes even quite angry when we lose a family member or friend. It is because we feel compassion for the world that we break into tears with the news of the loss of children through gun violence and wars, the news of the Gulf oil spill, and mountain top removal in Appalachia.
Grief can be painful, and even more so if we are grieving alone. We need the presence of a community container AND ritual to heal our grief.
In a very real way our entire species is in a collective Underworld/Dark Night of the Soul - and we will need to link arms for the journey ahead. Our coming together in new forms, especially in grief and in ritual, will determine how vibrantly we are able to show up for the great transformation of our lives and our world.
Who is this for?: For those called to explore their grief in sacred communal space. For those ready to launch beyond the social and psychic limitations of contemporary culture.
How to Register: Call or email Doug Van Houten or Marilyn Stoner
doug@dougvanhouten.com (502) 472-6563
marilynstoner@fastmail.fm (502) 456-1502
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Save the Date- Sunday, February 17Join the Climate Legacy Action in DCA Rally to Influence Energy Policy and Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline 
Our Kentuckiana Group at the November 2011 Action at the White House
(not pictured: 12,000 fellow citizens)
Cultivating Connections, Greater Louisville Sierra Club, and 350 Louisville are jointly sponsoring an effort to achieve maximum Kentuckiana participation at this important climate change awareness rally in Washington DC, on Sunday, February 17 (find the original 350.org announcement below). President Obama has just 4 years left to provide the leadership we need to stop climate change that is likely causing extreme weather like Hurricane Sandy, and Keystone XL is the biggest test of whether he's up for the job. On Presidents Day weekend, we'll be taking to the streets of Washington DC with thousands to form a massive human pipeline, and to tell the President that we expect leadership on climate change, beginning with a rejection of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. So, if you have any interest in participating, please "Save the Date" and:
Send an email to Drew Foley at louisville350@yahoo.com with answers to the following three questions so that we may begin preliminary transportation and lodging planning: a) Assuming reasonable transportation and lodging costs can be arranged, how likely are you to go? (We will seek free accommodations first.) b) Which of the following would be your preferred itinerary? Note that options 2, 3 and 4 all include at least one all-night drive.
1) Depart Louisville Sat. AM- Depart DC Morning AM (staying over 2 nights) 2) Depart Louisville Sat. AM - Depart DC Sunday evening (staying over 1 night) 3) Depart Louisville Sat. PM - Depart DC Mon. AM (staying over 1 night) 4) Depart Louisville Sat. PM - Depart DC Sunday PM (no overnight stay) c) Any other schedule constraints or concerns?
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Recommended:
Good Garbage Louisville's Creative Reuse Center
Good Garbage is a grassroots group that collects scrap material before it enters the waste stream and makes it available to the community for creative reuse."Across the nation, creative reuse centers are thriving. Why? Because communities are changing their concept of waste. Discarded materials can be turned into new creations, and also used as an opportunity to teach children about the life cycle of products and the environmental benefits of reuse. Tons of scrap materials-from wire to buttons to single socks to fabric to old trophies to paper clips-can find new life in the hands of imaginative, intelligent and innovative people". Good Garbage is bringing this vision to Louisville and has plans to open their own non-profit, Creative Reuse Center.They are already collecting material from folks who've cleaned out their attic, moved their office or who simply wanted to discard unusable (to them) stuff. Until the store opens, Good Garbage is taking to the streets with classroom demonstrations, workshops, environmental events and arts & craft fairs. Learn more and stay tuned for updates on facebook and via their blog. Contact via email at Anne.GoodGarbage@gmail.com or Lynn.GoodGarbage@gmail.com |
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