Green Tribe of Belonging

 I have just signed off from our sixth session of the Resilience and Acceptance course. Last week, I must admit that I struggled with accepting the state of the world right now, accepting the reality that we are already heading for the sixth extinction, and that it is too late to prevent it. It felt so very sad, such a tragedy. This was not just a story, but something all the people living now will experience soon. I thought of my grandchildren, and of young people all over, just starting in their lives and having to tackle the unraveling of culture that has already started. All week I vacillated between being angry and being sad. And I didn't start our homework for tonight's class until this morning. However, it was just what I needed to shift out of that dark mood. The focus in this week's class was on indigenous wisdom. We saw video clips of many indigenous elders explaining their view of the earth, their guides for living, their long history and traditions, and their an...

  Connections A phone charged by electric current. The bow sliding across cello strings. Baby rabbits suckling mother’s milk. Roots diving deep to find water. Middle C finding harmony with high G. Green vines winding around the fence post. White teeth crunching into delicious corn. A seed at last feeling the sun’s warmth. Eyes of strangers meeting and deeply knowing. A sense of connection across thousands of miles. Hearts touching even beyond death’s separation. Tiny thread woven into a great tapestry. Without connection, there would be only pieces. Each part independent and longing for more. With the force of touch, of contact, of closeness, we become a whole greater than all its parts.

 I am taking an online zoom course on resilience. The attendees are from multiple states and countries. Each week there is a lot of homework: videos and articles showing in many ways how our species on this planet is in big trouble. We have seen the projections for decades, warnings that if we keep our current strategies and lifestyle, our future looks increasingly bleak. It is a sobering experience, seeing each other in our zoom windows, acknowledging together the real situation of our culture, our lifestyles, our changing earth. Yet the purpose of this series of classes is not to make us scared and depressed. Instead, it is focusing on developing resilience. First we are nurturing resilience in ourselves. And then when we are grounded and strong, we are more able to reach out to the rest of our personal worlds in positive action.  This focus has had an interesting effect on my feeling about the world. On the one hand, when I go out to my favorite park and sit at a high overl...