This week I am taking a break from the smoke in Southern Oregon. I joined friends at a cabin on the Russian River in Sonoma County, California where there is no smoke, but there is also no water in the river bed. The landscape is reliably as beautiful as ever, with or without water. But the absence of water does give me pause.
For so long I thought protecting our environment would be our uniting cause, a story we could all rewrite for a better outcome. It hasn’t played out that way. I am often touched by the way people come together in times of crisis - like in a natural disaster, when there is nobody to blame and the needs are urgent. Human-made disasters seem, in contrast, to breed blame and polarization. The opposite of uniting. Is it possible that it will take an enormous crisis - one where we cannot blame our fellow humans for its cause - to bring us together?
I love the dialogue that you and your beautiful sister are engaging in. I am reminded of The Universe Story which highlights the enormous power of the Whole in sustaining all forms of life. I long personally, and collectively as humanity, to trust that the Universe itself is benevolent as Einstein indicated is a most important choice.
This is speaking to what I am strongly feeling at present. I love "What are the stories that will unite us?" and the search of a new myth centered on the well-being of the whole. Like you, for many years I have been focusing on connecting with the Self that unites us all and am a bit puzzled about how we can remain so separated by our different agendas. Somehow we need to move away from binary thinking into mycelium-type dreaming - the kind many indigenous people excelled in. I wish I had more to offer but I can only offer appreciation for having started the conversation and support for the general aim. Thanks Marga.
For so long I thought protecting our environment would be our uniting cause, a story we could all rewrite for a better outcome. It hasn’t played out that way. I am often touched by the way people come together in times of crisis - like in a natural disaster, when there is nobody to blame and the needs are urgent. Human-made disasters seem, in contrast, to breed blame and polarization. The opposite of uniting. Is it possible that it will take an enormous crisis - one where we cannot blame our fellow humans for its cause - to bring us together?
I appreciate that inquiry, Laura. I am also left to wonder, is polarization part of a messy process of evolution?
I love the dialogue that you and your beautiful sister are engaging in. I am reminded of The Universe Story which highlights the enormous power of the Whole in sustaining all forms of life. I long personally, and collectively as humanity, to trust that the Universe itself is benevolent as Einstein indicated is a most important choice.
Yes, Catherine, that trust – what could spark that trust for those of us who do not experience it? Or maybe, when any of us have our moments of doubt?
This is speaking to what I am strongly feeling at present. I love "What are the stories that will unite us?" and the search of a new myth centered on the well-being of the whole. Like you, for many years I have been focusing on connecting with the Self that unites us all and am a bit puzzled about how we can remain so separated by our different agendas. Somehow we need to move away from binary thinking into mycelium-type dreaming - the kind many indigenous people excelled in. I wish I had more to offer but I can only offer appreciation for having started the conversation and support for the general aim. Thanks Marga.
"mycelium-type dreaming" – I love this phrase. Yes to that.