Greetings! Summer has arrived. Even when it feels like our world has turned upside down, we still marvel at the rhythms of our Mother Earth; still we take in the warmth of sunshine well into the late hours on the longest day of the year. In times of great uncertainty, there are some things that remain constant.
Like many communities recognizing the need to change how we relate to each other as humans, and to our planet, EarthwaysLLC is responding to the shifts around us. We share with you some of the things we are doing to make change and we hope you will join us. Let us learn from each other.
May you be inspired to find new ways to deepen your relationship to the world around you. Let us know what form this deepening takes. We always love to hear from you.
With gratitude and awe,
The Guides of Earthways LLC
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Earthways LLC responds to violence against black people and longstanding racial injustice
Our Dear People,
At this unprecedented time in American history, we at EarthWays take a firm and deliberate stand against racism and the many forms of racial injustice that are perpetuated in our society. Heartbroken and outraged by the recent egregious acts of police brutality and violence against Black people, we recognize that this heinously long legacy of oppression and degradation of Black people has gone on for centuries. We must bring this legacy of violence to a definitive end.
We recognize the toxicity and insidiousness of white supremacy, how it seeps into every aspect of our societal life, and how inseparable it is from the exploitation of our sacred Earth. We stand in solidarity with Black, Brown, Indigenous and People of Color (BBIPOC); and well as LGBTQ2, and others who've known the pain of being marginalized.
We commit ourselves to the life-long deep dive to educate ourselves and do the inner work required to understand the tangled threads of our white conditioning. In early July, the six of us have scheduled a shared viewing of Beyond Diversity: How to Build a Truly Antiracist Organization to begin this process, understanding that this is only a beginning. We commit to a path of recognizing and speaking openly about our white privilege, and learning how we can use that privilege to support racial and environmental justice.
We recognize that justice and love are the same, and we aim to cultivate it in every corner of our lives.
With Love and Respect,
The EarthWays Collective
Some helpful resources to help us learn about racial justice:
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Anti-Racism and Moving Forward
by O. Andrew Schreiber
I became a rites of passage guide with EarthWays LLC 5 years ago. This is my first writing for EarthWays.
It represents crossing the threshold into the unknown. At present, a seemingly vast and endless wilderness.
If we've never met, I say greetings Earth lover. I look forward to meeting you when the time is right.
With upheaval on so many fronts in the USA, particularly the racial divide, I feel it is time to end this silence
around racism and white privilege. I feel, for the first time, compelled to share this piece of my story with the
EarthWays community at large. It is my first attempt at starting dialogue with the greater EarthWays community
and beyond. My wish is that you will read this with an open heart and open mind.
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The Sit Spot Practice
Developed by Deb Greene-Jacobi
for Cascadia Quest
One of the foundational practices of developing an intimate connection with Nature is the Sit Spot. The invitation is to find one place in your natural world that you can visit with great regularity and get to know this place very well. Let this Sit Spot become a place where you become comfortable with just being there and learn to sit still, alone, often and quietly. Find a spot at or near home that calls you and dedicate time, all of your senses and your heart to opening fully to this simple yet profound place. Make time to go there either as a daily practice or a few times per week if possible. Sit by yourself for 20 minutes and bring a notebook and pencil. After sitting quietly, before you leave you may want to journal, make notes or even draw.
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On the Pulse of Morning
Maya Angelou
A Rock, A River, A Tree
Hosts to species long since departed,
Marked the mastodon.
The dinosaur, who left dry tokens
Of their sojourn here
On our planet floor,
Any broad alarm of their hastening doom
Is lost in the gloom of dust and ages.
But today, the Rock cries out to us, clearly, forcefully,
Come, you may stand upon my
Back and face your distant destiny,
But seek no haven in my shadow.
I will give you no more hiding place down here.
You, created only a little lower than
The angels, have crouched too long in
The bruising darkness,
Have lain too long
Face down in ignorance.
Your mouths spilling words
Armed for slaughter.
The Rock cries out today, you may stand on me,
But do not hide your face.
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The Old Dance Over,
a New Dance Coming Soon
Eight Lessons from the Lockdown
By Dr. Scott Eberle
I've been sheltering in place for seven years. That's right, seven years.
No relaxed stroll down Western Avenue into downtown Petaluma. No decaf latte at the Apple Box. No chile rellenos at Mi Pueblo. Not the latest Helen Mirren film at Boulevard Cinemas, nor a Phil Lesh concert at McNear's. Not even lunch or dinner at Al's or Sue's (actually, visiting the homes of friends I just did figure out).
Yes, sheltering in place for seven years.
The reason? In 2010, I got seriously slammed upside the head: not the suddenness of a car accident, but a slow-burn brain injury from chronic carbon monoxide poisoning. For weeks, the exhaust fumes from the home's gas heater were spewing toward our nearby hot tub - the tub that only I was using. One brain misfortune morphed into another: by 2012, I developed severe electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), which took me a year to self-diagnose (no, I hadn't heard of it either; and I'm a doctor.) Now, seven years later, I still can be "zapped" - usually by a rogue cellphone - but this happens less often, and the reaction caused is less severe. But when it does happen, a mind-dimming fog will roll in over hours, not to recede until the next day.
Tens of thousands of dollars later, my home has become an electromagnetic sanctuary. Within its four walls, levels of both regular electric fields and high frequency radio-waves are a tiny fraction of those found in most other homes. But to make this strange life of mine work - to avoid being poisoned by yet another cellphone - I have to live as a recluse. And when I do go out, I must hide inside a weird head-covering made of silver mesh and aluminum screening - not nearly as dashing as some of the masks you see around town these days.
Yes, sheltering in place-I know it oh so well. As a friend of mine said recently: "Now, everyone's having to Pull a Scott". Indeed. Welcome to my world.
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Featured
Programs
in 2020
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All of our programs will be following safety protocols according to current CDC, WHO and our local park/lands guidelines. Please contact guides for detailed protocols.
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Walk Into The Wild Heart~ An Individually Guided Ecotherapy,
July 10th, August 7th, September 18th, October 16th.
EarthWays Community Circles~ July 25 and August 8, 10-12pm, Donation Only
Sheltering In Nature~ A Day Walk with Inquiry, July 19 and September 13, the two programs enroll separately. Sliding Scale for each $20.-$120.
What Matters Most~ A Day Walk For Each Season, Aug. 9, Nov. 8, Jan. 10, 2021, May 2, 2021, $75. for each day walk or $300. for entire series
Guides: Deborah Greene Jacobi, Sahara Chaldean
Breaking And Mending~Where Grief, Gratitude and Beauty Coexist, August 21-23, $375. includes land use fees and all supplies
Guides: Deborah Greene Jacobi with guest guide, Glenda Goodrich
Go With The Flow~ Oct.14-18, $450. includes land use fee, equipment rental and shuttle
Guides: Sahara Chaldean, Deborah Greene Jacobi
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Recommended Reading
By Hazel Kight Witham in
The Sun Magazine June 2020
For millennia humans have gathered in circles, warmed ourselves around a fire, and told our stories. Often there has been ritual involved, something that separates this practice from our frenetic daily lives and sets aside a time for speaking and listening from the heart.
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