What is an underlying question that gives form
to your work or interest in this field?
How can I help to illuminate that which connects us all
- each one of us to the other, to the elements of the natural world,
& to the mystery that sources all life?
Lately I have begun to name this perfect 'whole' at
the center of all things 'beauty' and have started a blog called The
Beauty
Dialogues to begin exploring her essence. I warmly invite anyone
who is interested to join me in this conversation!
What is your personal experience of collective
wisdom in groups?
I have been blessed in exploring group consciousness
and collective wisdom for many years in a number of settings & contexts.
This diverse adventure has spanned
my adolescence and early adulthood in the NE Kingdom of Vermont, as
part of the back-to-the-land communal movement in the late 60s & early
70s, through to the blessing of my current online communications work
with fabulous, conscious groups such as the Collective
Wisdom Initiative, Heartland
Circle, The
World Café, &
Resonance, among
others.
My process of understanding and opening to the collective
wisdom of the natural world has included
the co-founding of RiverOcean,
a non-profit organization for deepening environmental awareness, and
my active long-term participation in ICE (the
International Community for Ecopsychology), which is a virtual community
of environmentalists, psychologists and philosophers. I am the editor
for our online Journal, Gatherings,
where I have published extensive work on one of my particular interests
on how collective wisdom works between humans and nature, Art & the
Environment .
For
the last 30 years I have also been associated with the Arica Institute,
a mystical school that recognizes humanity as one body. As part of
a complete new philosophical method, Aricans meditate and work together
to create
a state of enlightenment dedicated to the good of all beings.
What is it about the work in this field that excites
you and connects you to your own deepest self?
I know that human beings exist as part of an interconnected,
perfect whole. We are each a vital part of this dynamic whole. To recognize
this, and be able to help foster that recognition in others, is deeply
joyful and profoundly healing work. When we recognize our connection
with all that is, we enter into a complete acceptance of ourselves,
and begin to live in true relationship with each other, with the natural
world, and with the Divine.
My own passion is in the power of creativity, and in
using my creative expression - of word and sound and image and movement
- to evoke and nurture this awareness of our place in the universe,
our profound interconnection with all life. Another area that fascinates
& challenges me, and is the focus of much of my creative curiosity,
is the use of art as a language that transcends paradox, or is able
to hold apparent paradox without contradiction.
Please provide a brief storyline or snapshot of
what brought you to this work.
I suppose it was the depth of my own pain that propelled
me towards this path of healing, heightening my sense of
compassion for others, and linking me to our common humanity.
As a child,
I found a home within the world of books, where I learned the power
of creativity; the ability of imagination to provide alternatives & offer
vision, strength and hope.
My relationship with nature has also had a powerful
influence on me, starting with the solace and sense of the sacred
I found there as a child, and deepening as I consciously developed
a connection with the elementals in my years in rural Vermont.
These relationships have continued to deepen and find expression in
my environmental work and explorations with ecopsychology and environmental
art.
I have always had a strong spiritual sensitivity, and
as a young adult I was lucky enough to find a language and school of
knowledge I could continue to study and explore, & a precious sangha
to meditate with.
In fact, throughout my life I have been blessed with
the perfect companions and mentors, who have appeared as they have been
needed in my journey.
How would you like to be available to others in
this field? What would be a meaningful connection? Are you available to
talk with others? What contribution might you be able to make?
My own work in the world continues to evolve, and as
a co-designer of online communications that inspire, delight and inform,
I am currently exploring the opening I see in the online environment
for making visible this connection that lies between us as human beings.
I am very excited about the art and craft of bringing the heart and
spirit of in-person gatherings to the virtual sphere, and breaking
down the old boundaries of geographic limitation to discover
a new ways of essential connection.
I
work best as part of a group, and am inspired by creative projects
that deepen awareness of our mutual connections, and/or evoke light
and healing and tenderness between us. Making common cause with others
is always meaningful for me, and I am pleased when I can contribute
my unique skills and sensibility to a project. I also bring a deep
commitment to maintaining a state of grace between all parts of the
whole and whenever I am called to work in groups I like to be
working with others who see things similarly.
Links to this site or others:
My
design work: Clear
Light Communications
Beauty
Dialogues Blog
Art
& the Environment Blog
Ecopsychology eZine:
Gatherings
Special Issue on "Art & Ecopsychology"
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