We are water. We are air. We grow, we bloom, we seed, we wilt, we die. There is a false separation between humanity and nature. ~Nora Bateson

Tidbits for the Summer Months

In this newsletter I am simply sharing some tidbits:

• an episode of the podcast Outrage + Optimism,

• a poem,

• a nature retreat,

• a 9-month Sensory Awareness journey for climate resilience, and

• a 5-week Climate Wayfinding course.

My next contemplative walk is scheduled for Saturday August 27. Registration link below.

Have a great summer!

Anne-Marie
June 15, 2022
420.58 ppm of atmospheric CO2 (safe level 350 ppm, a year ago 419.48 ppm)

Podcast: Wales Future Commissioner, Sophie Howe, on Outrage + Optimism

In my last newsletter titled How Can We Be Good Ancestors?, I used the small country of Wales as an example of a government taking the long-term view and applying the six ways of thinking long identified by Roman Krznanic in his book The Good Ancestor- How to think long term in a short term world such as legacy mindset and cathedral thinking. The current Future Generations Commissioner of Wales, Sophie Howe, was recently interviewed on one of my favorite climate podcasts: Outrage + Optimism. (This podcast is hosted by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac who were instrumental in getting the 2015 Paris Agreement signed and who authored the book The Future We Choose, the basis for my climate engagement coaching program of the same name). If the mention of Wales and its Future Generations Commissioner piqued your interest, I recommend you listen to the episode. You can access it with this link.
The podcast also has really interesting discussions with Rebecca Solnit (episode #156), Yuval Noah Harari (#139), Adam McKay (#138), Jane Goodall(#146), just to name a few.

Poem: The Age of Not Knowing by Maira Kalman

Next Elemental Contemplative Walk: Saturday Aug 27

“Deepening Presence in Nature”
July 1-4 Santa Cruz Mountains

This three-day meditation retreat hosted by guiding teacher Kirsten Rudestam, managed by Offgrid Retreats and held on thirty beautiful acres of the Santa Cruz Mountains of California, is an opportunity to slow down and deepen your meditation practice.

Choose Life - Sensory Awareness and the Climate Crisis -
A 9-month journey by Lee Klinger Lesser

My friend and teacher, Lee Klinger Lesser, is offering a 9-month journey (September 22 to June 23) of engagement and responsiveness, relying on the practice of Sensory Awareness to nurture and sustain our ongoing response to the Climate Crisis. Below is a short excerpt from her flyer.

We cannot choose life without responding to what is happening. 

 We need each other. During these critical times that can be so overwhelming and life depleting, we need each other to keep choosing life, to support each other to dedicate our energy towards what brings us alive, towards the most loving contribution we can each make from our own authentic gifts and capacities. We need each other to keep discovering, expanding and resting in what we can offer, in how we can choose and contribute to life, in how we can respond to the immense challenges we are facing with fullness, with love, with joy and freshness. We need each other to meet the grief and sorrow and allow them to open us to love and generosity, allow them to expand our capacity to respond in unexpected and fresh ways. We need each other to navigate through uncertainty, through the vibrant state of not knowing that allows for possibility.

If you are interested, please contact Lee with link below or through her website www.returntooursenses.com.

A 5-week Climate Wayfinding Course

The All We can Save Project and terra.do have partnered to offer a 5-week, first-of-its-kind experience of exploration and discovery to foster clarity, courage, and connection for your climate journey. The inaugural program will be facilitated by Dr. Katharine Wilkinson of The All We Can Save Project. You can find the syllabus here.

PS: At the time of this writing, it seems that this class has filled up. For future announcements, check here.