This story has been cross-posted from Pachamama's fouryearsgo.com site
My journey to 10.10.10
On
October 7, 2010, I set out from home at Greenfire
Farm,
in the Appalachian Foothills of southeast Ohio, on a vintage R90/6
BMW motorcycle that was built 37 years ago. I traveled eastward 363
miles, on Highway 50 to Washington, DC. Highway 50, a 3073 mile
east-to-west coast road, known as the “Backbone of America,”
passes just 6 miles south of home.
I
was headed to DC for some of the 10.10.10 gatherings. This ride was
my first intentional “deep centering outreach” ride. My goal was
to strengthen our understanding and commitment to awaken and act
profoundly in deep kinship with each other, our deeply wounded Earth
and her communities of life. The opening name for this journey of
listening, sharing and action is “Goin’ Home Together, Takin’
Care of Mom.” I was deeply honored to be asked to say a few words
at both Power
of One’s
“Declaration of Interdependence,” on the steps of the Lincoln
Memorial, and, as a veteran, at the Turtle
Women Rising
gathering, near the Washington monument. Also attending and
strengthening the gathering ceremonies were The Elder Presence of the
13 Indigenous Grandmothers, and the Rolling Thunder of the Taiko
Drummers from Japan.
On
October 12, 2010, I returned home with much energy and much to
consider. I offer this page of observations and reflections to hold
in the Light together. I hope it can help co-create pathways forward
that satisfy the hunger in our souls and our bodily needs, for
everyone and everywhere. We all must be and do the change and the
transformation that a healthy Mother Earth requires of a truly wise
and compassionate human family. Let’s welcome each other home to
the love and peace that passes all understanding.
A vision for the future
We
are witnessing and co-creating humanity’s homecoming. We are living
in a most profound “moment.” It is the ending of a 65 million
year era called the Cenozoic, and at the same “boundary” moment,
the beginning of the Ecozoic era, which offers a great unfolding of
cosmic and human potential. Like the metamorphosis of caterpillar to
butterfly, we are maturing both individually and as a human species.
In the larger universe story, both Earth and cosmos are calling us
home. We are called to deep love and unity in every aspect of our
daily life: with other humans, nature, Mother Earth and the entire
cosmos of which we are a part.
In
this Great Turning everyone is included; no one is excluded. Can we
all become friends and neighbors and be fully available for the well
being of all? Can we co-create the “New Story, the Great Work, the
Great Turning?” Can we start this “New Story” by becoming
gardeners, growing a Garden of Eden in both the inner and outer
landscapes, as we restore and regenerate our deepest habitats so that
they become the new ancient forests of the world? In doing so, we can
celebrate moving from scarcity to sufficiency and perhaps even on to
abundance.
The
time is now! We must create renewable, clean energy, capable of
supporting our true needs and livelihoods. We must create beautiful
garden neighborhoods, and a globe of villages and extended families.
We can grow truly nature-honoring, regenerative ecologies and
economies that put the water, seed, food, soil and shelter back in
the skilled hands and wisdom traditions of the people.
The Turtle Women Rising – drumming for Mother Earth
A
group of indigenous elders called “The Turtle Women Rising”
gathered near the base of the Washington Monument for 4 days. Through
continuous drumming for 96 hours, these women set an intention to
call for one million drumming circles to come forth over the next two
years. As I listened carefully to the drumming, I heard Mother Earth
breathing and felt the emergent pulse of Gaia’s heartbeat. In that
sacred space, washed in this continuous drumming, the Turtle Women
Rising stood in solidarity and peace with military veterans and their
families. Together, they called for the return of vibrant health to
Mother Earth and her communities of life.
Through
our national gatherings, as well as our regional and local actions,
we are shifting the energy of our times. We all have an enormous
opportunity, and profound task before us. Through the process of
personal and planetary peacemaking, we seek to co-create an
environmentally sustainable, regenerative, socially just, spiritually
fulfilling, and ecologically, economically vibrant future for all.
I
send love and blessings to all — from the Heartland in the Ohio
River Basin.
