…. Continued…. : : kindness culture and eldership ~
This is what I know of archetype:
MOTHER: generates and nourishes life
—>>> A culture without- dies in infancy
FATHER: builds the protective walls
—>>> A culture w/o- is destroyed by external chaos
GRANDPARENTS: preserves the blueprints
—>>> A culture w/o- survives for a while but forgets who they are and ultimately self destructs
Without memory, the tribe stays by the dried-up riverbed and perishes. Losing the grandparents means losing the map.
When a culture forgets its origin story, its values, and its connection to the larger fabric of time, the individuals within it become deeply isolated. They are no longer part of a grand, continuing story; they are just isolated biological units trying not to die.
This creates a profound internal vacuum. When meaning is lost, anxiety and despair take over. The culture doesn't need an invading army to destroy it; it disintegrates from the inside out because its people lose the will to maintain the system.
In the long run, amnesia is just a slower, quieter form of violence turned on itself.
A friend of mine makes the argument that we’ve been groomed to keep deciding the ways that we are and that the momentum of history is too great and would require herculean efforts that we dont have the stamina for. My response to this is that we aren’t giving ourselves enough agency. Or thinking outside the box.
I also get how leaning into gm/gf medicine becomes immediately complex because it carries with it a lot of trauma from the literal gm/gf’s. But somewhere in there is the thread of truth and the blessing of life and perhaps looking to this last wave of elders is one place to start. We might benefit from not throwing out the rubber ducky.
It would take vision. But we also dont have to reinvent the wheel. Buckminster Fuller proposed reorganization on this scale with his ‘Integrity Days,’ detailed largely in his last year of life. Ghandi also envisioned small communities supported with their own agriculture and therefore sustaining the whole without individual collapse when the outer must.
I also think that rearranging such that our micro decisions might reflect different values, would need a gigantic pause.
We have a reference point for a grand procedural pause called the pandemic. What would it be to reorganize ourselves. And be mindful of social fragmentation this time. To consciously pause at every turn and inquire within as to whether this would assist the whole (and as Native Americans considered- assist as far as 7 generations forward) and how our every action has impact (Reuvain and I talk about this in the podcast share from last email).
If we liquidated all of the billionaires, we would have 1.6-2 years to comfortably reorganize ourselves. Unfortunately most billionaires dont carry the values of sharing and collectively curating a care culture, but interesting nonetheless. Thought experiments- even if exactly unavailable, are generative. And if we cant pull the lever and shut down the machine to its fullest, we can at the least take a big booty personal pause with ourselves. EVEN inside of our business. How can we pivot into systems of care. How can we decondition the rush as we talk about in The Poetics of Presence mediation course? And if our personal flavor leans more in the mother, father, gm/gf direction, how do we support the other forms/energetics in the people around us? And/ or provide a pause for folks who cant begin to imagine such a thing because they are strained for resources? And/or pause and envision even inside of our speed?
==>>> This is where we can especially look to some of the wisdom keepers that recently passed on.
For a while I thought they must have sensed that the curtain has fallen collectively, but then wondered at the fact that if ever there were a way for nature to reinforce someone’s contributions, it’s in the moments after a person or thing’s departure and the absence itself.
How can we honor these greats and maybe right this world simultaneously? I do not speak these grandiose words naively. I know that the amount of malice out there is real and that the traumas are mounting by the minute. But when I study these elders and see how they met contradiction and more importantly how true they were to what they stood for, it gives me hope and energy to keep on. And even if this ship goes down, I know for myself I want to throw all I’ve got into shifting us out of addiction to self-sabotage, retaliation, and comfort at all cost- even the cost of the human race. Decoupling from destructive and consumptive patterning is not for the weak of heart. I know that the unconscious past is sneaky and the task large but with gm/gf energy by our side and reenforcing the creativity of our individual expressions, why not try? This, my friends, is an art. And now is the time for artistic soul rearrangement.
I myself , of course have ideas about this, but I bring all this forward in support of all conversations - among ourselves and with our people and with our preconceived notions that might need a little examination.
We are approaching dia de los muertos in Mexico and it is always stunning to witness a culture that understands how much we might benefit from holding space, honoring, and learning from those that have gone before. I hope you will spend some time, as I have been, with these luminous souls.
What I do know is that we dissociate because we grieve. And we grieve because we love. We rage because we care. So much. And that is the gorgeous truth of this trip. So in the name of love, I will yell, I will cry and I will continue to care. I will also take those tears and paste them across my taut canvas. I will make them a part of my somatic practices and a bridge to the origin of it all. I am not here to become more separate, but whole. To quote a phrase from the book of short stories- all the voices “screaming down the ladders of my own DNA” are requesting of us our respect. LIFE is not something to be flippant about and when it is on the line, it is not a time for us to defer out. Climb deep and reach wide. Let’s go get all redwood on this moment! (it is, after all, that time of year;)
I invite you to continue with this thread on your own or join us here, in addition to your homework :)
Below are a flurry of options for that gm/gf piece of curating cultural care and the weaving of webs:
Bay Area Yogi’s!
In collabs with Chris Hill, we’ve got some magical moments for you.
OCT 16, 5.30-7pm
Artful Movement : : Nature Entanglement, Deep Rest and Sound Healing
Lotusland, San Francisco, CA
OCT 18, 5-7pm
The Celestial Body : : A Somatic Exploration of the Night Sky Within though Yoga and Acoustic Immersion
Nandi Yoga, San Mateo, CA
EarthBound Broads~
We’re running this women’s group twice this year because it is the most concise & precise way I know of conjoining rubber and road in an intimate group of wild wondrous women practicing, tinkering and lovescheming inside of our day-in, day-out, lived lives. Earth, one another and deeeeep bodybloodbone.
Begins Oct 25th-
A little over one month of Sunday mornings at 9am MT, Wed evening integration at 6pm.
Not a problem if you need to miss a session or two.
Read more by clicking the text below and /or reply to this email with EBB YES if you know you want to join. Limited space.
1:1 work for becoming a culture custodian~
This is some of my favorite work. Reply YES CC if you want to weave together. I’m adding one time slot a week.Read ‘bout below.
GIFT 4 u ~
A yin/ restorative mélange inspired by the life and times of Wendell Berry.
PINKY PROMISE~
Please enjoy this gift class if you will write back and let me know how it was for you and/or takeaways/ insights/ heartthougts.
Prep your space, invite a friend (if you’d like), and please enjoy.
Gift 4 Me ~ As we move into the next chapters, another build-out on earth will inevitably involve a redistribution of wealth, resources, and possibility.
If something here has given you value, sparked something in you, or you simply want to encourage more of this work into the world, you’re welcome to offer a gift.
Every contribution helps create the conditions for more building, more experimenting, more sharing, and more becoming.
Thank you for helping make the next chapter possible. ♡
Venmo or paypal options listed on the living room yoga (class schedule) page.
And live, real-time web-weaving dialogue with folks that know lots ‘o stuff.
Dates forthcoming.
“We are here to witness the creation and to abet it.”
~ Annie Dillard
Let me know what you find from your time with Dolly, Wendell, Annie, Ben, Gloria, Yayoi, & Jane. They’re some of the best teachers around. I bet they’ve got a little tidbit for you.
I always love to hear.
Let’s go web weavers.
xoJ.
