“See things as they truly are without delusions or distortions
for all things change.” ~Buddhist teaching

Our world is in need of healing at every level.

We as a species aren’t going to survive, the way we are going. If we don’t heal ourselves, evolve a new consciousness, and fundamentally change the way we live, human beings won’t make it. Sadly we will continue taking out other species by the thousands along the way.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”~Jesus of Nazareth

I am an economically, educationally, socially and politically privileged member of the species of homo sapiens. While, as a woman I don’t profit from the privilege of elite white men, nonetheless I’m still a card-carrying member of the death-dealing, consumption-addicted, planet-wide, environment-eating Empire. I’m in recovery. But I still drive a car, occassionally board an airplane, watch way too many movies, and type on a totally unsustainably-produced Mac. I feed the birds outside my window, which is delightful. But the sunflower seed is part of monoculture food production.

It’s not my fault. And it’s not yours. We were born into this. For myself, I see no easy or simple or cheap way to jump out of this mess and still make the contribution to change, to healing, to evolution of consciousness, that I feel called to make.

“Mental health is an ongoing process of dedication to reality at all costs.“~ M.Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled

What I can do, at the very least, is to acknowledge and talk about the fact that my personality, ego, has been seriously wounded by Empire. Along with the natural world that feeds and houses and clothes me, I too am in need of healing. In my opinion, we all are, as creatures reared in, and conditioned by, Empire.

It’s okay to admit that. It’s a relief, in fact, is it not? To admit to our wounding? Our frailty, our blindness and emptiness? In admitting those experiences fully, rather than wasting energy in the attempt to hide what is so obvious, there is freedom and new access to energy.

Healing means to restore whole and balanced functioning to an organism. When gaping wounds heal they are replaced by scar tissue, stronger than the original. Likewise, the rampant growth of a virus or a bacterium is halted and levels are returned to a balanced, non-interfering state, often with immunity granted into the future. The out-of-control growth of rogue cancer cells is contained and reduced to an imperceptible level. And not only is the physical level sometimes enhanced by going through dis-ease and re-balancing, the psyche expands into new arenas of strength and gratitude.

When we look at Empire and it’s impacts across the board we can see gaping wounds, infection, and rogue cells in abundance. Never before has there been so much opportunity for healing and growth.

In our emotional lives, healing means the whole functioning and connection of mind, emotions and desire expressed in the lively and full expression of one’s uniqueness. At the level of the group, the family, or the community, healing entails establishing cooperative interaction: individual actions support the full and balanced functioning of the group and the group’s actions in turn support the full and balanced functioning of each individual member.

Empire represents deep dysfunction. A few individuals grow out of control as the rest of the organism suffers. We witness this daily in the gross profit-taking and wealth-transfer occurring as global banking reaps unprecedented profits while housing forclosures skyrocket along with unemployment.

Speaking ecologically, to be healed individuals, in a healed community, in a healed world, would mean to become a vital part of a climax ecosystem where individual members of a great variety of species cooperate to thrive over countless lifetimes by the ecosystem’s vibrant and balanced functioning.

Can the sharing of my ideas via electronic media create and facilitate this? I don’t know. It’s tricky business sitting in front of a screen with fingers on a keyboard, eyes glued to a screen, apart from direct connection with soil and sun, wind and water. What would happen if a significant percentage, say 5% of Americans, spent more time with hands in the soil instead of on keyboards? Healing is at the forefront of my heart and mind right now. It seems like we either find ways to heal or we will die off, as a species, and tragically, as a biologically complex world.

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”~Winston Churchill

A year ago when we moved from Vermont to Maine, I moved two jam-packed liquor case boxes of old journals, written over the past 15 years. Even though I read them only rarely, I’m not ready to let go of them. Those journals represent a huge amount of self-reflection, inner dialogue, dreams, visions, and, over the last few years, my own soul-searching through the nightmare of the culture of Empire. My journal writing has been a means of great healing for me over the years and at times I see it has also helped others. On occasion I have shared journal entries with clients, friends and family and have seen that intimate sharing of my writing can help, can heal, and support others to heal.

But its a very different experience to read one’s personal journal to someone face to face than it is to publish words to a screen miles, often thousands of miles, away. This electronic medium of sharing does not allow us to impact one another with countless and subtle, often seemingly imperceptible bits of information that our limbic brains wordlessly exchange with one another when we are actually in each other’s physical presence.

“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you mad.” ~Aldous Huxley

As you read these words on the screen your limbic brain will not register the quality of light in my eyes, the almost imperceptible change that happens when tears arise, which allows a moment of shared emotion. Nor will you will hear any quiet sighs. We will exchange no actual glances of recognition and resonance. There will be no hugs and no yelling. No visible or audible expressions of grief over the loss of 200 species a day. No cries of outrage at the fact that the extinction rate is a thousand times greater than the losses would be without current human impacts on the environment.

It’s just not the same as sitting in the room with someone, one on one; or sitting in a group, feeling, talking and listening with the rapt attention of the whole triune brain, cerebral cortex, limbic brain, and basal ganglia. You may not want to hear this, but interacting over the internet is not the same as sharing a meal, praying in a sweat lodge, holding the hands of a friend in grief, or witnessing first hand the birth of a child. I worry about how much life is being missed as Americans sit in front of screens.

Still, this is a medium that is available to reach out widely and, in a limited way, to make contact, to offer reflection on how I have learned to approach, thoughtfully, and with great feeling, our current world catastrophe.

Perhaps this can be an avenue to offer connection and support to fellow travelers who are in grief, outrage, numbness or denial, about our current global predicament. At least the cerebral cortex, if not the limbic, feeling brain, of others will know:

“I am not alone. Others feel the enormity of this as well. Others grieve and feel outrage. Others are confused and frightened. Others get numb and complacent. I’m not crazy.”

My intention in writing is to offer that, at the very least. And that has been the most fulfilling part of producing What A Way To Go: people report to us that they no longer feel completely alone or crazy. We haven’t stopped global warming or economic collapse. But we have alleviated some unnecessary suffering. And if you were sitting here with me right now you would see my face flush just a little, and your limbic brain would note a change in how my eyes glisten with gratitude to have been able to be of some service and to have connected with others in ways that have been helpful.