Geologist. Gardener. Exploratory sculptor. Welcome to Episode 12. This is the first of a 3-part series, each featuring a visionary, action-taking young woman who faithfully volunteers at La Huerta Roots and Rays community garden in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago. One of the reasons I started doing these interviews -- having simple, recorded conversations with people who are in conscious relationship with the planet they live on -- is because there really is something special about them. I respect their ability to notice and support cycles of life, in a technologically-dominated era. I value conversations that are centered around Life, or are full of Life. That's how I felt talking with this renaissance woman, Imogene Ellis. Here's our sensory-rich and playful chat. In addition to Roots and Rays, here are a few more of Imogene's favorite resources:
Next Up: Permaculture Principle #4: "Apply self-regulation, and accept feedback." This episode is different from the previous 10, which were focused on earth care and restoration. We'll always be developing that conversation of ecological sanity, and we'll also now include a new segment about our inner terrain. This is my domain of comfort and expertise -- our heartscape. Sometimes it's lush and thick with life. Other times it's barren or bruised from a difficult season. I have always had a great navigational sense in this inner world. I know where to find sources of Light and Water. I know where the shade is, and where the berries grow. I can identify poisons and dangers... and convert mysteries into something useful. This kind of insight and guidance is an unlearned skill I recognized as a child, and have heeded and developed throughout my life. I am, only recently, coming into full ownership of it. I expect you will experience a difference in my communications going forward, because a barrier has lifted. I understand my Role and my Reasons more fully now, than I have before. Please consider the rest of this post the first of many insights about our Inner Terrain. "Mom/Dad, look at me!" Can you remember being the child who shouted that request? Or maybe you're now a parent who receives that request? I don't believe we are intended to grow out of this very basic, very human need to be seen and heard. Witnessed. Social media is an example of our continued longing to share and to show. To see and to know. It is nice to self-express. But have you noticed how flat it can feel when whatever you've shared isn't really received by someone else? You risk sharing something of importance to you, and it quickly becomes fodder for the next quickly passing moment. There's no pause. There's no resting with the thought or feeling that just got expressed. Usually, there's just a hurried reply to keep the conversational ball bouncing. Lots of times that quick, staccato-pace of chatter is all that's needed. But there are far too many other times that an important happening gets no sunlight of acknowledgement. Because most of us were never taught how to listen deeply and with a full and gathered presence, we rarely exchange that luxuriant gift with others. And that's a true, but easily treatable, pity. "There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." (Dr. Maya Angelou) Agony. It's a strong word, and I think Dr. Angelou has used it precisely. Emotional numbness is our cultural norm, but in a fit of truth and honesty I think we'd all agree that it sure would be nice to have consistent access to a skillful listener. And not one that you have to pay for. Witnessing and giving full presence is a loving act we all can learn and give to those we are close to. But we treat our emotional well-being like a dirty garment... sending offsite to a professional who, for a fee, will sanitize and starch the dirt and wrinkles that come from living. A therapeutic professional is a great help for certain traumas, but a lot of our daily hurts and hopes could be wonderfully handled if a few more of us simply learned to listen more deeply and with full presence. One great resource to help with that is an essay written by Brenda Ueland, "The Art of Listening." She says, "When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold and expand." I hope you'll read all of her essay. Her words help us to not only understand how to be better listeners for others. Her words also help us understand our own desire for what I call conversational moreness. how to create Conversational Moreness. There are kisses. And there are French kisses.
There are lightening bugs. And there is lightening. When two people come together for any purpose, the *potential* between them is mountain-moving. But what usually takes place is more along the spatial lines of an ant-hill. We settle for a teeny-tiny fraction of what's available to us at every encounter we have with one another! Below are some starting points for your Deep Listener and Full Presencer. Once it's clear that you are in a conversation of greater importance -- usually distinguished by higher levels of risk, exposure and vulnerability than in casual or surfacey conversations -- do the following 6 things. Even practicing just one or two would be a great start:
The repeating question in #6 does WONDERS in helping another person learn more from the very thing they wanted to tell you about. Try this with a trusted friend or partner. Incubate ideas. Get unstuck. Let me know how it goes in the comments below. Give the world the gift of felt intimacy. Create conversational moreness. Help better listeners multiply. SHARE THIS POST. 010: Draw strength from your Most Compelling Motive (via Permaculture Principle #3: Obtain a yield.)4/11/2014
(A note to subscribers who receive these posts via email: In order to HEAR AUDIO, please come to the site. Thanks!) Food, fiber, fuel and flora. Getting these resources in large, cheap volumes is the primary objective of traditional agriculture. Biodiverse flourishing, non-poisonous practices and the well-being of all species are not values of traditional agriculture. Big, homogenized crops that yield a monetary profit is what drives this industry.
I object to the reckless, short-sighted industry policies that allow the perversion of perfect seeds, the poisoning of crops we are to eat, the erosion and mineral depletion of our topsoil, and the crippling of our pollinators... all because of faulty metrics that are quite safe from the ecocide we not only partake in, but make a way of life. So, there's that. And as I thought about WHY BigAg does what it does (because of greed, eco-illiteracy and moral indecency) I also thought about how I actually agree with this 3rd permaculture principle that BigAg notoriously abuses, and that is to obtain a yield. Get something for your effort or offering. Symbiosis is all throughout nature -- mutually beneficial situations abound. Something about that feels balanced and orderly to me. For the strangest reason, every time I thought about those three words: obtain a yield, I got struck with the strongest impression: obtaining a yield is why we do what we do. It's our first and primary cause. For everything. Uncovering our most compelling motive for why we do whatever it is we do gives us access to renewable energy from inside ourselves. All you do is peel back as far as you can, with an ever deeper "Why?" until you hit your truth. Repetitive self-inquiry. Example: Obtaining a yield from a job even if you dislike it. Why do you keep that job you dislike? I need to earn money. Why do you need to earn money? I have bills to pay, and also there are things and experiences I'd like to have. Why do you pay your bills, and why would you like to have certain things and experiences? [Note: Even if this feels awkward or silly, stick with it. The felt boost you'll get will be worth it.] Continuing: I pay my bills because I got use out of a product or service, and I want to continue getting that use. And I want to have certain things and experiences because some of them enrich my human experience. Why do you want your human experience enriched? Because I believe life is to be enjoyed. I believe life is to be enjoyed. That is my Most Compelling Motive... I could also probably call it a guiding principle... the driving WHY behind my WHAT. And tapping in to that strong rootedness lets me see that, based on my Most Compelling Motive, which is the belief that life is to be enjoyed, I am in violation of myself when maintaining a job I dislike. For someone else, who's Most Compelling Motive is more along the lines of felt security or predictability, maintaining a "good enough" job may actually be the truest thing for that person to do. To sum up: We are designed to obtain a yield, to exchange with each other. Through a simple process of self-inquiry, we can uncover our Most Compelling Motive in any situation. Keep asking "Why" until an answer comes that has no precedent. It will be a complete statement in and of itself, and because it'll be a home vibration for you, you can always re-center with it whenever you feel lost or off-base. Try this! If you get "an answer that has no precedent" -- a first-cause statement with no beginning -- I would love to hear about it. Share your comment below. Or call in to the number given at the end of show... ...which is coming now! *** Your DAILY VOTE is needed. Garfield Park has made it to Garnier's Final 5 in their Green Gardens Contest. Help ensure their victory. VOTE NOW. *** Angela's heaven here on earth. (A note to subscribers who receive these posts via email: In order to HEAR AUDIO + SEE VIDEO, please come to the site. Fully enjoy your multimedia experience. Thanks!) Have you ever noticed how ivy grows? Or any vine? It shoots and spurts and curves. I relate to this mode of travel. And living! I recently attended Connecting Chicago Community Gardeners' 2nd Annual Gathering at Navy Pier. I went with my friend, Matthew Stephens, who introduced me to lots of wonderful people there... one of whom, was Sam Taylor... who is the husband of a force of nature -- Angela Taylor. Angela agreed to have me over for a visit, and recorded conversation. She is a person of interest for many inspiring reasons. Below are links to where she and her work have been featured in the Chicago Sun Times and the Chicago Tribune. And you can even see a video of then Mayor-Elect Rahm Emanuel lending a helping hand in the Fulton Street Flower + Vegetable Garden that is adjacent to her Garfield Park home. We talk inside the large and sprout-filled greenhouse that is just besides a healthy bee-hive that gave 10 pounds of honey in its first year, and we're also very near a chicken coop that's been giving about 6 or 7 eggs a day. This is another field interview, so you will hear a mixture of sounds that come with a progressive urban garden: crowing chickens, singing birds, and the rumbling green line 'el train rolling by every few moments. Like Angela, the sound-backdrop is very real and genuine. Fiery faith and fresh food is what she's serving up. Prepare to be inspired, as you hear how she closed out a successful career of service, and moved into the calling of her life. Relevant and/or mentioned resources in this episode:
What did you take-away from listening to Angela? Please share your thoughts in the comments below. At 10:30 see (then Mayor-Elect) Rahm Emanuel lend a helping hand in the Fulton Street Flower + Vegetable Garden that is adjacent to the Taylors' home.
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The question "How are you?" is PROFOUND. But it has been watered-down to a synonym for "Hello." Forced or fake auto-responses of obligated okay-ness are expected. (And if you are going through something tragic, it really doesn't matter! Every social encounter OPENS with this well-established Ritual of Insincerity.) The question "How are you?" prompts an answer that begins with "I AM _____________." This means many times each day, you are invited to SPEAK THE MOST POWERFUL STATEMENT that can be spoken of yourself. And the socially-expected thing to do, is be QUICK + SLICK with your answer. For a change... TAKE YOUR TIME, and tell your truth. ✍🏾 |