EmpathicWriter
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001: Say the things you want to hear in the world.

2/10/2014

23 Comments

 
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Intro Song = "Arcane". Outro Song = "Firebrand". Both by Kevin MacLeod. Available under Creative Commons Attribution License.
SHOW NOTES:

  • The purpose + vision of this podcast is to:  (1) affirm our humanity by speaking from the heart as honestly as possible; and (2) share the weekly learnings of a woman aligning her life according to her values.  *Includes PoeticFlow + StorySharing woven throughout.
  • Received early inspiration from my pioneering Grandfather. He was a practicing permaculturist before the term had been coined in 1978.  He planted the seeds of biophilia in me at an early age.
  • Muriel Rukeyser, poet + political activist.
  • Victor Lebow's strategy of hyperconsumption.
  • To unplug from the consumer-culture mindset, to become inhospitable to cultural insanity, you have to be able to stand against the current stream. So that's why helping myself and others develop personal authority is so important to me.
  • Engage with me + other listeners! CALL-IN your topically-related comment or question -- about rewilding yourself, being heart-directed or practicing personal authority --  to * 206-202-0217 *.  Thanks for keeping your voicemail under 5 minutes :-)
  • Am part of the 20%-25% of living organisms born with a sensitive nervous system.  This is called sensory processing sensitivity.
  • The Empathic Writing Journey is a four-step creative process that is helping me decolonize years of oppressive beliefs.
  • Geoff Lawton has defined permaculture as "an ethical system of design that provides all the needs of humanity in a way that benefits the environment."
  • The seminal work for the field of permaculture is titled: "Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual," written Bill Mollison in 1978.
  • One of the most recent bestsellers in the permaculture category is:  "Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Homescale Permaculture," Toby Hemenway, 2001
  • Permaculture combines three key ASPECTS:
                (1) An ethical framework;
                (2)
Understandings of how nature works; and
                (3)
A design approach.

  • Permaculture has three key ETHICS:
                (1) Earth-Care;
                (2) 
People-Care; and
                (3)
Fair-Share.

  • Permaculture has twelve key DESIGN PRINCIPLES, articulated by David Holmgren in  Permaculture: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability:
  1. Observe and interact: By taking time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.

  2. Catch and store energy: By developing systems that collect resources at peak abundance, we can use them in times of need.

  3. Obtain a yield: Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.

  4. Apply self-regulation and accept feedback: We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.

  5. Use and value renewable resources and services: Make the best use of nature's abundance to reduce our consumptive behavior and dependence on non-renewable resources.

  6. Produce no waste: By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.

  7. Design from patterns to details: By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.

  8. Integrate rather than segregate: By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.

  9. Use small and slow solutions: Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.

  10. Use and value diversity: Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.

  11. Use edges and value the marginal: The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.

  12. Creatively use and respond to change: We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.

PoeticFlow:

She is brutalized, for our supersized
existence.  Big houses, cars and closets
to ease the pain of shrunken meaning and ALIVENESS.
But it doesn’t work.  The pain of separation is still there.
So we continue our bubbly chatter
Turn, and stuff, our faces.
nom-nom-nom… let’s think of new places
to pillage, strip and chew to the bone.
Home, desolated home.
23 Comments
April Toomey
2/10/2014 12:23:13 am

Thank you Erika for this thought provoking podcast. During it I kept reflecting on all of the jobs and financial security we are all creating for one another by being a consumer of the things you mentioned (items, food, electricity).

Also to survive is to need to consume (not just food, but I need a coat, boots, hat, gloves, scarf to survive the winter for example). Can you speak more at some point on consumption vs. over consumption?

Thanks much!

Your dear fan,
April

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/10/2014 01:00:58 am

April, thank you for listening! And thanks for your fantastic, and equally thought-provoking, question.

You're totally right... it's unavoidable that we consume some things... heck, lots of things. And while needful consumption is a part of natural order, consumption AS A WAY OF LIFE is entirely unnatural. The painful part... that creeps into ecocide... is that modern life has been entirely organized around consumption. That's when the consumption scale tips to "over"... when it's heralded as the reason for our very existence.

Additionally, we have so settled-in to this idea of ourselves as "consumer", most of us have lost (or maybe never learned) skills that could actually make us "creators" or "producers". We could flip the parasitic-script by learning a few skills -- depending on our personal interest -- that would actually enable us to repair/restore the earth... or, at the very least, not pimp her quite as hard.

So grateful for your visit, Fresh Breeze ;-)
Erika

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April Toomey
2/10/2014 03:21:00 am

Thank you, Erika! That insight helps me understand these concepts better! I wasn't quite on board the first time around, but am getting closer!

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Justine Devoe
2/10/2014 04:22:26 am

What a great first show! In response to your request for feedback regarding the integration of poetic/story telling tones mixed in with the 'typically' more linear subject matter, I think it's absolutely refreshing, inspiring and it immensely contributes towards a cultural expansion of living harmoniously with the worlds around by means of integration. Nature has shown us that although we 'compartmentalize' what we understand in order to process certain types of information, everything is deeply interconnected. Your flow and pace was very pleasing to my ears and my soul, and was also very nourishing to my thought process. Little touches of humor resonate with me greatly and help to keep the heart from becoming overwhelmed when facing a world of seemingly great resistance. Thank you for sharing!

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Erika Harris link
2/10/2014 07:35:28 pm

Justine, I am so enriched by your comment! THANK YOU for clearly articulating what I was doing by simple gut guidance :-) I'm happy that you received the experiment of it with insight that has deepened my own understanding. I look forward to learning more, from and with you. XO

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Barry DeCarli link
2/10/2014 05:10:43 am

Hi Erika, I was surprised by the quote from Victor Lebow on consumerism. Thank you for introducing his theories to me. It is overwhelming to imagine changing our culture from one of rampant consumption to a different model. Maybe, it will happen one person at a time but I would hope for much larger movement by like-minded people. Either way it won't happen in my lifetime (I'm 66). As I listened attentively to your voice, I did notice the changes in your delivery, and the words, while still reflecting your subject matter, brought a momentary respite, a gentle pause in the tone of speech through the language of poetry. Maya Angelou came to mind immediately. I will be interested to continue this journey with you next Monday.

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/10/2014 08:15:26 pm

Hi, Barry! What surprised you about the Lebow quote? How explicit it is, or something else?

You MADE MY DAY by letting me know you are coming along on the journey. Am thrilled to have you here!

I'm 43, and probably have more than a reasonable amount of idealism "for someone my age"... but just as I was becoming a bit weary, and starting to suffer from "eco-despair," I find myself and my hope renewed... yes, by permaculture, and the realistic/practical solutions it offers everyone and every interest/skill level. I'm okay with "one person at a time." History hasn't yet shown me big + fast stampedes toward cultural transformation :-)

Maya Angelou came to mind? Well, that's some bar to rise to! LOL. Seriously, thank you for that honorable association, Barry. I will remember the value of good respites here and there. Thanks very much for your feedback! Hope to hear more.

Reply
Barry DeCarli link
2/11/2014 01:53:51 am

Good Morning Erika, maybe surprised wasn't the right word, but I didn't realize how long ago consumerism has been the most dominant paradigm in our economy. Obviously, I've never studied economics. You know, I didn't recognizeconsumerism as a bad thing until after 9/11 when it began to be equated with patriotism. I guess that got my attention. Now I see consumerism as ominous substitute for the American Dream where the middle class strives to have ALL the things they desire, and if they can't have them all, then the dream is dead. As for my Maya Angelou reference, I think it was the cadence of your speech that changed - all of a sudden I realized I was listening to poetry. By the way, I'm ok with one person at a time also. Looking forward to hearing more.

Clara I Gonzalez-Herndon
2/11/2014 11:07:27 am

Wow, Erika, what a brilliant first show!

From the start you got my attention.. " white sandy beaches are great, but this show is black fertile soil." Wow!! Indeed, your show is not about feeling good but about feeding our souls with fertile, healthier, rich and more natural ways to live life.

The contents of your show were fantastic (vulnerable, intelligent, challenging, daring, non-judgmental, and thought provoking!). Your voice was natural, soothing, sweet and assertive. Your laughter pop in and out, and even the brief noise in the background made me feel like I was right there with you.

I am looking forward to hear how you continue to challenge our conditioning and helping us to see more clearly through the false believes that we have bought into as individuals and as a society.

Thank YOU!!

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/11/2014 07:14:09 pm

Clara, you *were* right there with me ;-)

Thanks very much for taking the time to share your kind and detailed feedback. I'm grateful! XO

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Joyce Kawasaki
2/12/2014 04:30:54 am

A mind opening experience, that turns this upside down world right side up, to see the world in a new light. Breathtaking! This truth will release you from the prison of society's constructs which we do see that binds and suffocates without our knowing why...until now.

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Erika Harris link
2/12/2014 07:28:10 pm

Inversions. Not just for yoga. :-) Thanks for listening, Joyce!

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Joyce Kawasaki
2/13/2014 05:30:17 am

It is my pleasure! Thank you for your message and what you are doing for the world!

Monica Moody link
2/12/2014 06:17:37 am

Erika, I am so excited about the launch of this podcast. You are giving voice to issues, concerns and ideas that are near and dear to my heart. You have a way of articulating things that commands my attention and reassures my soul. Thank you. So many of us walk through our days with this background awareness that something is terribly wrong but we are unsure of how to respond to all that is brewing within our own minds. With regard to consumerism, I can't tell you how many times I've thought . . . "Is anyone seeing this?" It’s like we’ve blindly accepted the label of “consumer” as our primary role in life. And though on some level (an unconscious one for most I would say) we feel lost in a mad mad world, we’re just not sure of how to break loose! Thank you for your openness, your honesty, your warmth, your fierceness, your artistry and your insight. I can't wait for more.

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/12/2014 07:46:18 pm

Monica, I realize the topics + perspectives of this podcast are contrary to mainstream (aka "fringe"), so the fact that you so fully get it... makes me wonder if you and I are possibly from the same planet, which ain't this one! LOL :-) Seriously, your support is so appreciated. Thank you.

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JOYCE E KAWASAKI
2/14/2014 03:15:38 am

Monica, so well stated as well and I resonate deeply with what Erika and you have both said here. I would love to express these further in "All of Me, All of Us". Hugs and love to you and Erika, Joyce

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Susan Helmer
2/12/2014 08:30:50 pm

Thanks, Erica, for your thoughtful podcast. You give soul soothing voice to many of the same concerns I and so many others are grappling with. Permaculture as a way of life is a beautiful thing to work for.

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/13/2014 07:48:02 pm

Susan, thanks for letting me know we share these concerns... and ideals :-)

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Jill Lanier link
2/13/2014 10:21:37 am

Hi Erika!

I too very much enjoyed your first podcast, and am happy to have found a fellow student of permaculture and regenerative models for living and working.

"Gais's Garden" is one of my favorite books as well. Another book that might be of interest to people here is "Cradle to Cradle" by William McDonough & Michael Braungart, which addresses the notion of "consumption" in a holistic and regenerative way.

As described by Permaculture Principle #6 - Produce No Waste, which Erika has listed above, McDonough & Braungart believe that waste=food. That is, the output (or waste) from one process should serve as input (or food) for another. As April pointed out, we do need some things to survive or just to enjoy life and make it pleasant, but we can be more mindful and conscientious about how we consume and what becomes of things once we are done with them, and the impact our consumption has on others and the landscapes within which we live.

Looking forward to more discussion here!

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/13/2014 07:51:20 pm

Hi, Jill! Thanks very much for the great resources + insights you shared. I hope you will keep 'em coming :-)

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Wisdom Seeker
2/13/2014 09:30:01 pm

Oh, the power and magic of sanity, and the joy of it being delivered so exquisitely! Thank you, Erika, for this podcast; your work is truly cut out for you. After listening, may the rest of us use our conviction to urgently modify the thought processes and habits that threaten our lives and our planet -- our only home.

Urgently,
Wisdom Seeker

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Barry DeCarli link
2/26/2014 02:14:15 am

Hi Erika, I thought you might be interested in this link. I didn't realize until this morning that this friend I've know since the late 70s (when he was 6) is now a certified permaculturist in South Carolina. He's a great guy, too! https://www.facebook.com/pages/International-Center-For-Sustainability-Inc-ICS-Inc/266419752050?ref=br_rs

Reply
Erika Harris link
2/26/2014 03:03:18 am

Barry, what a great resource! I'm so glad you shared it here, thank you. Have checked out, and "Liked" your friend's page, and am already learning much from it. Very inspiring, what's he created.

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