As song and dance erupt through out the theater stadium at the 2024 Bioneer Conference where scientist, activists, elders, teachers, and students come to gather for social grief and solution, one couldn’t escape the sense of hope that continues to grow despite the mounting pressure in the face of climate crisis, capitalistic corporate greed, declining of democracy, lack of health resources and food sovereignty.
The world is burning, the world is underwater. Why are we singing and dancing?
Most of us (if not all of us) feel the despair that hang in the air. Wars are happening and erupting all over the world and it never seem like we are doing enough.
Some of us feel small and helpless as if nothing we do makes a dent in the disastrous direction we are heading into. And some are coming up with solutions, some are quite interesting and others quite questionable (e.g., storing carbon underground, which is dangerous to the localized community). Some, regardless of what’s happening, continue to hold hope in our hearts.
As the song on stage rung out -
“We cannot do this alone
No need to do this alone
Will you move when the voice inside you calls
And all the walls fall down
No need to do this alone
Will you move when the voice inside you calls”
Do you remember the last time when your bare feet touch the soft ground, where beneath that soil life thrives? Do you remember the last time when you dipped your feet in the cool river or creek, where the rushing of the water played a chorus of symphony with the birds and the trees?
Do you remember a time where you moved when the voice inside of you called?
It’s ok if you can’t remember. Here is an invitation to you to close your eyes (at a safe place, please) and let your imagination fly. Imagine your feet on the soft grass or the warm sand or the cool creek. How does that feel? How does the wind feel on your skin? What are the birds singing to you? Do you notice the slowing of your breaths? Can you notice a moment of awareness of your needs? What are your needs? Is it rest and connection? Is it food and touch? Is it new explorations and financial stability? Remembering that there are no right or wrong answers as we each need different things to thrive, just as different plants in the garden and forest need different conditions to grow.
I wish you find some time to tend to your needs and “move” today in any way possible, big or small, if the voice inside you calls.
Heres to our collective thriving even in the hard times.