The Environmental Movement; What's Authentic for Me

In the Paul Hawken article mentioned in the previous post, he writes of a movement, of "Something Earth-changing [that is] is afoot among civil society." I resonate with his statement that there is, "...a coalescence comprising hundreds of thousands of organizations with no center, codified beliefs, or charismatic leader."

At the same time I don't personally feel I live within the three intertwining roots he drew: environmental and social justice, and indigenous cultures’ resistance to globalization. It is fine with me if others see Beauty of Water this way. Justice and resistance are huge motivators, and I hold hands with them. I embrace Paul Hawken's article. Yet my own experience of what I'm doing is something else.

For anyone who may work with me on Beauty of Water, I want to be out of the closet. My way of being a part of the movement is not, as I see it, political nor environmental per se. I hope that partners in leadership have their own authentic ways in the movement. That can be anything that is real and constructive.

My authentic way is about appreciation, beauty, humanity, experiencing the elements, phenomenological relationship with water, expressive relationship with water, and tangible experiences of our oneness. I want Beauty of Water to re-give people a fully conscious experience of being water, of being one with water, and of being one with each other.

At some level we all already know about this, which is why I'm calling it re-giving. Refreshing. Celebrating. Sharing. For me this is experiencing the divine. Yet it is not religious.

I've shied away from writing that explicitly because any authentic way someone or some group may be with water is fine with me.

The Global Event Trend

Yes, this blog design has changed. I was tired of pink.

I just learned of Live Earth, a music show set to take place over 24 hours in seven locations around the world on July 7, 2007, featuring top artists and sponsored by the people behind An Inconvenient Truth such as Al Gore.

I think the global event trend is picking up speed. That makes sense, given the state of the planet.

I can tell that some people I connect with are not especially impressed by this kind of thing, among them many socially active people. I respect that. A global happening is not everyone's cup of tea. Certainly the "Think globally, act locally" movement has immense value.

Yet some people, myself included, are fascinated by thinking globally and acting globally. When a bunch of us around the planet organize ourselves with a shared intention and express ourselves to that effect, connecting in realtime or near realtime to do it, this rivets me. I feel as though this is why I'm on the planet at this time. And it's practically a cliché now: global connecting is more accessible than ever before.

I remember being a child of five growing up in Wisconsin, imagining I had a friend in China, an exotic place I had never been to. I saw in my mind's eye a little girl wearing what I thought was Chinese clothing, and she was thinking about me at the same time. I felt so connected with her. This was probably inspired by the conviction held among neighborhood kids that China was on the other side of the planet, and if you dug a hole deep enough, say with a spoon, you would get there. I would see that hole and walk through it to meet this girl. Maybe my friend is out there somewhere, now age 42, wondering when we will meet in person. Please come say hello if you're reading this!

My first conscious fascination with global community experiences came a few years ago when I participated in a Planetary Dance of Anna Halprin's on Mount Tamalpais in California. That event started in the late 1980's.

Clearly the Beauty of Water design is influenced by predecessors such as these.

Wikipedia informs me that in the mid-80's, the first Live Aid concert was held in a manner similar to the Live Earth concert, raising funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. I was in college at that time and the concert wasn't on my radar. Indeed now the Live Earth concert doesn't draw me to participate. But I'll enjoy reading about it, and I am excited it is happening.

Humans as Water

I am also in deep inquiry about WATER, water itself. I have a lot of internal messages telling me to sit with water, Be with water, and explore it on multiple levels. When I go there even just in my mind, I pretend I am a rippling lake, or a meandering river. I feel my weight as a noisy waterfall, or the weightlessness of water streaming upwards in a city fountain somewhere. I expand and become rain, falling onto the ground, forming puddles that children splash into with rubber boots. I am snow, silently floating down onto a mountain. When I imagine how these forms of water feel, personified, I become free, fluid, happy, danceful, and spiritually high. I get that this is important toward guiding The Water Project and understanding its power. We are all water.

Deepening the Inquiry

I could also call this entry Sharpening the Focus. It is in my nature to give attention to a lot of things at the same time. Sometimes, though, I get fragmented and have to regroup.

My intention for this phase has been to focus on: short-term financial sustenance, as I depleted personal funds launching The Water Project; designing sustainability for my future vis-à-vis The Water Project; learning about non-profits and other arts organizations so that The Water Project can take those steps; being a part of my family here for a while, practicing light-heartedness, skiing; and paramount to my ability to do all of the above, redeveloping habits that bring a higher level of physical fitness.

Well, it turns out that I love the personal trainer job! Twice a day I commute to the gym on foot, a half mile through tall whispering pines. And surprise ~ I suddenly have opportunity and incentive to learn about asking people to part with their money. A large part of the job is sales of specialized supplements and personal training sessions. I know I can do this because I believe in it, and I believe in it because it is thoroughly supportive of holistic health and well being. It is my job to help people achieve the goals they choose. I already have excited clients.

This morning I withdrew my candidacy for the Diversity Coordinator position at the community college. There are a lot of logical reasons for that, for example, I do not plan to live in Washington for a long time. After a lot of soul searching, though, it was my gut that told me that I have other work that is more important right now, and that my attentions would be too split if I were to learn that new job too. I am learning to focus.

As we all know, life is what happens while you're busy making other plans... I'm sure everything in this exposé is true today, yet no one can say what may unfold from here. Peace to all, thanks for reading this.