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Newsletter
Trebbe
Johnson's
Newsletter
July
2010
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Dear
Questers,
Friends,
Pursuers of
Radical Joy
for Hard
Times, and
Seekers of
the Beloved,
In the
spring of
1997, while
guiding a
vision quest
in the Utah
Canyonlands,
I myself had
a vision one
pre-dawn
morning. I
saw that I
must bring
together the
wounded
places of
the Earth
and the
people who
love them.
For years I
struggled to
figure out
how to do
this, trying
out programs
and paths
that didn't
quite work,
and
bemoaning my
failure.
But on June
19th,
2010, the
non-profit
organization
that I
founded last
year,
Radical Joy
for Hard
Times,
sponsored
the
first-ever
Global Earth
Exchange,
with more
than sixty
groups on
all seven
continents
of the
planet
gathering at
ecologically
damaged
places to
find and
make beauty.
In the end
it wasn't
I who
made this
happen, of
course, it
was all the
people who
love the
Earth and
grieve for
what is
happening to
it and who
want to
express that
sorrow and
love instead
of keeping
it to
themselves.
I am deeply
humbled,
grateful,
and
moved-and
very excited
about what
we've begun
to bring
forth!
To those who
are
receiving
this
newsletter
for the
first
time...
welcome!
Here you'll
find
profiles of extraordinary people, news of upcoming
Vision Arrow
events,
updates on
the
non-profit
organization
Radical Joy
for Hard
Times,
reflections,
and stories
of
transformation
that occur
when we
accept, in
small, bold,
startling
ways the
invitations
that the
world is
always
sending us.
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THE GLOBAL
EARTH
EXCHANGE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Navarre
Beach
Global
Earth
Exchange |
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On June 19,
at least
sixty groups
came
together on
every one of
the world's
seven
continents
to find and
make beauty
in wounded
places.
Participants
in the
Global Earth Exchange,
sponsored by
Radical Joy
for Hard
Times,
gathered at
clear-cut
forests
(Washington,
Oregon),
polluted
waters
(Oregon,
Vermont,
Bolivia, the
Gulf of
Mexico), and
formerly
wild acres
destroyed to
build
shopping
malls
(Virginia,
Pennsylvania).
They
reflected on
a
disappearing
glacier
(Antarctica),
a sacred
mountain
spring that
flows down
to the rice
paddies of
an entire
island
(Bali),
lands
already
assaulted
(Australia,
West
Virginia) or
about to be
assaulted
(Pennsylvania)
by mining,
and a valley
marred by a
motorway
(Germany).
They honored
bats
(Virginia)
and dolphins
(Hawaii).
They went to
coal plants,
abandoned
factories,
and the site
of the 2010
Olympics.
Some of the
events were
large,
drawing up
to
thirty-six
people.
Several were
solo
creations of
just one
person. The
focus of
reflection
was
sometimes
very
personal (a
family
farmhouse in
New
Hampshire
that
recently
burned to
the ground),
sometimes of
global
concern (the
Gulf of
Mexico). In
Oregon, the
award-winning
author Barry
Lopez did a
private
event. In
Australia,
Glenn Albrecht, who
coined the
term
solastalgia,
meaning the
pain one
feels upon
recognizing
that the
place one
loves is
under
assault, and
his wife
created a
Radical Joy
bird above
the valley
that is
being
destroyed by
open-pit
mining.
People
drummed and
sang, prayed
and made
offerings.
On the Great
Salt Lake
they made a
great spiral
and twirled
on it. In
the Florida
Keys they
splashed in
the water.
On
Virginia's
eastern
shore they
wove
birdhouses
out of
reviled
"invasive"
grasses. In
London they
painted
their faces
and recalled
the wildness
of
themselves
and the
Earth. In
the
mountains
outside
Dublin they
buried a
pregnant
deer who had
died when
she got
stuck in a
muddy pit
made by
motorcycle
tracks. One
couple found
two
abandoned
kittens at
their
wounded
place in
North
Carolina and
took them
home.
Men and
women told
their
stories, or
privately
reflected,
on what
these places
meant to
them, both
before and
after they
were
damaged.
They sat or
walked
silently and
paid
attention to
what was
happening in
the place in
the present.
They
discovered
beauty and
meaning in
surprising
ways.
Finally they
gave back an
act of
beauty to
the place.
In most
instances
this
included
making a
stylized
image of a
bird,
constructed
of materials
found on the
place
itself. This
bird,
singing as
it flies
into the
Earth's
damaged,
beloved
places, is
the symbol
of Radical
Joy for Hard
Times.
To see a
slide show
of the
Global Earth
Exchange,
visit our
website.
To read some
of the
individual
stories
(more are
being added
daily), see
the Earth
Exchanges
page.
All of the
stories that
we've been
receiving
are deeply
moving. This
one, from
Mike Beck,
host of the
Earth
Exchange on
Navarre
Beach,
Florida,
already
becoming
polluted
with oil
from the BP
gusher, is
especially
poignant:
Our
beaches are
being
swarmed
almost daily
since the
end of the
first week
of the
sinking of
the Deep
Water
Horizon with
gatherings
of people of
all stripes:
protests,
prayer
groups,
volunteers,
rallies for
state and
national
action, save
the
dolphins,
etc. I think
we have been
the only
group that
came with a
single
simple clear
intention:
deep
appreciation,
gratitude
and humility
for the
Earth and
what was in
each other's
hearts.
While we
were
finishing
drumming and
getting
ready to
find flotsam
and jetsam
for our act
of beauty,
[a
middle-aged
couple
walked by].
It was the
man who
spoke,
asking,
"Does your
band
practice
early
mornings at
the beach
often?"
Cynthia, who
was standing
wiping sand
off her
legs, just
looked at
him smiling
and said
enthusiastically,
"Oh no,
we're not a
band! We
just came to
be with a
sick
friend."
Then there
was a
momentary
pause, a
silence with
only the
gently
cresting
waves
falling on
the shore
before he
said in a
kindly
voice,
"Thank you
for doing
this."
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SORROW IS
APPROPRIATE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call it the
click
response.
The
grotesque
images we've
seeing for
the past two
months, of
sea birds
gripped in
carapaces of
toxic oil
and dolphins
expelling
black muck
from their
blowholes,
are so hard
to look at
that we want
to click
immediately
to a
different
website,
turn the
page of the
paper, or
switch the
channel.
Yet those
reactions of
horror,
revulsion,
and pity
actually
indicate
that we have
a healthy
capacity for
compassion.
Compassion
means,
literally,
to feel
with
another.
When that
other is
suffering,
the
compassion
response
that arises
in us is
painful, so
we seek
relief by
turning
away. And
it's hard to
convince
ourselves
when we see
the effects
of oil
spewing
continuously
from BP's
broken rig
that those
creatures
aren't
suffering.
Frequently,
those who
express
regret about
the loss, or
potential
loss, of
some wild
place or
species are
accused of
caring more
about nature
than about
people.
Someone who
objects that
proposed
industry or
development
in a place
will
adversely
affect an
animal,
plant, or
ecosystem is
criticized
for
"anthropomorphizing."
Afraid of
being
thought
over-sensitive
or "soft,"
the
ecologically
incriminated
hasten to
excuse
themselves
and try to
temper their
concern
about the
natural
world with
hearty
assurances
that, no,
no, they
really do
care about
people, too.
It's time to
accept that,
as
sophisticated
beings
capable of
compassion,
we humans
are touched
and saddened
not only by
assaults on
people but
by those on
nature as
well. It's
time to
acknowledge
that
regretting
loss in
nature does
not mean
that we are
indifferent
to people.
It is time,
finally,
stop
apologizing
for loving
the natural
world. Our
hearts break
when we see
these Gulf
Coast birds
and animals
dying of
oil, because
we know that
an ineffable
source of
meaning,
beauty, and
inspiration
is being
destroyed in
us as well.
That is
heartbreaking.
Knowing and
accepting so
makes us
human.
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TONGLEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Celilo
Falls
Global
Earth
Exchange.
Photo
by
Daniel
Dancer |
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Every once
in a while
(last night
for
example), I
seem to have
to drown for
a while in
the sorrows
of the
world. The
plight of
oil-entombed
birds in the
Gulf,
children
horribly
victimized
by militants
in the
Congo, my
own
financial
stress, the
illness of
two beloved
friends--it
all feels
like a great
ocean of
sorrow that
I am not
exactly
caught in,
but somehow
need
to swim in.
On nights
like those,
I get little
sleep. When
I remember
it (often
not in a
very timely
way), the
Buddhist
practice of
tonglen is
helpful.
Here's what
author and
teacher
Pema Chödrön
says about
tonglen on
her website:
The tonglen
practice is
a method for
connecting
with
suffering--ours
and that
which is all
around
us--everywhere
we go. It is
a method for
overcoming
fear of
suffering
and for
dissolving
the
tightness of
our heart.
Primarily it
is a method
for
awakening
the
compassion
that is
inherent in
all of us,
no matter
how cruel or
cold we
might seem
to be.
We begin the
practice by
taking on
the
suffering of
a person we
know to be
hurting and
who we wish
to help. For
instance, if
you know of
a child who
is being
hurt, you
breathe in
the wish to
take away
all the pain
and fear of
that child.
Then, as you
breathe out,
you send the
child
happiness,
joy or
whatever
would
relieve
their pain.
This is the
core of the
practice:
breathing in
others' pain
so they can
be well and
have more
space to
relax and
open, and
breathing
out, sending
them
relaxation
or whatever
you feel
would bring
them relief
and
happiness.
She goes on
to advise
that, if you
feel
overwhelmed
and stuck,
you can just
focus on all
the people
who feel
just as you
do. Then you
breathe in
difficulty
for all of
us, breathe
out relief
for all of
us.
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WHAT
NOW?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Joyce
Kilmer
Memorial
Forest.
Photo
by
Jerry
Greer |
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On September
10-17, my
colleague
Eugene
Hughes
and I will
be returning
to the
beautiful
old-growth
Joyce Kilmer
Memorial
Forest
in
southwestern
North
Carolina for
our second
What Now?
program. The
program is
designed for
people who
have had a
powerful
vision or
intention in
their lives
(whether
through a
vision quest
or
otherwise)
and now find
that they
need to
re-explore
that vision,
either
because they
have
changed, or
the world
has changed,
or both.
The natural
world is the
wisest and
most
exacting
teacher,
because we
are
constantly
being drawn
to facets in
nature that
precisely
and subtly
mirror where
we are in
that very
instant,
both within
and without.
On this
journey, we
work with
the
conjunction
between
human and
nature in
many ways: a
twilight
ceremony at
the lake to
let go of
what you no
longer
need... an
evolving
mandala of
what's
important in
your life,
made of
earth's
elements...
a 24-hour
solo in the
ancient
forest...
and more.
It was both
startling
and
gratifying
last year to
see the
participants'
visions
emerge--clear,
sharp, and
whole--by
the end of
the week. As
always, the
treasure was
never
outside and
unknown, but
always
within and
waiting to
be
discerned.
Yet, it's
amazing how
much gunk,
in the form
of other
people's
ideas, our
own
experience
or lack of
it,
ingrained
opinions
about our
skills, etc.
muddy it up.
We are
looking for
people who
know they
have
something
vital to
contribute
to their
world and
are seeking
clarity,
insight, and
the first
steps so
they can get
going! If
that's you,
then do join
us. For more
information,
see the
Vision Arrow
website.
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WRITINGS AND
UPCOMING
EVENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My book,
The World Is
a Waiting
Lover,
with a
foreword by
Thomas
Moore,
author of
Care of the
Soul,
is available
from
Amazon.com
or from your
favorite
bookstore.
Article:
My
article,
"World
Religions
Get Down to
Earth,"
about the
Parliament
of the
World's
Religions
last
December in
Melbourne,
Australia,
is in the
current
issue of
Parabola.
It has also
been
reprinted in
the
Parliament
of the
World's
Relgions
newsletter.
Interview:
The
Spiritual
Book Club
blog did
an interview
with me
recently.
Very fun
questions.
UPCOMING
PROGRAMS
from
VISION ARROW
Path of the
Lover
Workshops
We all live
with two
inner forces
that
influence
many of our
decisions
each day.
One calls us
forth into
the mystery
that beckons
us to expand
more fully
and
authentically
into the
world. The
other holds
us back and
urges (often
excessive)
caution.
This popular
workshop,
based on my
book,
focuses on
the first
voice, that
of the
archetypal
Beloved, a
figure that
shows up in
the myths of
many
cultures,
the poems of
mystics, and
in our
dreams as
the symbol
of
wholeness.
Brought to
conscious
awareness,
the Path of
the Lover
can bring us
joy,
passion, and
fulfillment.
-
Connect
with the
archetypal
Beloved
in you,
that
knows
how to
say YES
to what
you love
-
Discover
how your
past
loves
(including
those
that
didn't
work
out)
were
essential
in
opening
you up
to a
bigger
capacity
to love
-
Learn to
recognize
the
inner
voice of
the
"loyal
soldier"
that
wants to
hold you
back
from
following
your
heart
-
See how
fascination
and
allurement
have led
you onto
important
paths
all your
life
July
30-August 2:
Seattle
(contact
Ruth Dow
Rogers)
Note: This workshop is being held in a
private home
on the water
and will be
limited to
only twelve
people. It
is shaping
up to be a
wonderful
group, and
there's
still time &
space to
join.
November
12-14:
Schloss
Glarisegg,
Lake
Constance,
Switzerland
(contact
Silvia Figel)
November
19-21:
Eschwege
Institute,
Eschwege,
Germany
Endless
Mountains
Vision Quest
August
9-13
This
four-day
program,
held in a
secluded
400-acre
nature
preserve, is
specially
designed for
those who
seek a
meaningful
rite of
passage in a
beautiful,
yet
accessible
place. You
explore many
of the same
processes
and
practices as
in the
longer
vision
quest, but
with a focus
on reading
Nature's
lessons and
discovering
how they
apply to
your own
path in
life. For
the
twenty-four-hour
solo you may
choose from
among
diverse
ecological
niches:
glacial
pond,
meadow,
wetlands,
stream, or
forest.
Minimal
backpacking.
$605
What Now?
September
10-17
The time
comes when
everyone who
has quested
for a vision
or dedicated
themselves
in some
other way to
bring a
vision to
fruition
needs to
re-explore
what
happened and
how the
insights of
that
experience
relate to
your current
life. During
this
week-long
retreat,
held in
old-growth
Joyce Kilmer
Memorial
Forest in
North
Carolina,
you'll
explore what
about your
original
vision still
has heart
and
meaning...
clarify
where you
are right
now and what
you are
called to
contribute
to your
community
and your
planet...
and discover
how you can
reshape your
vision to
feed your
own joy and
the world's
hunger for
meaningful
change.
There will
be a one-day
solo in the
ancient
forest.
Guides:
Trebbe Johnson &
Eugene Hughes
Cost:
$1,050.
Click here
to get to
the
Vision Arrow website,
where you
can download
our
beautiful
flyer by
Charlotte
Dewar, who
works with
Eugene.
Sahara
Vision Quest
and Camel
Caravan
January
1-15, 2011
NOTE: We are
changing
this from a
3-week to a
2-week
vision
quest.
Following
the steps of
intrepid
seekers
throughout
the ages who
have been
drawn to the
desert to
fast and
pray for
guidance, we
venture into
the greatest
desert of
all: the
Sahara. Our
guides are a
group of
nomadic
Tuareg, a
matriarchal
people known
for their
love of the
desert,
poetry,
camels, and
beauty.
Our base
camp in the
black basalt
wonderland
of southern
Algeria is
truly
remote,
reached
after 1-2
days travel
by Land
Rover,
followed by
3-4 days in
a camel
caravan. To
undertake
this
journey, you
must have an
adventurous
spirit and
be prepared
to sleep
under the
stars,
immerse
yourself in
the ways of
another
culture,
experience
hot days and
cold nights,
live three
weeks
without a
shower, and
move
fearlessly
into a life
of meaning
and
fulfillment.
Guides:
Sabina Wyss,
Trebbe
Johnson,
Adem
Mellakh, and
Tuareg hosts
Cost :
4,444 Swiss
Francs,
(approximately
$4,500.00),
including
all meals,
camping
fees, riding
camel, land
transportation
in the
desert, and
air travel
from a
European
city to
Tamanrasset,
Algeria
For a
complete
list of
programs
offered by
Vision
Arrow, see
our
website.
Call 570 727
4272 or
email
Trebbe if
you have
questions or
would like
to talk
about any of
these
programs.
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