Hope Beneath Our Feet_ Restoring Our Place in the Natural World - Martin Keogh [84]
Clarity of mind and intention coupled with equanimity function as a navigational star that helps us steer a course through the turbulent waters of confrontation. Every situation poses unique challenges. We need to know when to adapt to a situation and when to resist, how to use the materials at hand and when to seek additional resources, when to follow another’s lead and when to assert a new vision. If we come from a place of disrespect, fueled by desperation or bitterness, or any other weakened place, we may become the type of person we abhor. It is vital that we engage the entirety of our being and extend ourselves like a firm yet receptive handshake. It is vital that we not perpetuate violence to our selves—or any self. It is vital that we clarify our intentions and ground our actions in compassion and respect for all life.
Rather than allow feelings to jerk us around, acknowledge and channel feelings into appropriate actions. Rather than react to the injustice, respond with consideration for the ramifications of our actions. Reactivity draws from unconscious, knee-jerk behaviors; responsiveness calls forth a well-planned approach. The actions taken will vary from person to person and, perhaps, month to month. Ask pivotal questions, perhaps daily: How can I engage my time, skills, and energy effectively? How can I sustain myself in peace, power, and compassion? What can I do to embody and instigate change?
As sea levels rise and suffering increases, we need to learn new ways to take better care of the body of earth and the body of being. Working on inner and outer realms requires both subtle and radical actions. What values and habits need dismantling? Which ones need cultivating? What if, for instance, we shift status items from large houses to small; we prize collecting of good will over accumulating material goods; we collaborate on projects and ideas for win-win outcomes; and we appreciate art making and introspection over ceaseless industry? What if we measure the wealth of a country not by its Gross National Product, but by following Bhutan’s lead on Gross National Happiness? What vision for the present and future nourishes life?
In Coming Back to Life, authors Joanna Macy and Molly Young Brown recognize three categories of activity: holding actions such as protests and letter-writing campaigns that slow or halt further harm; studying structural causes and developing alternative institutions such as in education and economics; and shifting our perspective cognitively and spiritually by engaging in creative and meditative practices like hiking and writing.
How is hiking to the waterfall helpful to social action? Time away from routine reduces stress. The physical activity of scrambling over rocks and crossing the stream provides a visceral experience of welcome balance that refreshes the spirit. Water tumbling over the cliff contrasts with our own halted momentum and reinforces the value of a fluid self. The journey positions us among the many forms of life together sharing ground and sky, sun and moon. We return to our jobs and homes restored.
Creative work similarly revives the spirit. In the pursuit of crafting expression, we interact with the raw material of our thoughts, emotions, and impressions. We actively participate in the flow of the world as it unfolds. We recognize a constant dialogue, an interdependency that takes place both behind the scenes of our awareness and on its central stage.
A similar interdependency transpires during practices such as meditation and yoga. Visceral, unmediated activities reveal the degree of connection between our mind and body, and between our self and our surroundings. These practices reinforce attentive witnessing to the emergence of sensations, thoughts, emotions, and impressions and how we engage with the world. Habits and opportunities come into focus and point toward the possibility of change. We see how the world “out there” filters into and reflects our inner world; conversely, our inner world impacts the outer world. The two intimately twine.