Heart and Soul

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Comment by Jamie Jedinak on October 13, 2010 at 1:35am

Here's to the good healing needed at your sanctuary, Dear One....Let me know if there is anything I can do for you two? Love, Jamie

Comment by Laura J Sellens on October 9, 2010 at 4:48pm

By the way, do you actually have a pedicab or know someone who does? I saw one posted on craigslist (for $800). It's a cool idea! I just don't see that type of thing too often.

Comment by Cindi Landreth on September 10, 2010 at 12:37pm

Greetings Everyone! I am putting a plea out to see who might be interested in helping to plan an evening talk with Kathy McMahon ('mc-man') - aka 'The Peak Shrink'. She will be in Bellingham only one evening - Oct. 22nd. Her expenses are very low and I can work with whomever is interested in helping to make this great opportunity work out - but I won't be able to attend the event due to other commitments (Cindi is sad...very sad :-(

If you are interested please call me right away at 360-319-9092. I will give you more info and create a team.

I am also hoping someone will want to plan an Open Space Day to follow up her talk, which is called:

"How to Stay Sane as the World Goes Crazy: Economic Hard Times, Climate Change and the Messy Issue of Oil"

About Kathy McMahon:
I've been a doctoral-level clinical psychologist for twenty years, who, for the past four and one half years, I've kept a website (www.peakoilblues.org) and blog (www.peakoilblues.org/blog) inviting stories from people all over the world who were worried, anxious or depressed about Peak Oil, climate change and economic collapse.

My initial question involved "What is a 'normal reaction' to learning about Peak Oil? How to people adjust to this news and how long does it take? What kinds of changes to they make in their lives and how do they feel about these changes?"

People ask question like: 'What if one spouse isn't 'on board'?' 'How do you talk to children and teenagers about Peak Oil?' 'What happens when community or group struggles impede effective unity?' 'Are their serious limitations to 'positive thinking' and if so, what are they?' 'What psychological lessons have we learned from the last 'Great Depression' and how do these need to be adapted to the 21st century?' 'What kind of personalities (the kind I call 'feisty') best adapt to this ongoing challenge and what are the kinds of personal and activists struggles do they face?' There are many others.

I am writing a book entitled "Peak Oil Blues: How to Stay Sane while the World Goes Crazy."


Don't you think this could be a great Heart and Soul event!?

Comment by David MacLeod on June 28, 2010 at 10:10pm

Heart & Soul and Transition work. What are the various ways Heart & Soul can serve the Transition movement? Sophy Banks, one of the original Transition Trainers (she co-led the training I attended in Portland), is also the primary voice of Heart & Soul in Transition Town Totnes.

I found her recent article, "An Inside View of the 2010 Transition Conference" to be very instructive, as she demonstrates how she holds Inner Transition work and brings it in to how she contributes to event planning. Check it out.

By way of introduction, she writes: "I’ve written this for those interested in the process of designing and running the event, particularly because what happened gave such an opportunity to explore what happens when something shocking lands in our communities and really shakes people up. In this post I’ll talk about what I’ve learnt – in particular how key it is to be able to marry the practical, outer, doing side of Transition, the factual knowledge of what’s happening, the ability to express and hold strong feelings, and then to reflect and make a deeper meaning from what’s happened. Holding this conference became a powerful job of weaving together these different qualities and skills in a frame of mutual respect and trust, with an amazing group of over three hundred people who brought all the different elements that were needed. The underlying intention for the conference was recognise the strength that comes with inclusion and diversity, and learning how to handle challenges and conflict – and we kind of got more than we bargained for!.."

http://transitionculture.org/2010/06/25/an-inside-view-on-the-2010-...

Comment by Dawn G on April 14, 2010 at 11:45am

Hi All - I posted the potluck as an event that folks can RSVP to. Also, here are the words of a Hopi Elder that Cyndy read at the close of her TGU session.

You have been telling the people,
That this is the eleventh hour.
Now, you must go and tell the people,
That THIS is the hour,
And there are things to be considered.

Where are you living? What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in the right relationship?
Where is your water?

Know your garden ...

It is time to speak your truth.
Create your community,
Be good to each other.
Do not look outside yourself for a leader.

There is a river flowing now very fast,
It is so great and swift.
That there are those who will be afraid,
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being pulled apart,
And will suffer greatly.

Understand that the river knows its' destination,
The elders say we must let go of the shore.
Push off into the middle of the river,
Keep our eyes open and our heads above water.

And I say; see who is in there with you,
Hold fast to them and celebrate!

At this time in history,
We are to take nothing personally.
Least of all, ourselves!
For the moment we do,
Our spiritual growth and journey comes to an end.

The time of the Lone Wolf is over!

Gather yourselves!

Banish the word 'struggle' from
Your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done,
In a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are all about to go on a journey,
We are the ones we have been waiting for!

- Thomas Banyacya Sr. (1910-1999)
Speaker of the Wolf, Fox and Coyote Clan
Elder of the Hopi Nation

Comment by David MacLeod on March 20, 2010 at 10:28am

I want to express thanks to all of you who have been contributing to the Heart & Soul group, an important part of Transition work. I'm continually disappointed that I haven't yet been able to find the time to be more involved.

I do have a concern. I think its important to remember that Transitiion is a non-sectarian movement. We want people from any faith tradition or spiritual practice to feel welcomed and included, and we don't want to give the impression that we (as a group) are favoring or endorsing one spiritual practice over another.

People of some faith traditions can be easily offended or turned off by what some might think are the smallest things.

I find it tragic that some Christians have been turned off of the environmental movement because of a perception that environmentalists worship nature rather than God (worshiping the creation rather than the creator). Tragic, because they might have been brought on board with the concept that stewardship of God's creation is a Christian responsibility. (And by the way...I don't consider Transition Whatcom to be an environmental organization - though sustainability and resilience work needs to include environmental aspects).

My personal opinion is that as individuals and sub-groups within the Transition movement, we should all be encouraged to speak up about and organize events that connect Transition Heart & Soul work to the spiritual paths we feel most connected to. But as the larger Heart & Soul community representing all of Transition Whatcom, we should strive to be as inclusive as possible and be careful not to represent one spiritual path as the choice of Transition Whatcom as a whole.

Therefore, for a meditation room or Hall of Hope, for me that means to make it as neutral and inclusive as possible. Could it be organized so that there is a Christian prayer at one time, a time for those of Jewish faith, a time for new thought folks, etc., etc.? And can the space be neutral enough so that none of these groups are put off?

Comment by Kathryn J. Fentress on March 3, 2010 at 8:36pm

Over the past few months many of us have offered a wealth of wonderful ideas about the Heart and Soul Group's mission and purpose. Several of us recently distilled and synthesized the material and came up with this concise and comprehensive statement: The Heart and Soul Group focuses on serving the emotional and spiritual needs of the members of Transition Whatcom. Through music, art, healing processes, meditation, an enhanced appreciation of nature, we work to empower people to make the needed changes for a successful transition to a post oil world.

This same group (Cyndy Sheldon, Robert Bystrom, Tristan Bach, Dove Toll, Laura Winds, and myself) also generated some ideas for projects that will be developed over the next couple of months. Robert is interested in sharing his Segue Way model for those of us interested in facilitating group process and discussion. This technique would be helpful to all our groups at Transition Whatcom. Cyndy will be offering a workshop on Living with Uncertainty at the Unleashing. Laura is interested in adding diversity to our movement and is reaching out to some of he elders on Lummi Reservation. Tristan and Laura are working on locating special meditative places around the county to support reflection and connectedness to nature. Dove and I are excited about the Awakening the Dreamer symposiums and the work of Joanna Macy and we will be offering some of each later this spring. Any of you who have a interest in any of these projects are welcome to join in. Please contact the appropriate person.

There are many other ideas for events and activities that have been suggested in the past: celebrations, support groups to deal with the emotional challenges of transitioning, developing a resource directory or counselors in the area who are familiar with these challenges, meditation groups, visioning new possibilities, educating ourselves and others about the process of change, and inner transformational work. If any of these inspire you, please consider offering an event. Everyone in Heart and Soul has gifts to share. Meanwhile, Happy Spring!

Comment by Kay Dayss on February 17, 2010 at 2:22pm

Thanks Robert, I so very much agree! We need to dig deep to re-discover ourselves. Dream work and Shamanic Journey and creating art together and holding sacred space circles can help with all of this while at the same time building community, which is the BEST way IMHO to deal with the end of oil. It will be like a continuous (or at least continual) Great Unleashing. Would you like to organize this in your area? (see my offer below)

Thanks, Cindi, I appreciate your message. I am willing to do the travelling to come to you all for shamanic journey work, creating art together, dream work, sacred circles, ANYTHING really that will help each of us to remember who we are and why we came here to earth. I am a travelling gypsy woman and Earth Creativity School is built for my VW. I had the pow wow drum built specifically to fit into my little VW New Beetle. Have ART will TRAVEL. As I said before, this is my mission, this is who I am, and this is why I came here to Earth, so nothing will stop me. If you can't come to my magical yurt, I'll bring her magic to where you are. 8-)

To create a gathering at your place, all I need is for you to create a place to gather, get the people together (4 to 12 people), get the art materials necessary (after talking to you about what you want to do, I'll give you a list), and pay my expenses by donation from the participants. This will save a lot of time for all of you and I'll be the only one driving. For example, I'd be happy to come do this for your family, for your work team, for your church group, for your Transition Whatcom Initiating Group, for your friends, or for any other group of people gathered to create art.

I'm also open to coming to your house or office for a one-to-one Earth Creativity School class with anyone for my normal teaching/tutoring fee of $20 per hour plus $10 for gas.

In other words, Earth Creativity School is very inexpensive, and I make house calls, business calls, school calls, and church calls anywhere in Whatcom County.

I'm also happy to help you build a sacred creativity yurt in your back yard.

I'm a facilitator, so I prefer to facilitate. Gathering the people is not fun for me. I'd prefer that you gather the people. Then I'll come facilitate your gathering. You define whether you want a sacred circle gathering, a creating art together gathering, a shamanic journey gathering, a dream study gathering, a nature connection gathering, or an art class. I offer 49 different art classes. You can choose one that is right for your gathering, and then I'll give you the parameters and materials requirements.

I prefer to stay away from issue-based meetings (like peak oil) becuase for me the issue limits the meeting, and I find that frustrating. But I would be happy to offer free art classes at the meeting place if I am not boxed into the issue.

As Bucky Fuller said, we can't create change things by fighting the existing model. To create real change, we need to build a NEW model that makes the existing model obsolete.

It is the process of creating art that is important. The end result is merely a reminder of the process. 50,000 years ago there were two species of human, Cro Magnan and Neanderthal. The Neanderthal were vastly physically superior. They both had the same size brains. They both loved their people (both had flower pollen found in their graves). In fact, the only difference that we've been able to find to account for the reason why Neanderthal went extinct is that Cro Magnan painted pictures on the inside of their caves, and Neanderthal did not. It is speculated that this visual art creation activity was what brought the community together in rituals and awakened their creativity enough to give them the courage to move when they needed to move. The Neanderthal had music (flutes found), but there is something about creating visuals that was even more important than sound.

Now we are faced with extinction again, and we need to dive deeply into our creativity again. I believe that by creating art together, we will be able to let go of the money-based old story and create a NEW community-based story where we are each both free and encouraged to be who we are and do what we came to earth to do.

Give me a call and lets talk about it: 360-543-5628

Love and Blessings,
Kay Dayss, Gypsy Facilitator
Earth Creativity School -- a magical art school in a yurt

Comment by Cindi Landreth on February 16, 2010 at 8:14pm

Hi Everybody
Great to see so much activity here!
I want to respond to Kay's comments about Transition Whatcom vs Transition Bellingham and the willingness (or not) to stretch out into the county more.

Transition Whatcom Initiating Group has some very clear responsibilities: raise awareness about critical issues due to the end of cheap oil, climate change and economic instability; inspire Transition Initiatives to be birthed throughout the county; to foster connections and build bridges between TW and existing organizations that are already doing transition work; to hold a Great Unleashing and start a formal process for creating the backbone of what will become an Energy Descent Action Plan (or Pathway).

We are very excited when someone from the county starts poking their head up and saying 'hey - what about building a connection here!' (Thank you, Kay!) There are Transition Initiatives being mulled over in Ferndale, Blaine, Laurel, Goshen and ....the Foothills of Baker (my home stomping grounds is Maple Falls).

The Heart and Soul group is currently a group of people that are passionate about the inner work that we all need to do to transition toward a post peak oil world - to one more connected to the natural world; to stronger communities; to understanding the full potential of what it means to be a human being; to understand how change happens in one's life; to..... I could go on for quite some time and I am sure others (including yourself) could, too.

I put 'currently' in italics because there is potential for the mission of this group to change as we pass through the 4th step of the Transition Movement - The Great Unleashing - and the 5th step - forming working groups that focus on identified critical issues our county needs to address (vision our way foward and then backcast with a plan on how to get there) in the face of peak oil, climate change and economic instability.

Creating smaller, more localized initiatives (around the foothills, for example) would allow for more resilient transportation, food security, healthcare, heart and soul work, energy generation and use, etc...

I spoke with several people from your area about 6 or 7 months ago about starting a Transition Initiative up there and there was initially some excitement. Perhaps you would like to get in touch with those people? Perhaps more heart and soul work could be done with folks in your area of the county? Brita Atkinson was one person I was speaking with.

I know there are several people from all over the county that are interested in doing what you are proposing. It sounds great to me, too! Some people are choosing to stay closer to home by choice - to burn less fossil fuels and others are more reticent to come out that far for other reasons. I can imagine it might be that investing my heart into building more human relationships closer to home is a priority. It might be that when time is of the essence in the evenings, adding travel time to the adventure just blows the deal. The real attraction is everything you talked about - deepening and broadening our sense of who we are; remembering a different lifestyle is possible; connecting deeply with Mother Earth;....

I would, and many of the other Transition members would, love to come out and inspire folk in your area to organize around this movement. If you would like help in explaining the Transition Movement to friends and neighbors and are willing to gather some folk to your home or community center or ??? we will find someone to support your efforts. Perhaps you could do a piece about what the Heart and Soul work is to you.

Well, that is my two bits worth. Transition Whatcom is a Hub Initiative and is very willing to stretch to all parts of the county! We just need to be strategic with our time. We are all volunteers that are working very hard to do this work - as you are!

Thank you for everything you do!
Cindi

That said,

Comment by Kay Dayss on February 16, 2010 at 4:02pm

I welcome everyone to friend me up on Facebook. In addition to my personal facebook account (search for Kay Dayss) where I post notes and other thoughts, I have a facebook group for Earth Creativity School and a facebook fan page for Earth Creativity School.

If you want to break free, I do NOT have the answers for you, but YOU DO. I can help you gain access to your own wisdom, your own greater self, your soul, ... or whatever you want to call it. I'm a facilitator, transformation coach, and healing facilitator. You CAN create an entirely NEW story for your life, one that is unique to who you are and what you came here to do in this lifetime. One that is FUN. If it isn't FUN, don't do it. If it isn't FUN, it is somebody else's agenda, not yours.

I think that right now many people have reached the point in the transition where they are willing to do "green" projects but want to keep their current old story intact. It isn't the unknown that people fear; it's letting go of the known.

Eventually all of us will come too and create a NEW STORY: "There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." -Anais Nin.

The projects and programs of Transition Whatcom are all nice, but as Daniel Quinn says, progams and projects are like trying to build a house by placing little sticks upright in a fast moving river. To make real sustainable lasting change, we each need to change the way we think to better align with who each are and why we came here to Earth. We need to each let go of the old story, and birth a unique NEW STORY for our lives. Don't worry about how all our NEW STORIES will fit together; the Universe is orchestrating that part. All you need to do is do what brings you joy. Yes, it is scary and it is messy. All births are. It is a journey, an adventure, a joyous magical adventure.

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure." -Helen Keller

If you want a midwife to help you with your NEW STORY birth, I and Earth Creativity School are here for you to help you practice and acclimate to your unique personal NEW STORY until you're ready to walk your walk on your own. You are unique. You are special. You are needed. And you are never alone. Will you come out and play???? 8-)

Love and Blessings,
Kay and Earth Creativity School
http://earthcreativity.org

p.s. I'm going to be walking in the Bellingham St Patrick's Day "green" parade on March 13th at high noon with Earth Creativity School t-shirts. Contact me if you want to be part of our little group and walk with us. I have a t-shirt for you: kay@dayss.com or 360-543-5628

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