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Editorial from Vol. 1, No. 2 - Spring 2003 | ||||||||||||
Gaian Rants | ||||||||||||
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It was difficult getting started with this issue of Gaian Voices during these times of war and uncertainty. Even the weather seemed to conspire against me with winter’s grip still firmly in place even though it’s April now. But it’s only a matter of time. My office is now a make-shift plant nursery and vigorous seedlings of all types — veggies, flowers, and herbs — are happily unaware of the snow still deep in the garden. We tend each other, the baby plants and me. I make sure they get the nutrients and light they need and they nourish my spirit. What a bargain! This issue is about home and story. Home is many places. It is our bodies first of all, and it is a particular place where we live. Home is also a community which is in a country, which is a part of the Earth, which in turn is part of the Universe. There are many answers to: Where is your home? The articles in this issue suggest the importance of being present to all these dimensions of home. Although I have strong connections to other places — the Pacific Northwest and the west country of England for ex- | ||||||||||||
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ample, home is the White Mountains. This is where I feel most myself, where I’m at once comfortable and exhilarated. And while I could set up housekeeping most anywhere, my heart is here. Then, of course, there’s the Earth — the big Love, the major Home. It’s hard to relate to the vastness of the Universe although it’s inspiring and exciting to try. But the Earth is something I can wrap my mind and heart and spirit around. Story. How we perceive the world and ourselves is a matter of how we interpret the story. Events and experiences can be seen as connected, part of a pattern that has meaning and that is real, or they can be seen as a matter of chance, unconnected and random. I’ve always seen my life as a story. Perhaps it’s the writer in me, or perhaps that’s why I became a writer. My vision of the world is one of innumerable connections, alive and pulsing with light and color. It’s a living web that holds and influences us all and that we influence in return. Everything we do, everything we even think or hope has a vibration that is part of this living web. And it is constantly changing, constantly being broken down and renewed, just like the cells in our bodies. This is my story. The interview in this issue is with Deena Metzger whose leading-edge work with Story is both inspiring and necessary. I am grateful that she took time out of her busy schedule to talk with me. I enjoyed our conversation very much and especially appreciated the connection I felt -- two women whose hearts are heavy with the violence of this war, but who also know the world as full of meaning and possibility. “At this time in human history”, she says, “each individual’s original, daily, and on-going contributions and commitment are critical. . . . [I]n addition to everything we must do, let us be very kind to each other and forgiving and understanding of each other’s fears. Let us awaken our hearts to other ways of seeing and being. If we ground ourselves in the future, rather than in history, decidedly imagining a vital future that includes the natural world and all of us, the task becomes easier. We see the future in our mind’s heart and we take the small next step that will enable us to get there together. This is the activity of radical hope.” So may it be. Photo Credit: Colin Lowry | ||||||||||||
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