Settling In, Taking Responsibility

As I look out the window of my new apartment in Alpharetta, Georgia, I see a pair of cardinals calling to each other and flapping about in the topmost branches of the trees. At my mother’s house in Vermont, there is a pair of cardinals that returns each summer. They are striking birds, the male painted the bright red of a holly berry, the female a muted brown with a faint red sheen.  I first took notice of them as my relationship with my partner, Dan was budding. I have now moved over 1,000 miles from my home in order to continue nourishing my relationship with Dan. While this morning, I was bemoaning the differences between Vermont and my new residence (the difficulty I have had finding local businesses, the omnipresence of cookie-cutter developments, and so forth), the cardinals serve as a brilliant reminder of the Earth’s consistency, her unrelenting comfort. With a calm heart and a grounded spirit, I can find a home wherever I am. I can grow a home alongside the man I have chosen to love.

 

As I continue to learn and take inspiration from the Earth, I am reminded of my responsibility to also be her loving steward. That is why I’ve applied to teach a workshop at Power Shift 2013 in Pittsburgh this October. Power Shift is a national youth climate movement that is “leading the fight to solve the climate crisis and build a clean, just and thriving economy” (www.wearpowershift.org). In keeping with my artistic passions, I have proposed a workshop session entitled “Place Poetry for Change-Makers: Using Creative Expression to Inspire the Movement.” If accepted, I will use exercises that I’ve gleaned from Gail Straub’s book The Rhythm of Compassion, my training as an Empowerment Life Coach, and my own tools for creative writing workshops to guide young activists towards their emotional connection with the planet, their unique motivations for serving, and their innate creativity. I am excited to see how creative writing and performance can serve this movement. I know for myself, expressing my connection with the Earth provides clarity, calm, and joy, no matter what work I am doing.

 

If you’re interested in seeing this workshop take place at Power Shift, make a comment on this post and tell the world why you think creative expression is part of a just, sustainable, and thriving world! If you haven’t yet signed up for Power Shift 2013, you can do so here.