From the Lake District to Dorset

As we set off for our vacation in West Dorset, we expected to find many sadly neglected areas along the roadside and around service stations as we journeyed and had planned to do ‘guerrilla sowing …

From the Lake District to Dorset

As we set off for our vacation in West Dorset, we expected to find many sadly neglected areas along the roadside and around service stations as we journeyed and had planned to do ‘guerrilla sowing …

Kilvey Earth Exchange

My mother had an operation the day before the Global Earth Exchange, so due to the uncertainty as to how that would unfold, we didn’t make it official, as didn’t want to let people down. …

Kilvey Earth Exchange

My mother had an operation the day before the Global Earth Exchange, so due to the uncertainty as to how that would unfold, we didn’t make it official, as didn’t want to let people down. …

Smooth Rock Croc

It was really fantastic to share this event with a friend. We saw all this construction in the town and choose that as a place to honor. We honored what came before the new building …

Smooth Rock Croc

It was really fantastic to share this event with a friend. We saw all this construction in the town and choose that as a place to honor. We honored what came before the new building …

The Occasional Beauty of Barbed Wire

The land we were on for our wilderness rites of passage program is private land with a logging history. There is a big tumble of rusted, old barbed wire right near basecamp. So on June …

The Occasional Beauty of Barbed Wire

The land we were on for our wilderness rites of passage program is private land with a logging history. There is a big tumble of rusted, old barbed wire right near basecamp. So on June …

Pilgrimage in a Burnt Forest

I head into the Sierras to explore the area burnt by the Donnell Fire in 2018. Wikipedia says that 36,450 acres (147.5 km2) were burnt, but I don’t have any concept of what that means. I …

Pilgrimage in a Burnt Forest

I head into the Sierras to explore the area burnt by the Donnell Fire in 2018. Wikipedia says that 36,450 acres (147.5 km2) were burnt, but I don’t have any concept of what that means. I …

Church of the Woods Earth Exchange

The people of Church of the Woods in Canterbury, NH, USA, gathered on a little knoll amidst a forest that is vibrantly regrowing after destructive logging. Humans have cut forests around the globe for centuries, …

Share Love, Not Trash

The walk through the park to the site I had in mind was a mixed experience for me: I walked with my partner, who is not familiar with the paths, and felt somewhat self-conscious of …

Share Love, Not Trash

The walk through the park to the site I had in mind was a mixed experience for me: I walked with my partner, who is not familiar with the paths, and felt somewhat self-conscious of …

Tlholego

Good morning all, I personally had and felt a rush of rejuvenating experiences, moments and thoughts. I came to Tlholego as a neo-nomad, looking to experience exactly what a former scout would expect… Normal camping, …

The Willows at Red Oak (women’s recovery program)

The group first individually shared “sacred” places in nature to which they feel personally connected. Then we participated in a sit-spot experiential, focusing on connecting with the space and asking if there was any “wisdom” …

Heartflow: Honoring the Housatonic River

We had an amazing event to honor the Housatonic River and lift up the Rights of Nature movement for the Berkshires.  Over 60 people participated in song, inquiry, contemplation, music making, and offering for the …

Land Healing After Fire

Sunday the 23 of June, I am hitchhiking to the site of my cabin, when I see a hawk circling above. I know it is a sign to me of reassurance from the Spirit world …

Waimanalo

Nine of us came together for our Global Earth Exchange. There were a couple who had participated previously but most were new to the practice. We started by sharing our names and why we chose …

An Environmental Mistake

I wore the 2011 T shirt to my zazen session on June 22 and asked permission to talk about the meaning of the event, the picture, the purpose of the artwork. We had a pretty …

The Politics of Ecology

I made a small bird from blue plastic. My creative act is captured in this picture which is the edge between a toxic field and a superfund site—both edged up together. The image I took …

Renewing Our Covenant with the Earth

Our event was small this year. My neighbors and I gathered to sit with the trees and plants in my front yard, create intentions (which we burned—see photos), and take vows:   Renewing Our Vows …

Daring to Bear Witness: Valley Brook, Cheshire, England

A small group of us from the local branch of Animal Welfare Party (seven people – five adults and two children – plus three dogs) met at Fanny’s Croft and slowly followed the course of …

Honoring Healing Waters

We met in the early morning on the summer solstice at the river.  Our group included elders, parents and children.  Together we created a ceremony where all participants added to our communal offering to acknowledge, …

All Are Our Relations

Once, all people lived in close relationship with nature. Time and history have withered the bond between the human and the other-than-human world. Despite this, the Earth and All Our Relations continue to generously give …

All Are Our Relations

Once, all people lived in close relationship with nature. Time and history have withered the bond between the human and the other-than-human world. Despite this, the Earth and All Our Relations continue to generously give …

Anointing Land

Mid-winter and raining finely. I chose this piece of land because I pass it every day. It is both wounded and beautiful, like me and most of us. Wounded as it includes a polluted stream, …

The Land of Sorrow

Ireland is traditionally known as ‘the land of saints and scholars’. As I planned how I could bring joy to wounded places, I wondered if in more recent times it is becoming ‘the land of …

Radical Joy

This year’s Global Earth Exchange found me in a beautiful place in West Virginia—Dolly Sods Wilderness Area—a place once deeply wounded, but now transformed by loving intentions and nature’s resilience. I’ve been returning there whenever …

remembering, honoring, celebrating our sacred connection to earth

I recently heard a talk on Parabola’s podcast on Renewal…these words brought me back to the morning of my rad joy creation in Sagaponack “small things with great love reach farther than we can see” …

remembering, honoring, celebrating our sacred connection to earth

I recently heard a talk on Parabola’s podcast on Renewal…these words brought me back to the morning of my rad joy creation in Sagaponack “small things with great love reach farther than we can see” …

Radical Joy for WHALES

Radical Joy…. the whales did not show up but I have no doubt they heard us!!!! Thank you to the musicians, poets, story tellers, sharers and creatives who shared their wonderful talents. Thank you to …

Annual Global Earth Exchange at Wyman Park

Autumn and I were joined by my friend Chrisa this year as we returned to Wyman Park in Baltimore, MD. This area is in the city and has a stream that has been plagued by …

Grandmother Oak at Habari House

Oak wilt has been devasting the oak trees that so many of us in the Texas Hill Country identify with and love. Our trees at High Hope are no exception, and now our most beloved …

Lone Loon on the Water

Mid-morning, one Community Member created a Loon out of branches and flowers.  She made her offering and left it floating on the pond. A few hours later, more people visited the waters, recognizing that the …

For the waters of Denmark

As in the past, the water well in my yard was the focus of a private event. I have become very saddened by the many findings of pesticides in the drinking water throughout Denmark, forcing …

Global Earth Exchange for a former perlite mine

Experience: this dispatch is being made via cell phone so will be short and sweet. I walked up to the mine in the heat of the afternoon from my campground. It would have been easier …

Chesapeake Bay Earth Exchange

I went to the site of our very first adventure with Trebbe on the Chesapeake Bay in the fall of 2009! (And the site of several Global Earth Exchanges since!) I hadn’t been to Savage …

I Vow to Develop Compassion

On the morning of June 22 thirteen people gathered at Portuguese Point, a fishing place near the Hugh Keenleyside Dam, on the Columbia River upstream from Castlegar, B.C.   Our first activity was for each …

Resilient Place…Heals Hearts

Although we were a small group, we had a very meaningful impact with our radical joy event.  We selected an area of the park that worked for all our members and cleaned up the garbage …

Journey to the Spring

Our Global Earth Exchange was held at Wekiwa Springs in Apopka, Florida.  We chose this site because Florida’s freshwater ecosystem is suffering increased wounding by the unnatural amount of nitrates and pollutants that enter the …

Daring to bear witness to Baseline Creep

The day of June 22nd dawned bright and fair after weeks of cold and dismal rain. A lovely day for sitting in the woods. A small group of people met in the woods around Barnard …

Honoring the River

There were twelve of us who gathered in a small cove on the Hudson River, after following the Father C. Jorn Trail from the parking lot of the Falling Water Preserve in Saugerties, New York.  …

Standing for Staying Awake and Connected

In the presence of ‘strangers’ also in the park along the river’s edge, we shared our stories of places we have known, loved, wept over, and re-visit still. Our connection to one another was new; …

For a local grocery

When wondering which wounded place is calling today,the recently burned down main grocery store/supermarket in the center of our little village came to mind. There had been much unhappiness about the services of the shop.The …

A Bird for the Rafters

Lissa has been able to join us in Moscow and get some distance from the social upheaval in Haiti.* The clay bird she made today has found its way into the rafters of our back …

Lake Superior Earth Exchange

It was a beautiful, sunny day with powerful winds on Wisconsin Point Beach in Superior, WI. The waves crashed to shore with great strength speaking of the power inherent in Gichi-gami. The 2019 Lake Superior …

Honoring the Ocean

Ten of us gathered on the beach on a warm sunny day and began by searching for litter we could pick up. Great news: there was NONE! We then gathered to share stories of hope …

Treephilia

Das abgeholzte Tannholz

Wir treffen uns und laufen durch Feld und Wiese los, ein Reh springt vor uns auf. Beim Einfang zum Wald tanzen wir einen Dankestanz für die Elemente. Danach singen wir das Lied: “Meine Füsse fest …

The River Is Us

The weather was perfect today, after many, many days of  torrential rains in the area.  Everyone who had expressed interest in joining me today bowed out, so only my husband and I went to our …

The River Is Us

The weather was perfect today, after many, many days of  torrential rains in the area.  Everyone who had expressed interest in joining me today bowed out, so only my husband and I went to our …

Global Earth Exchange for an old candy factory

I did a solo Global Earth Exchange today, June 22, at the former site of the Peter Paul Mounds factory in Naugatuck, CT. Opened in 1922, closed in 2007, razed in 2011 and still a …

Baseline Creep for the Black River

Annette Joseph, an Episcopal Priest working in rural Missouri, and I met at Sportsman Park in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to do a Global Earth Exchange. Our focus was on “Baseline Creep”, a term that describes …

Baseline Creep for the Black River

Annette Joseph, an Episcopal Priest working in rural Missouri, and I met at Sportsman Park in Poplar Bluff, Missouri, to do a Global Earth Exchange. Our focus was on “Baseline Creep”, a term that describes …

Healing the Waters of the World

This year my friend, Laura and I did a ceremony honoring all of the waters of the Earth for our Global Earth Exchange. I labeled 4 jars with labels of Rivers, Lakes, Oceans and Drinking. …

Larchfall: Beauty in and for a Damaged Larch Forest

Although I have walked in this preserve, just a mile from my home, many hundreds of times over the past 30 years, there are always surprises. Today was no exception. First, I woke up in …

Larchfall: Beauty in and for a Damaged Larch Forest

Although I have walked in this preserve, just a mile from my home, many hundreds of times over the past 30 years, there are always surprises. Today was no exception. First, I woke up in …

Ten Years in a Row

Ten Years in a Row

Saint Barbara of the Polish Miners

Mining for brown (lignite) coal is a main industry of Poland despite EU fines. Local activists including those in the Czech Republic and Germany are working on strategies to change this and bring in a …

Solastalgia

This year we photographed a dead female Wallaby at the top of Wallaby Close. She must have hopped into the path of a car last night. Road kill is a huge issue in our part …

Beach Clean Ardnahinch Beach,Ballycotton Bay Cork Ireland

At 11 am on 22 June Elmo our 15 yr old dog and Deborah my wife of 19 years spent time on Ardnahinch beach. This is close to our home and a favorite place to …

Puri Lumbung Global Earth Exchange

This year of June 2019 the clove harvest has decreased due to uncertain weather. The conditions are different from a few years ago where the wet and dry seasons were surely come on time. When …

Afghan Peace Volunteers Global Earth Exchange

As usual, young members of the Afghan Peace Volunteers worked together in their permaculture garden in Kabul. The mission of the Afghan Peace Volunteers is as follows: We believe that revolution for a better world is …

Climate Change Communication Class Global Earth Exchange

I teach a course at Eckerd College every Spring semester entitled “Climate Change Communication.” At the end of the semester we talk about our own feelings of hopelessness and loss and how we can move …

Climate Change Communication Class Global Earth Exchange

I teach a course at Eckerd College every Spring semester entitled “Climate Change Communication.” At the end of the semester we talk about our own feelings of hopelessness and loss and how we can move …

Reweaving the World: Healing and Renewal in Troubled Times

The Reweaving the World retreat took place at Loving Earth Sanctuary, a beautiful 40-acre property in the foothills of the Santa Lucia mountains. Structured around deep ecologist Joanna Macy’s framework of The Work That Reconnects, …

The Wild, Sad Beauty of Gulf Coast Rising

On Saturday, October 30, 2010, three months after the disastrous BP oil spill that had spewed 130 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico was finally stopped, Radical Joy for Hard Times presented …

Indigenous Soul Awakens at Black Rock

I am sitting in the late afternoon sun of a summer evening on ancient limestone rocks on the shores of the Great Salt Lake— a vast desert lake, 7 times saltier than the ocean, an …

Indigenous Soul Awakens at Black Rock

I am sitting in the late afternoon sun of a summer evening on ancient limestone rocks on the shores of the Great Salt Lake— a vast desert lake, 7 times saltier than the ocean, an …

Forest Ninja Summer Camp

Thriving Roots Wilderness School offers the Forest Ninja Summer Camp with our amazing lead instructor, Alaina Hallett, and 15 awesome children in Victoria British Columbia. The children gathered materials for and created an owl together …

A town affected by violence

From the 2016 Global Earth Exchange Un pueblo afectado por la violencia (A town affected by violence ) (translation below) Este pueblo está afectado por la violencia donde precisamente vamos a hacer el Museo de …

For the Hayarkon River and the Young Woman Who Almost Drowned in It

We chose the Hayarkon River as a wounded place for 2 reasons. First, it has gone through periods where it has been extremely polluted and toxic. The second reason is because of its relationship to …

Beauty for the Country of Ukraine June 21, 2014

Ukraine joined June 21 for worldwide movement Global Earth Exchange. This bird is placed on burnt ground. We were creating this bird with thoughts about the injuries that people and the land of Ukraine have …

For the Hayarkon River and the Young Woman Who Almost Drowned in It

We chose the Hayarkon River as a wounded place for 2 reasons. First, it has gone through periods where it has been extremely polluted and toxic. The second reason is because of its relationship to …

For a Slashed Forest and Slain Wolves

From the 2017 Global Earth Exchange: Last week, I spent 3 days camping and hiking with two of my closest women friends. We all needed some girl time and some time in the wild. We …

Writer’s Brook

In our village there’s a path that leads to a running brook. There’s not a house in sight. I go there after a day of writing. I take off my sandals, slip my feet into …

Climate Change Communication Class

The class is called Climate Change Communication and the students spent the semester learning about public understanding of climate change, social scientific studies of climate change denial, and effective communication techniques for climate change.

Healing Ceremony

On Global Earth Exchange Day, the women of The Willows at Red Oak Recovery sat in circle, contemplating, witnessing, and giving voice to our inherent connection to the Earth and each organism upon it.

Weltenwandler Ausbildung

Together with the students of our yearlong program we gathered between a field of monoculture and a raised blind. The two days before we had spent a lot of time on the land, in group …

Rhino RadJoy

I am a wilderness guide and I watch in horror as the animals I love are being destroyed before my very eyes.

Sea Turtles

We had a small gathering and we met at our section of beach in Alabama… where we monitor and support nesting loggerhead sea turtles.

Lake Michigan Earth Exchange by Children

The kids and I go to the lake in the morning. It stretches, vast and shining, beyond the horizon. I am overcome with its stillness and quiet. And yet, it’s waters are in constant, rhythmic …

For Forests Harmed by Drought, Fire, and Pine Beetle

As you probably know, there are currently over a dozen forest fires burning here in the state of Colorado. Many thousands of people are evacuated and several hundreds of homes have burned. My close friends …

Remembering Victims of the Tsunami

I want to make beauty for the people in the Tohoku region who were hurt in the tsunami-earthquake-nuclear disaster last year, to pray for their peace of mind and for their unwillingness to give up …

For the Gulf of Mexico

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 …