This is the 9th year that we have offered Radical Joy in some wounded part of our local and national treasure, the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument. This year we decided to extend our event into an “endangered” part of the monument, i.e. the newly expanded 48,000 acres, approved under the Antiquities act by President Obama. Currently it is under threat to be dismantled by the current administration’s movement to undo many of our national monuments. We felt that “endangered or threatened” areas of our wild and public lands need to come under our support and protection with the help of the global earth exchange. So 25 of us gathered in one of the newly designated pristine areas of the expanded monument boundary on Sunday morning of Father’s Day this year, extending the global exchange for another day. We began with an update from our local chairperson, Dave Willis, who has spent decades of this life protecting this fragile area. (By the way the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument is the result of three ecosystems coming together to create some life forms that do not exist anywhere else in the world, hence the designation by President Clinton). We then sat in silence together to take in the land and its various life forms. We did brief introductions which included our experience in the silence of this place. We then spent about an hour alone, spread out across the hills, ancient oak and fir trees, and grasslands of this place. We came together and shared what the earth had given us in response to our question: dear earth, what would you like from me/us at this time, how may we serve you? The final act was the creation of a unique species of bird (see photo), which we decided as a Rad Joy bird, did not exist any place else! We closed our circle in deeper appreciation and understanding of this pristine and endangered place in our own backyard. After a leisurely lunch break, we then participated in a nature constellation (http://truenatureconstellations.com/#whatis) in which we each connected with some part of the extended monument. At the conclusion of this, we deeply felt that in some mysterious way the monument was already protected and would continue into the future unharmed. Two days later Dave Willis sent out this article in which Trump Defends (yes DEFENDS) the monument expansion which is under threat. Take a look: https://www.heraldandnews.com/news/trump-defends-oregon-monument-expansion-in-lawsuit/article_78f77d5f-9687-50eb-8dff-c3e8b9b1456f.html

We left our 10 hour ceremony with deep satisfaction in our hearts; we had heard the voices of this place and had offered our intentions to protect it for future generations.