DENISE RUSHING

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Taming the Squirrel

11/04/2013

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Denise Rushing Taming the Squirrel

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Befriending Our Despair

As compassionate, sensitive, open people, we can all be overcome by the magnitude of the losses we
see every day. Even the most optimistic among us will be affected by the staggering losses and the daily affronts to our values, sensibilities, and even our sanity.

It is painful. So painful that sometimes we are tempted to close up rather than live from the heart.

Joanna Macy and her "work that Reconnects" asserts that we ought not be afraid of the pain of the world.

If you are not afraid of it, then NOTHING can stop you.

The Rigged Game

I am unaccustomed to rage.

Even as a child, I understood that the game was rigged. Over time, I've become even more aware... though I have had the luxury of not having to think about it all the time--to not have to face it, and the feelings it brings up, day in and day out. All day. Every day.

Until this week.

This week has been particularly difficult (the supreme court nomination hearings) and has exposed yet a another level of the rigged game. It brought up in me a deep rage--and I felt it all week in the pit of my stomach... I was struck by the injustice of it all.

I felt like throwing up.

It gave me the opportunity to imagine what others have felt over generations of systemic injustice.

I understand that I am both privileged and oppressed. I've benefitted from the rigged game in so many ways... from being able to walk into a store without suspicion to having access to higher education. I have also suffered from the rigged game--from wanting society and power structu…

Lessons from Pachamama - Call to Change the Dream

Twenty five years ago, the Aschuar, an ancient indigenous dream culture deep within the Amazon rainforest in South America, began receiving warnings in their dreams. Their ancestral lands were at risk, not only potentially destroying their way of life, but all life, which depends on the rainforest, he lungs on Planet Earth. Receptive people in the North began receiving dreams of people with painted faces. When they eventually met these people, they knew them.

The Pachamama Alliance was born.

At the invitation of both the Aschuar and Sapura people, we set out on a journey in search of wisdom, a journey that would take us into the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest to encounter the wisdom of Pachamama and our own dreams. I've always been fascinated by dreams, the unconscious speaking to us and offering insights and so was drawn to this journey.

Pachamama means "Mother Earth" or more precisely "life force of mother earth."
The mission of Pachamama Alliance …

Lessons from Pachamama - Coming Home

Coming Home

Just days after we returned home to Lake County, we were evacuated for 12 days due to the Ranch fire. We worried about the loss of our place and struggled with the nearly unbreathable air.

I was reminded of the greatest gift of all from the jungle--the gift of LIFE.... of breath, remembering how easy it was to breathe there. The comparison will inform my work for years to come.

Which future world do we want to create?

Charles Eisenstein (author of The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible) says this:
“Is it too much to ask, to live in a world where our human gifts go toward the benefit of all? Where our daily activities contribute to the healing of the biosphere and the well-being of other people?”

The lessons from Pachamama suggest that it is possible to live meaningful life and create a just and sustainable planet. To create "the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible," we must commit to it and embrace the adventure.
How would we do this? …

Lessons from Pachamama - The Second Gift

"When the Self emerges, the ego takes a hit"

The Second Gift

I knew before the trip that the Aschuar interpret their dreams at four a.m. and we would be invited to join them. What I did not know was that we would face this same treacherous jungle trail --only this time, it would be in the dark and in a downpour .

We retired early the night before in anticipation of a three a.m. wake-up and hike to the home of one of the Aschuar families. We were instructed to bring our dream and they would interpret them.

It rained all night long.. and I kept waking up, growing increasingly anxious about that hike through the jungle in the dark. I told myself i was worried about Loretta (I was). But i was just as worried about ME.

I decided that if I did not receive a dream, I would stay at our camp with her should she decide to stay. At three a.m., one of our campmates reported to Loretta that the guides were considering cancelling the trip because it was too treacherous. As a result, Lo…

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