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A mini shadow play during This Dreaming Earth of a rock coming to life. Nature supports us but it is not static. We are interacting with nature and the natural world is interacting with us even when we can't see it.

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Use the above prompts to reflect on what the earth is dreaming. Upload your reflections to This Dreaming Earth!

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Part I Earth

Daylight from our window calls

no body sounds within

bed-rotting with gravity’s weight

humanity’s burden

Flesh and bone, soil and land

Mother Earth’s grim

walk this path of destruction

left to dust and wind

Compost yourself decay bringer

failed savior imprint

our words, our meanings, our hopes, our dreams

our rule, fleeting herein

Part II Fire

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust

flames flicker faster

ignore their screams, wildfires lay waste

chalk it up to “natural disaster”

Mother, staked, burned alive

evacuate, flee past her

our grief for ashes alone

no body stopped to ask her

While the ignition’s still hot

with burns to bury her

cut off oxygen supply

wasteland once pasture

Part III Water

“Evade the flames,” calls the drink

think the deeper our sink

choking on plastic, caught by fishing wire

climbing tides out of sync

cacophony lost cries below

blinding bleeding ink

sink or swim, no body knows

holding breath, instinct

Waiting on another crashing wave

sore limbs shrink

sludge pools past lips, rather than shriek

trashed tapestry of the brink

Part IV Air

Take a deep breath in and out

exhale, smell the exhaust

vapid and deadly, gust to shrowd

aroma, say no body’s cost

Greater global greenhouse gases

tempered skies tossed

the catalyst of all climate

the scales tipped and lost

Our demanding desire for more

materialistically star-crossed

little mind paid to unseen forces

let this be our osse.

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Free workshops and open studio hours are available during the month of September for the public to participate in-person and contribute to This Dreaming Earth. Please click on the TV for more information on upcoming activities and events. It would be helpful for you to register for the workshops so that I know who is participating and how many participants to plan on...however, if you want to be spontaneous, please don't hesitate to show up. We're going to play no matter what. Open studio hours are just that, open. I can't wait to meet you and explore what the earth is dreaming together!

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Whether knowingly or not, we all dream. Even if we cannot recall our dreams, they are part of the human journey, containing both universal and personal meaning-making throughout time. But dreams are not ours alone. These collective stories and individual myths arise too from the psyche of the earth in which we inhabit. We've seen our beloved fur family members dream, curled up on their favorite chair, dreaming of a chase, or of a favorite toy.

But what about the earth, the tree in the park or your backyard, the oceans or natural ponds formed after a rain, or the bird that perches upon your railing singing its morning song. What do they dream?

Dreaming is a way to establish empathy. This Dreaming Earth seeks to discover the universal themes that emerge in our exploration and imagination of what the earth and all its elements are dreaming. We are often encouraged to connect with the natural world by walking, driving, or meandering through the boundaries we've created for nature in our modern world. Nature has become a place we go to or have to seek out. But in This Dreaming Earth we are curious about how we can break those boundaries and rectify our estrangement from the earth through actively identifying with nature, dialoguing and embodying what we imagine the natural world would share with us about its dreams and nightmares.

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Whether knowingly or not, we all dream. Even if we cannot recall our dreams, they are part of the human journey, containing both universal and personal meaning-making throughout time. But dreams are not ours alone. These collective stories and individual myths arise too from the psyche of the earth in which we inhabit.

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The Climate Project performances at the University of Arizona Tornabene Theatre will be on the following days and times:

Thursday, Sep 25, 2025 - 7:30 pm

Friday, Sep 26, 2025 - 7:30 pm

Saturday, Sep 27, 2025 - 1:30 pm

Saturday, Sep 27, 2025 - 7:30 pm

Sunday, Sep 28, 2025 - 1:30 pm

For more information on the show please visit:

rickwamer.com/the-climate-project

For ticketing and showtimes please visit:

https://theatre.arizona.edu/show/the-climate-project/

Admission is Free.

This Dreaming Earth will be an installation at the entrance to the theatre amongst interactive engagements for the audience.

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"It's like trying to sing, when you're hungry."

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In this article is a deep concern over loss of food source for blue whales which has coincided with the diminishment of their whale songs. How can we sing when we're hungry?!

What dreams might the blue whales have? What would the blue whale share if we could hear it's song?

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Blue whales have gone silent, and that has scientists worried

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A dense pool of warm water dubbed ‘The Blob’ drove unprecedented temperature increases in the Pacific Ocean, affecting the blue whale’s primary food source

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Additional Prompts for your consideration

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Additional Prompts for your consideration

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Imagine you are the earth, the sky, an ocean or stream, the desert or mountains, an earth body such as a bird, coyote, bear, or tree, or an earth element such as air, water, or fire. Bring the image of the earth, earth body, or earth element to your minds eye. Visualize yourself in dialogue with the imagery or element you've selected. Or, if you're on a walk or at a park, acknowledge a part of the natural world you'd like to relate to. Focus your energy, attention, and listening to this aspect of nature.

You can begin with the question

What do you dream?

Allow yourself to listen for an imaginal response. Yes, the response comes from within you, but you are nature too and the response that arises is an indication of what is important to the nature between you and the earth. We often discount the dialogue that we hear internally or feel physically because we've been told it's not rational. This experience is not "irrational" but rather "non-rational". It's an emotional and sensory experience where the relational is given more importance, where a creative mindset is allowed to converse, and where empathy arises in the similarities noticed between the concerns and dreams of the earth and our own.

"But, nothing came up!"

That's ok. Notice your breath or what was happening in your body. Was there wonder or discomfort? That's important too. Maybe there is discomfort in the earth or in the natural world around us. Take note of this and consider that this may have been the response from the earth. Include this in what you submit here. It too is information that is important.

Upload an audio, write the dream, submit a video, poem, song, or select an image that offers insight from what you heard, experienced, or saw.

Writing or recording the dream...

If you were given a dream from the earth, please offer it here in the present tense. Begin with, "In my dream," "I'm dreaming," or a similar present form. Examples of dreams and nightmares are pinned under Growth and Rest and Gilded Nightmare. Submitting the dream in present tense allows us to be present with the material, to walk through the dream as though it were our own, at any time. In this way, we are no longer distant from the dream or the dreamer (the earth in this instance).

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Nightmares are dreams too, they grab our attention, startling us, but possibly calling us to take action in some way. This is the text of the dream and the audio version in the comments:

In my dream the earth beneath me is parched and my nest empty in my once full boot. No nourishment is left for the gilded flickers and my ribs are starting to show. My grand arms that once reached to the sky have fallen. I awake to the sound of a woodpecker searching for a home.

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I dreamt of a day when you would see me

Spend time in my forests

Listening to the sounds of the rustle of my leaves

I dreamt that you would return one day

Climbing my branches

Resting under my shade

Where you too could dream

I dreamt of you

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Dreaming you can see what echos through time, both near and as far as the stars can take us. Imagining us together, dreaming of a peace that transcends and manifests in all earth bodies.

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This Dreaming Earth is our community space where we seek to explore greater understanding of the earth, earth bodies, and earth elements through the lens of dreaming....and through this imaginative exploration, expanding the empathic relationship between the earth and humanity.

Each night we dream and even if we can't recall our dreams, our sleep cycle involves dreaming. Dreams can be the bell weather for what is occurring in our lives, showing us images, symbols, and stories that can provide guidance, grab out attention, act as a catalyst for change, and create greater relationship with ourselves and others.

But what about the earth, the deserts, a cactus wren, a forest, or steam ... what are they dreaming?

This Dreaming Earth is about considering the earth's dreams, and nightmares. What imagery and narratives are being dreamt by the earth, the clouds in the sky, the wave that touches our feet at the shore, or the favorite tree we've come to appreciate on our daily walk?

This Dreaming Earth imagines the earth, earth bodies, and earth elements are dreaming. We may have witnessed our beloved dog or cat dreaming, and we know from scientific studies that trees go into a rest state each day. Do they dream during their own circadian rhythm? This Dreaming Earth seeks to learn more about our relationship to what we imagine is being dreamt, and our connection or estrangement from nature. Dreaming is part of our own nature, and together in this process we are explorers, listening to the the earth, allowing for the earth and the elements to speak to us through dreams, dream time, and story. We hold the earth’s dreams as though they were our own, recognizing that we are not separate.

The following prompts are starting points for contemplation and imagining what the earth, animals, sky, and waters, would share with you about their dreams. Additional prompts are in the pinned comment following this. Allow yourself time and presence with the earth body you'd like to consider. Are you unable to access larger natural spaces? That’s ok. Bring to mind the space in nature you'd like to be in or commune with and begin there or recall a natural place you’ve been to in memory, a place that you can recall vividly.

Greet the earth element. Invite the earth or element into conversation. Allow the earth, element, or earth body to speak to you, through you. Ask:

What do you dream?

We're used to believing that our imagination is separate from the earth, that we're separate, that the sky is distant, and that we're estranged from the earth beneath us as we walk on asphalt or concrete so much of the time. But our imagination is not separate from nature. We are not anthropomorphizing the mountain or stone we seek to learn from, we are an earth body too.

Ask the earth or earth element, "what image or story keeps coming up in your dreams?" Allow time for the response. We are in a collective or shared dream experience. You are not "making this up." Listen to what's being shared and if you would like, allow for a back-and-forth dialogue between you and the earth.

Think of yourself as an explorer, asking big questions and not knowing where the imagination of the earth will take you. It's all part of the mystery of dreaming, how much consideration we give to the earth, and seeing our relationship through the shared experience of dreaming.

Please share what the earth is dreaming. Use "I" statements to give the earth a voice in a way that we can relate and understand. Share an image, video, song, or audio or what you learned or speak in the audio as though you were the earth, the ocean, javelina, or hummingbird voicing the dream.

Just drag and drop an image or audio file to start a new post or click on the + sign in the lower right corner to share. You will have the option to share a variety of files. Click on the +13 in the pop up for more options including sharing a video, link to a playlist, or creating an audio file that you can record directly from your phone or laptop. Once you've completed your post click on Publish. You'll be asked to provide an identifier for yourself such as a first name, initials, or a favorite handle of your choice. There is no need to sign in or create an account. Your contribution here may be incorporated into the pre-show installation exhibit during the performance run of The Climate Project, a University of Arizona School of Theatre, Film, & Television production. For more information on The Climate Project, please visit the link in the comment section of this post.

Maximum file size uploads for your post:

20 MB

2 minute video

5 minute audio recordings

File extensions accepted by Padlet:

Images - png or jpg

Videos - mp4 or gif

Documents - pdf or docx

Presentations - pptx

Thank you for contributing!

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Dreaming of more of my kind being planted and allowed to grow. Bright lights keep me up at night. My branches need rest.