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Letter to Nature from "I remember" writing prompt

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Letter to Nature from "I remember" writing prompt

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Dear Mother Nature,

I remember how I first felt euphoria in your presence, when I heard your roar of abundance at the waterfall, and the lively, confident gush of giving. I wanted to dance, I wanted to soak in the pure bliss with my eyes closed, as I reveled in that sweet, fresh air.

I remember too when you were punishing, trekking through the deep jungle with leeches sucking my blood, sweaty, itchy all over, and multiple obstacles along the path we were taking there I could have injured myself. The lesson I learnt was mindfulness and focus. If I took my attention off the moment, that was when injury would threaten. But when I focused my senses on my surroundings and every movement I take I took with astute awareness, you became much more forgiving and it was almost like a consuming dance.

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Writing prompt: reactions to positive news on Hawkbill turtles

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Writing prompt: reactions to positive news on Hawkbill turtles

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I feel my heart expanding like how it does when I experience very strong emotions. Inside, I feel overwhelmed and tears are probably making it’s way out as I type this because I get emotional very easily and this type of news made me feel so very happy. I think of the part that humans have played in ensuring that these turtles get the best chance of survival and know that we can positively impact other living beings as well. I think of those toddler turtles and how they will start crawling towards the sea as they hatch, so self-sufficient and resilient they are. I imagine how the turtles think and feel and imagine the thoughts in their head as they navigate through the waves that threaten to push them back to shore and turn them upside down such that they cannot move forward but they will still find a way to get back up and crawl into the ocean where they will survive or be preyed upon. And then I take heart in knowing that this is how nature intends for them to be, for some to die and for some to live to a hundred or more. The ones who get eaten will nourish the bodies of their predator, who will then feed their predator, and so on and so forth and this is the circle of life and we are all part of the circle as well.

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Our Journey of Eons

“All phenomena are impermanent and ever-changing. Life over vast areas of the Earth has already been destroyed more than five times, including sixty-five million years ago, when the impact of a giant asteroid caused the mass extinction of dinosaurs and three quarters of all other species. Dear Mother, I am in awe of your capacity to be patient and creative, despite all the harsh conditions you have endured.”

It made me feel like Mother Earth has been here before and she will evolve and change to be stronger. She is resilient and doesn’t need us to save her in any way. In fact, all our actions should be done to save humanity and other species that we might have harmed.

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The healing powers of nature: "I remember" writing prompt

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The healing powers of nature: "I remember" writing prompt

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"I remember when nature was my medicine, a healer with no expectations.
You - in the form of sunlight, clouds, birds and canopy trees
Enveloped me in a blanket of love, comfort and care
I remember when you drew from your alchemy every time I came to you
One time a hornbill, the other time a golden spider and its intricate web
You gave me solitude, belonging, joy and relationality all at once
Caressing and soft on my feet was the soil
While wind gently played with my hair
To say "you will be okay" - the Earth is there and here for you"

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“You are this infinitely beautiful blue planet, fragrant, cool, and kind. Your immeasurable patience and endurance makes you a great bodhisattva”

- Love Letter to the Earth

Infinite kindness, patience, and endurance are the traits of Mother Earth. How can we practice that in society, infinite care and giving to our fellow humans and other species?

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“For all of us, becoming indigenous to a place means living as if your children’s future mattered, to take care of the land as if our lives, both material and spiritual, depended on it”

- Braiding Sweetgrass

Our connection with the land is as much spiritual as material. We don't have any daily practices and rituals to give gratitude and thanks to nature that nourishes us every day and the ancestors who cared for the land before us. Perhaps we need to do that to cure our ailing relationship with Earth, as we are so disconnected from her.

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Resources to deal with/process Earth emotions

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Resources to deal with/process Earth emotions

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Dealing with eco-paralysis: Processing loss of a green space

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Dealing with eco-paralysis: Processing loss of a green space

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1) Hold a wake for a precious piece of land – gathering to tell stories of what that place provided.

2)  Create a family album, filled with the recollections of our grandparents, writing about the natural areas they have loved and lost in their lifetimes.

3)  Celebrate and affirm our faith in the processes of ecology and evolution

4)  Note the remaining beauty of the earth, the birth of new species or subspecies, and the grand rhythms of the biogeochemical cycles.

Source: https://singaporepsychologicalsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/5_6264911366943933415.pdf

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"A positive feeling of oneness with the earth and its life forces where the boundaries between self and the rest of nature are obliterated and a deep sense of peace and connectedness pervades consciousness"

Source: Cosmnatural Health

In this session, we read "Love Letter to the Earth" and "Braiding Sweetgrass".

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- the gendered dimension of rage - women often face extra disapproval for being angry; patriarchal perception of anger in women
- "why are you so angry" - those who cannot see the reason are okay with the status quo
- emotions as a feminine way of looking at issues vs. a masculine way of prioritizing logic

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- from NVC - anger and violence is often a trafic outcome of unmet needs
- considering the violence that is enacted daily i.e. institutional violence
- how is violence defined?
- other types of violence e.g. psychological violence
- intention, profit, exploitation vs. as part of life (there's also violence in nature)

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Check out the resource pack for the curated list of resources for the terrafurie session! It also includes a plain english glossary list.

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Anger Meditation: What is anger telling us?

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Anger Meditation: What is anger telling us?

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- that anger is unacceptable makes one feel even more angry
- anger can be uncomfortable tense
- anger overtakes one's body, need to take a step back
- could anger be masking disappointment at the system?
- how can we acknowledge what is happening in our body?
- how can we use "anger as compost", from trash to treasure? compost becomes the flower, flower becomes compost
- not just resisting/ attacking but championing and celebrating nature
- the importance of healing personal traumas; how healing starts with ourselves, how we confront our own biases and look inwards
- channeling it somewhere - neither outwardly/ inwardly
- all emotions are valid! we have a full range of emotions
- gaccepting it, giving it space before processing it, grounding outselves in feeling it
- to observe it, connect with it, to listen to it, to learn how to transform it (it being the body) instead of always suppressing it

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Link to video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6Hz_gdqS1k&ab_channel=Gobelins

- responses from the adults: 3 drops is not water leaking, 'we'll fix it tmr', 'do you know how much it costs?', 'we have to finish our meal somewhere dry'
- the dynamics : everyone is obssessed with something, and people are talking to each other but not really communicating - community is important
- the girl needs help! we support the girl but it's true that she can't fix it herself even if she perceived the problem accurately
- the last scene of the house as isolated and flooded, similar to other houses, the global impact of climate change

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- really capture what it's like!!

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- building community etc. may be a longer route, but at least it's a way forward
- eco-paralysis is also seen as an individual problem but it is when we reach out to community that we can address it
- keep working because it's not about perfection

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Can we apply what we learnt to our communities in Singapore

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Can we apply what we learnt to our communities in Singapore

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- the example of place-based mutual aid being an act of care
- rethinking urban planning based on needs rather than just development
- reconnecting back to nature, forming a personal relationship with them and seeing nature as irreplaceable; and if enough people care enough maybe things can change
- it is difficult because we are not 'directly' dependent on nature for our survival and we are mostly shielded from the impacts of CC
- building community is not necessarily a single blueprint but everyone directing their energies towards a collective future
- small ways in which we take back our power

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What we learnt from the indigenous communities described in the chapter:

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What we learnt from the indigenous communities described in the chapter:

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- the intentionality of how they went about building the community they want, besides resisting what they didn't; forming communities away from power
- taking action can also mean community-building, caring for each other and healing
- being anti-capitalist - when they designed their camps based on needs rather than profits
- transnational solidarity
- strong principles and standing their ground despite the persecution

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On the title of the book "Our History is the Future":

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On the title of the book "Our History is the Future":

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- whose history? if it's our history we might not have one; if it's the one  of the indigenous communities described in the book, it is more hopeful
- our actions in the past have a bearing on the future, and either way the present is the most important because we can action
- climate change not just an environmental issue but a historical one because it is our choices in the past that led up to this point
- looking to history to not let it repeat itself
- movements supporting each other across time and space - we're not alone!

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Use these questions as a guide to comment on each of the earth emotions cells!

1. Have you ever experienced this earth emotion?
2. How did it feel? In your mind, your heart and your body?
3. How did you express it, if you did? If not, where did that emotion go?

Feel free to express yourself in various forms and format - e.g. audio, poetry, drawings etc.!

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Earth emotions refer to emotions that we have in our relation to our earth. Glenn Albrecht came up with the idea and the several earth emotions which we will be exploring in our book club!

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"Stubborn Optimism" The Future We Choose

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"Stubborn Optimism" The Future We Choose

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by Christina Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

From the people instrumental in the international climate negotiations leading up to the Paris Agreement, they share the journey of despair and overcoming it. They share tips on how to realistic in our assessment of the climate crisis while being steadfast in refusing to give up.

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"Soliphilia is the political affiliation or solidarity needed between us all to be responsible for a place, bioregion, planet and the unity of interrelated interests within it. Solastalgia will be overcome only when sufficient of us act in solidarity to defeat the forces of desolation. "

Source: Glenn Albrecht's Website

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"Eco-paralysis" refers to the inability to take effective action because the emotional distress is so great that certain psychological defense mechanisms (e.g. denial) become activated.

Source: BHP Blog

In this session we read "Our History is the Future" by Nick Estes.

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By Nick Estes

Estes, an indigenous scholar, interweaves a re-telling of the No Dakota Access Pipeline Movement with the history of indigenous resistance. In the chapter we read, "Liberation", Estes writes about the 'life' culture compared to the death culture by settler colonialism, through his description of how the camp was set up and how people cared for each other. He also highlights the role indigenous people have to their land and water, by sharing about how they see rivers and water as people, and many of themselves therefore, as "water protectors".

You can find the chapter online here. We have also prepared a Plain English version of the chapter. Contact us if you would like to have a copy.