At the end of last summer, I returned to one of my favorite events of the year: Kindle Northwest - held on the breathtaking Oregon Coast. This year was extra special for me because I was given the opportunity to bring my work with Trillium to my beloved community. I hosted a workshop that allowed us to learn, share, and contemplate our role in the climate crisis. We covered a lot of good stuff, and this post is an attempt to compress it down to the biggest takeaways for those who couldn't make it to the workshop or the event.

Part of what I aspire to do is change culture and promote healing of our relationship with Mother Earth (and ourselves). All the science, activism, and restoration efforts are undoubtedly important; however, contemplating culture moves us closer to the root cause of how we got here in the first place. Our culture today is poisoned with capitalism and the unsustainable attitude of consumption and objectification of nature and all her gifts. Think of object proliferation, pollution, industrial food systems, and the whole fossil fuel thing. There is much to be said about these subjects, but that's for another post.

One of the fundamental ingredients of culture change is conversation

I mean, how can we change something if we're not even talking about it?? Most of us are not getting a chance to talk about the climate crisis or how we feel about it. And if we do, the conversation is brief and stifled by cynicism, hopelessness, or generally freaking the F out.

So here's one of the first nuggets of action we can take: Let's talk about it more.

The conversation doesn't have to be sophisticated. Talk about how you're feeling, what challenges you, what you'd want to see change, or what gives you hope. Ask Questions! If the people around you don't want to participate, let's find others who would. If you have a hard time initiating the conversation, get online and find spaces where this conversation is already happening.

The goal is not for you to become a super activist or expert but to become more informed and supported. If your house is burning down as you watch, it would be nice to have at least someone to talk to about it.

A critical practice we can do in tandem with conversation is our introspection.

Understandably, so much of how we live our lives is automatic. Capitalism has jammed our lives with so much stuff and busyness that we don't have the space or capacity to question what we do, how we do it, and why we do it. It doesn't help that everyone we look up to and learn from is also sucked into the same rip tide.

So, take time to stop and observe...

Where do you spend energy and resources?
What's going into your waste bin?
What was the life cycle of that waste?
Where does your food come from?
What did it take for you to travel to the coast and have a life-changing weekend?

This doesn't have to be an overwhelming practice or a source of self-judgment. The goal is to bring awareness to yourself and your role. This can be easier said than done - I've been there. This is why I started doing the work of supporting people on their journey.

So, to put this introspection into practice during the Kindle workshop, we talked about the elephant in the room:

what do we do about the fact that we, as a flow community, use fossil fuels in our fire circle?

We started by acknowledging the truth that each one of us has a non-zero environmental impact. It's unavoidable! In fact, every creature on this planet does too. We've been having an impact as a species and as individuals for all of our existence. The problem here recently is that our impact has become unsustainably severe, and the planet is going out of balance FAST.

Generally speaking, the way out of the environmental and climate crisis is to figure out how to reduce our impact so the planet can absorb it and heal before more and more systems collapse beyond repair.

Stay with me. We're climbing down the steps to the fire circle.

If we want to do our part in reducing our impact, we need to take inventory of things like the waste we produce, the resources we use, and the carbon we emit. No matter how much of these things we cut, it's never going to zero unless we are dead.

So we have to pick. Where do we want to cut back?

In our travel vehicles and frequency?
Our plastic use?
Water use?
The unsustainable food we indulge in?
Our single-use Barbie decorations?

The answer will vary for each of us because we have different priorities. It depends on how much value these things bring to us.

We use fuel to commune with fire, play, celebrate, and express a wild and beautiful side of our humanity. We make pretty good use of that resource. The carbon and environmental impact, for me, is worth it. However, I make sure to appreciate the heck out of it and to use it with the most intention and mindfulness I can muster.

There is no need for guilt.

Feeling guilty about our impact is a very common experience. It's ok. But I'm here to tell you you don't have to carry that burden. (It’s also not a very productive feeling)

Fuel and fire bring value to your lives, and we must be diligent and make sure that we make up for its impact elsewhere. If fire *and* reducing our impact are important to us, we have to figure out the balance. Again, the answer will vary for each of us. That offset can be done at Kindle or anywhere else.

You've connected with how important this is to you and have figured out how you want to offset the impact of the fuel you use. Congratulations!🫧🔥

You now have a template and trick that you can apply to all props in life.
Receive the gifts of Mother Earth and consume whatever makes you happy and lines up with your values, and bring mindfulness to its impacts and the ways you will offset them to return that gift.

Fire, movement, and community help me live life more fully. I feel so energized after every flow gathering, and when I go home, I gift some of this energy back towards taking care of the planet.

We call this reciprocity, and it's a practice we must reclaim. The survival of our species depends on it.

If you need support and community as you navigate this existential challenge, please know you are not alone. I’m here to support you! Work your way through my website or reach out at Tareq@trillium.eco

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