the great turning!

someone who i met at this accelerate 77 'share fair', a kind of sustainability conference for the chicago area, turned me on to the work of joanna macy. this has opened up to me a new part of this story of 'the shift', 'the awakening', which she calls 'the great turning'. and she's been talking about this for a LONG time! how did i not know about her?

after watching a video of her (in which she mentions the same epoch shift that Grace Boggs did when i saw her speak!) i came across this video of David Korten, another person who i was not aware of, who is speaking about everything i have been thinking about! he has also been speaking about this shift for a while... and i wonder why it took me so long to notice... there is this other video of him from more recently. i watched these while finishing the headband i am making for my superhero costume!

i've never read Derek Jensen's 'Endgame', but had been told i should and had intended to. now that i've seen this video i can skip the book. he is similar in attitude i think to Finisia Medrano, author of 'Growing Up in Occupied America'. it was through reading about 'the hoop' in that book that i eventually decided to go on this trip. yet, the anger in that book, which she continues to express, is not an energy i see is supporting the work of 'the great turning'. there is no doubt in me that we must align ourselves with love and non-violence in order to move into an age of holistic, harmonious life. it is by coming together radically with our neighbors in loving community that we will replace the culture of separation that is destroying us.

today i volunteered at patchwork farm. when i was about to leave, after accepting a bundle of rainbow chard from molly, a black man came up to the fence asking about produce for sale. i decided to go talk with him and share my joy about this farm. he told me his wife is sick and they are not able to make it out to farmer's markets, so it is great that he can more conveniently swing by this location during their farmstand hours. molly gave him an informational card and he went on his way. i caught up with him and gave him the swiss chard, which i really didn't need, telling him to cook it like collards, but not as long, because the chard leaf is not as tough. he was very grateful and i was happy. i hope this will help patchwork sell more chard, because they have a beautiful crop of it that nobody seems to be interested in except me.
after i grabbed some produce that the chickens didn't seem to want from the ground in their fenced yard i was on my way out... and i met another man who was walking by outside the gate. he commented that there had been a cat terrorizing the chickens. he wondered if any had been harmed, because the cat was really bothering them. i didn't know. i was in wonderful spirits and leaned into this neighborly interaction. he was curious about my story after i told him i was traveling around the country helping out at farms like this when i can. he proceeded to share about his work with youth in chicago. it was remarkable to him how he had made such a big difference in these people's lives by showing he cared for them when they were not getting that from other adults. this man, Richard, was a real local superhero i realized! this exchange left me feeling wonderful and i rode off with renewed strength to pick up some food supplies at the dill pickle food coop.