Gratitude
Gratitude is my favorite anti-depressant. Gratitude fills the space until there is simply no room for whining! There is no use in reducing depression, a formidable foe, to mere whining, but real demons and ghosts cower before the courageous, unburdened heart. Simple, but not so easy, I know.
Thanks to so, so many incredible people attending, Ghost Forests and the Fate of the Grizzly (see previous entry) was a huge success, as is outlined by Louisa Wilcox of NRDC. Thank you, Louisa, for the words and emotions regarding my song for the whitebark pine, currently entitled “What To Hold.” I wrote the song after a long and, as always, potent conversation with Louisa about the soul of the beautiful and ancient whitebark pine. It was a pure pleasure to write and yet, as is often the case, the process evoked many states of being which are not normally considered pleasant. Yes, the song is a requiem for what we’ve lost and inevitably will lose. I hope it helps galvanize us to fight for what is appropriate and possible to hold. And to let go of the burdens we carry—the unnecessary and deadening excesses of our lives.
Carefully deciding what is worthy of fear, fighting unreservedly to maintain the wild open spaces in my mind and heart, and speaking the truth plainly are lessons I continue to learn from my beloved friend Doug Peacock. Doug’s wild charisma and deep intelligence brought us all into a state of receptivity to the powerful science of Jesse Logan, and the poetry of Tom Turiano’s walking observations. We also got to hear the luxurious Tom Turiano and Valerie Seaberg, as they helped us celebrate each other and strategize the good work that lies ahead. THANK YOU ALL.
And speaking of thanks, how about a great thanks to Ray Polito of Confluence Media for his brilliance in helping me with my website and this blog! Thank you Ray. Can I go on all day? That’s how long it would take me to thank everybody.
It is an honor to be represented on Counterpunch as the May 13 “Website of the Day” along with Doug and Andrea Peacock and all the other amazing people there. Thanks, Jeff St. Claire for that.
And many thanks to the Jackson Hole News and Guide and Samantha Getz for treating us so well in the Wednesday, 20 May STEPPING OUT section of the weekly paper. You’d know how grateful I truly am if you knew what she COULD have written after listening to the uncensored banter of a, shall we say, creative family.
There is so much more. But right now I have to practice the song I helped write with kids ages 3-12 at the Teton Valley Community School called, ‘This Is My World.” The three-year-olds came up with that title. Quite a song.
Thanks for checking in,
Beth