Reflections on the Earth Activist Training Report Back

One lunar eclipsed full moon evening we organized an event to share our learning and experiences at The Earth Activist Training. With 25 attendees we opened the space with introductions and a song. We moved on to explain permaculture design basics through stating the ethics: care of the land, care of the people, and fair share to all plus creating surplus by design. This lead into a meditation using the first of the 27 principals that one uses in designing permaculture spaces, observation. People closed their eyes and imagined they were in a spot in nature and looked for the patterns in that spot. It was about using all their senses as well as working with the phrase "I wonder" as they imagined moving through that natural environment. We then had them open their eyes and look at the shapes in front of them, see what patterns were in the room. We wrote these patterns down on a white board and talked about what patterns one might use in designing a permaculture space.

The observation time lead to a slide show exemplifying our experience and highlighting the rainwater catchment gray water hand washing station we built as well as the cob and waddle storage shed we began building. We rounded out the evening with a hands on ritual workshop in singing and making seed balls. As we rolled together the clay, compost and native wild seeds Heron described the plants many uses and the no till method of the seed balls. People put energy for the world they wanted to live in by singing over our finished product, a pile of tiny balls ready to repair degraded land and beautify a piece of earth with their medicinal and flowerful qualities.


As a co-creator of this report back I felt quiet happy with the results. I felt that all our hard work and advertising payed off. It was fun to see a large group of people including people we did not know gaining new insights and asking so many questions. It was hard to choose what to focus on; this training covered so many topics so to choose how best to present it was challenging. In the end I am glad we stuck to teaching only three key things and just sharing our experience for the rest of the time. We had report back forms and it was good to get a lot of appreciation and some constructive criticism. I feel that in time my teaching skills will get even better, especially in transitioning from one topic to the next. I liked helping to lead people in ritual that had never or very rarely experienced it. In the feed back form we asked people directly what they thought about the ritual and most agreed that they did not usually do this sort of thing but were happy with the relaxed atmosphere and how they could choose to participate or not.

I like learning how to be a teacher, how to make things fun and dynamic as well as packed with information. I also liked the process Heron and I had to go through to lead this together. It was hard choosing who would do what tasks. We both ended up working independently of each other a lot and there was a feeling that we could not rely on the other for help. We were able to communicate this and work it out so that we could collaborate when it came time to lead the report back. I feel like this is one of the many lessons I am learning in working collectively. These are great steps towards being able to live in an intentional community.

Week 6 winter quarter

I spent week 6 focused on the report back next week and on gathering more inspiration for my art installation. I rented a PBS series called "Art 21," interviews with artist in the 21st century. These DVDs were incredibly helpful in gaining perspective and guidance surrounding the work I am creating. I was especially enchanted with Ann Hamilton's work. Her use of natural materials and multimedia presentations exploring the idea of spirituality excited me. I was also enthralled by the works of Kiki Smith, her sculpture, especially about the witch trials was a fascinating way to make history relevant and in your face. I liked the reminder of how political art is a way of creating beauty and healing in a tense and destructive environment. As a multi-media artist I also appreciated how the interviews were shot, few face on shots and mostly showing the artist as they created their work. You really got a sense of the process and energy put into each piece.

Heron and I crafted a slideshow and presentation for the report back as well as took a look over our timeline and decided what were the most important things to cover. We have been publicizing the event widely and will be doing a short interview on the radio about permaculture and the report back. I think it will go smoothly and be very dynamic, a true expression of our experience at EAT.

I have been keeping up with my Body and Earth nature awareness exercises and notice new things each time I go out. I find myself craving to go to my secret spot in the mornings. I feel as though I am fully honoring the spring this year by watching it slowly unfold in my neighborhood. This week we were focused on the brain and visceral experience in the body. I did yoga on Saturday and had an even more illuminated experience when noticing my visceral body and brain during the practice.