Hello dear friends and readers,

Here’s to celebrating our interdependence, every day. At the same time, it’s wonderful to have special occasions where we take time to get together with family and friends! Here in the U.S., the Fourth of July weekend is one such occasion…

And, for those of you who might enjoy watching something beautiful and inspirational, in whatever part of this planet you call home and whatever you may be celebrating this weekend, I wanted to tell you about the movie Planetary. Bruce and I just finished watching it last night. It’s been on my list ever since it was released a few months ago, as my long-time friend and colleague Lawrence Ellis is one of the consulting producers for the film.

Now that I’m back from my recent journeys, I finally got to see it… and to have my heart melt once again, at the beauty of seeing the Earth from space, along with many stunning close-ups of the natural wonders that surround us. As Joanna Macy says at the end of the movie, whenever we fall in love with the planet in this way, “you don’t have time to think, how it is going to turn out… all you know, is that you’ll serve it, to the last breath”.

Out of the many words of inspiration that accompanied the powerful images, I was particularly moved by the following:

“I think that state of awe is highly instructive

and it remains unexamined for us in modern culture

because we dismiss it as a child-like response to the world.

It’s not. It’s the doorway to a kind of peace, and

an opening through which, I hope,

an undreamed-of politics

an undreamed-of level of cooperation

an undreamed-of level of reconciliation

is possible.”

These words, offered by nature writer Barry Lopez, reminded me that we humans are also part of Nature… and that our work as practitioners of the Listening Arts is also part of “The Great Turning”.

One of the most valuable gifts our work can offer, is the possibility for human beings to Meet, in ways that allows us to experience wonder and awe at the inherent beauty of each person. We know from experience, that it’s possible for humans to come together in ways that allows us to fall in love with one another’s hearts and minds, as we witness the deep desire within each one of us, to contribute to a world that works for all.

I know that this level of our work may not be so visible in our documentation, on the chart papers or in the harvests that we compile to share the ideas that are generated in our work together. Yet on a deeper level, that’s what our “Creative Conversations Across Differences” are all about…

So, the next time you are in need of a life-sustaining dose of wonder, take a deep dive into this gorgeous movie Planetary, and let your heart and soul to be nourished by the awe-inspiring Beauty of our Multiverse —

and remember that the work that you do, as a practitioner of the Listening Arts, in whatever form that may take, is also a celebration of the Natural World… an honoring of the Life and Beauty that lives within each one of us.

With much love,

Rosa

p.s. I believe the above photo is from NASA.