“We have physically
created wounded places on the Earth, and that is exacerbated by us ignoring
them. Becoming whole in ourselves and in the way we approach existence is the
beginning of healthy, dynamic systems. It’s exactly a parallel to our own inner
psyche. The parts we cut out and don’t want to look at are the ones that cause
us the most trouble. And if we look at them and pay attention to them, they
shift.”
This comment by Kinde
Nebeker (standing in the center in the photo above, at her 2011 Global Earth Exchange in Salt Lake City) of Salt Lake City zeroes in
on one of the subtle but vitally important aspects of the practice and the path
that is Radical Joy for Hard Times Earth Exchanges: that actually going to wounded places strengthens
the bond between person and place, brings new life to the place, and empowers
people to act with more energy and more compassion on behalf of what they love.
We all wish, naturally,
not to be uncomfortable. Hence we avoid the things that we fear will make us
sad or angry or embarrassed or guilty—or any of a host of other emotions we’d
rather avoid. Avoidance, of course, doesn’t make the shunned thing vanish. It only
makes it grow and fester there in the dark where we try to hide it. It grows
bigger. It pops out of its hiding place when we least expect it, causing
problems and making us even more determined to keep it hidden.
When we decide, once and
for all, to take a look at what’s wriggling there down unseen, we’re often
surprised to see how mild it is. How, instead of sinking us in despair, the
attention we give it actually liberates us. Dealing consciously with what we discover
enables us to bring to the problem new understanding, peace of mind, and creative
solutions.
As Kinde observes, the
same is true about wounded places. When people go to polluted rivers, eroded
hills, farms torn up for gas drilling, or abandoned industrial sites like the
one Kinde and her friends honored in the 2011 Global Earth Exchange, they
discover that, far from depressing them, the encounter fills them with a sense
of community, creativity, empowerment, and even joy.
