Erica Berry - Wovles and the stories we tell about fear. Episode 24

Art by Cille Vengberg <3 - Check her work out here

In this episode I have been so blessed to have a conversation with Erica Berry, author of the book ‘Wolfish- Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell About Fear’.

This is a brilliant book that I highly recommend. Ever since putting it down, I knew I had to talk with her some how. And here we are.

We dive into the impact of consuming a constant stream of fear-based stories. From the overwhelming amount of news and information focused on fear and trauma that bombards us in today's world. But also the stories that are ancient. The ancient fear stories that we told, and heard, for many reasons.

We talk about wolves and the history of out of proportion fear that has existed around this beautiful animal.

All of this conversation centered around Erica’s study with wolves, collective and personal fear and what emerges with that - love.

“I think there’s something beautiful in actually thinking about the idea of a lone wolf as someone looking still for connection and actually being vulnerable.”

— Erica Berry

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About Erica Berry

Erica  is a writer and teacher based in her hometown of Portland, Oregon. Her essays appear in publications such as the Guardian, The New York Times, Yale Review, The Atlantic, and Orion, and her first book, Wolfish: Wolf, Self, and the Stories We Tell about Fear, was published by Flatiron/Macmillan in 2023.  She is currently an Associate Fellow at the Attic Institute for Arts and Letters and a writing instructor with Literary Arts in Portland.

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Find her online

Instagram @ericajberry  

www.ericaberry.com.

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Other Episodes you may enjoy

THE ROOTS AND STITCHING OURSELVES BACK TOGETHER STORIES WITH JAN BLAKE

KINSHIP AND FORAGING STORIES WITH GAVIN VAN HORN

MELTING THE ICE IN THE HEART OF MAN WITH ANGAANGAQ

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Why knowing your story matters, when holding space

The first thing we look at in The Art of Holding Space is our stories about being in relationship, community, together. What we bring with us into the spaces we create or participate in. The old, the new. The family ones, the School ones, the others. 

The stories about our place, roles, expectations, assumptions, wounds and longings.

There are the obvious ones and sometimes the more subtle threads. But they can have a lot to say about how safe we feel. Or the way we connect inward and outward as we take a seat. Without feeling we have to play a part, to be worthy. 

A new edge for me is becoming more visible and it is really shining in relation to motherhood. I feel my old stories poke as I witness their interactions and school yard challenges. It takes a lot of consciousness to remember what is mine and what is actually their experience.

I am meeting them A LOT at the moment! Even though many carried threads have found some ease, they will probably never leave my system completely. It weaves in. 

Knowing our history of togetherness, the in the light and the ‘in the shadows’ can support us in creating a safer container for not only participants, but also ourselves. We can tend to ourselves with intention and care in a different way. It can become easier to get proper supervision and plan curriculum and content that we can actually hold in a responsible way.

Having this perspective and insight with us, I feel, it’s important. The things we often think set apart, are the stories that truly connect us.

The art of holding space begins February 8th - read more here

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When we compete, we can't connect

image by inuit artist Germaine Arnaktauyok

For 7 years I’ve offered a course on the art of holding space. When I first started out I had listened to a Ted Talk with Chitra Aiyar. In the talk she mentions her work with communities with minorities on campuses in the US. She states in the talk ‘When we compare, we can’t connect’. 

The more I’ve worked with the content and people, that statement has changed for me. I think it’s more a case of ‘When we compete, we can’t connect’. 

Of course in many ways they are linked, the ‘compare and compete’. We compare all the time, it’s natural. When it takes over, the energy can change. I’ve been down the spiral so many times. The compete element feels more intense. It’s not one that brings the heart to heart feel. It’s been a key learning of mine I think. To feel safe enough to let the story of having to fight my way through to get anywhere, rest. 

It’s also something that often gets glossed over in the spiritual settings. We pretend it doesn’t exist and we stick to the love and light. We stay with the all positive feels and suppress what also exists when people come together. I think most of us have, well I think all of us have. In business, in all kinds of groups - the spiritual is no exception, the competition has a certain effect on how we connect. I’ve seen it in the yoga world, the meditation world, the shamanistic the the the. And as mentioned in myself. Something we don’t talk a lot about. It’s not really pretty and comes with some level of shame or ick. Which makes it grow in intensity. 

I work with this a lot. Relearning how to be in ‘it’ with fellow humans, myself. And it is a huge part of the foundation of my work. 

As a people we are increasingly recognizing the importance of coming together in a different way. To heal our stories of being in community and the ways we walk this Earth. 

AND we meet edges here. That may surprise us at times. Wounds and past experiences that were not easy and are brought into the room with us. 

Creating space for all of that and the chance for us to witness the brilliance in ourselves and others is powerful. Healing a story and experiencing the ability to be here as a whole entire being. I love this work so much. The honeymoon and the chaos. 

READ MORE ABOUT ‘THE ART OF HOLDING SPACE’ THAT BEGIN FEBRUARY 2024

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Discovering the cracks in the mirror with Bayo Akomolafe

Most often we talk about the cracks being where the light comes in. In this conversation with Bayo Akomolafe, he says “Sometimes mirrors rupture and cracks start to emerge. And then our images start to get distorted. And in those would could despair and seek to polish the mirror back to it’s shininess again. Or we could use in a different ethical move, use the cracks to seek out the darknesses, the shadows the cracks occlude”

This conversation has invited me to look at those in my mirror. Where I try to polish and where I accept the invitation. In the broader scale where we in West are so busy polishing that our arms are falling off. It takes some breathing deeply and a commitment to not turn away.

I had so much emotion running through my veins as he spoke, words fell short and felt that as well. He is an important voice of our day. In his words, poetry and in the way those ask me as the receiver to reflect!

Please let us know what you take away from this conversation.

Listen here:

About Bayo:

Bayo Akomolafe (Ph.D.), rooted with the Yoruba people in a more-than-human world, is the father to Alethea and Kyah, the grateful life-partner to Ije, son and brother. A widely celebrated international speaker, posthumanist thinker, poet, teacher, public intellectual, essayist, and author of two books,

These Wilds Beyond our Fences: Letters to My Daughter on Humanity’s Search for Home (North Atlantic Books) and We Will Tell our Own Story: The Lions of Africa Speak, Bayo Akomolafe is the Chief Curator of The Emergence Network and host of the online postactivist course, ‘We Will dance with Mountains’.

Where to find him:

www.bayoakomolafe.net

www.emergencenetwork.org

Resources mentioned:

Feminist Scholar Karen Barad

Bayo on Facebook

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Rewilding Farmland with David Katznelson

How easy is it to buy farmland and give it back to nature? This is what we are talking about in this episode.

A dream I know many hold, to bring back the wild - myself included. It feels like a solution to many issues. But is it that simple and what challenges are you faced with when you embark on that journey?

In this episode I’m speaking with David Katznelson, his work, his vision to create a national park in Denmark and the journey is such an inspiring one, I hope you enjoy this interview as much as I did.

About David

David Katznelson was born and brought up in Denmark, David specialised in Cinematography at the National Film & Television School in the UK. Since graduating in 2000, he has lived in London, and shot a number of feature films, TV pilots, TV series and won several awards including an EMMY, a BAFTA and an RTS

He has now bought a huge piece of land in Denmark and wants to create a national park. Listen in on his journey. 

To support the National Park go here…

Find them on Instagram here…

Find out more about David Katznelson here…

Other resources mentioned:

‘Wilding’ by Isabella Tree - Buy it here

Karen Mogensen Costa Rica -

https://costa-rica-guide.com/photos/wildlife-reserves/karen-mogensen-nature-reserve/

The Will of the Wild with Jay Griffiths

Nearly 10 years ago I read Jay Griffiths book ‘Wild’, it had a great impact on me, in a subtle way. Because it was hard to put into words, what it was like to read her’s.

She spent 7 years writing the book, about her journey around the World, meeting indigenous people and seeking the will of wild.

This is where this conversation begins.

• what is wild, wilderness

• what is it to be an apprentice to something

• what does it mean to give time

• a note on activism and climate despair and fatigue

It was just as rich speaking with her, as it is reading her book.

Or listen on

Spotify

iTunes

or where you listen to your podcasts

ABOUT Jay Griffiths

Jay Griffiths has written on the politics of time, and the importance of wildness in the human spirit and the natural world in childhood. She was born in Manchester, studied at Oxford and has lived in Wales since 2000. 

With her first book, Pip Pip: A Sideways Look at Time, she won the Discover award for the best new non-fiction writer to be published in the USA and with her second, Wild: An Elemental Journey she won the inaugural 2007 Orion Book Award. She is the author of Tristimania: A Diary of Manic Depression and Kith: The Riddle of the Childscape. 

Her fiction includes A Love Letter from a Stray Moon, about the Mexican painter Frida Kahlo, and Anarchipelago, about the road protests. 

She was the Hay Festival International Fellow for 2016.

“Her work isn't just good - it's necessary.” - Philip Pullman

She is to be found on social media, but find more about her and her work here:

http://jaygriffiths.com

Other sites mentioned

https://rebellion.global

Plant Whispering with Rachel Corby ☾ 13

Well well well, back again with a new episode for you. This time with a woman I love dearly. Rachel Corby is a very special teacher, and I’ve had the privilege to have her teach courses 2 years in a row.

In this episode we will be talking about working with plants. About what plant whispering means and how this work is more important today than ever. She is a very experienced and respectful teacher - to the plants and students and her wisdom runs deep.

ABOUT RACHEL CORBY
Rachel Corby is a plant whisperer, medicine woman and organic permaculture gardener. Rachel has been working with plants and their healing properties since having her eyes opened to the incredible healing world of plants whilst working on a volunteer project in Guatemala back in 1998.

Rachel has been teaching remedy making and how to make more spiritual connections with plants since 2006. She runs workshops, online courses and retreats teaching these skills and encouraging the rewilding process. She is the author of the book, Rewilding Yourself; Becoming Nature. 

GO FOLLOW RACHEL HERE:

FACEBOOK

INSTAGRAM

WEBSITE

Gode resourcer til tiden, foråret og nye veje...

Igår delte jeg nedenstående liste i mit nyhedsbrev . Det er nogle gratis resourcer som er fantastisk 'food for thought'. Resourcer som giver næring og måske svar, på de store spørgsmål vi sidder med om klima, natur, bæredygtighed. Især om livet efter denne situation, krise, pause, tid - lige meget hvordan vi forholder os, så er vi på ukendt grund.

Disse film, bøger, mennesker giver mig, håb og lyst til at tænke vores fremtid i et andet lys. Og hvis man ikke er til de store følelser, så er de bare virkelig spændende input. 

Hvad synes jeg så du skal tjekke ud:

1. Filmen 'INHABIT'. Jeg købte filmen. lige da den kom ud og har set den flere gange nu. Da krisen brød ud, så lagde de filmen om gratis. Den vil jeg anbefale! Den er tankevækkende, fyldt med håb og fremtid.
Se den her...

2. Gratis 52 ugers Permakultur kursus hos Permaculturwomen.com - for dig med have, som vil bruge denne tid på at forstå økosystemer, haven, flerårige planter og hvordan du kan skabe en have der er fremtid i, så kan jeg anbefale det KÆMPE arbejde disse kvinder har lavet her. Jeg har fået rigtig meget ud af det. 
Læs mere her...

3. Min veninde Laura Storm har sammen med Giles Hutchins, skrevet bogen 'Regenerative Leadership' og den jeg vil anbefale alle at læse. Nu har de gjort 1. kapitel tilgængelig gratis. Og den i sig selv kan give ny næring til, at se sin vej gennem, ikke kun corona krise, men det der er lige bag (eller foran) klimakrisen. Den ser fremad og jeg elsker det de giver os med deres bog.
Læs den her...

4. Det seneste afsnit af min podcast 'Becoming Nature' udkom igår. Her taler jeg med Rachel Corby om Plant Whispering og rewilding. Hun er en vanvittig vis kvinde og på instagram kan du lige nu deltage i en give away hvor du kan vinde hendes seneste bog 'Plant Whispering and the art of rewilding'. 
Lyt med her...

Jeg håber, der er til timers underholdning og fordybelse til dig her. Det var der for mig. <3

Enjoy :)

C

Regenerative Leadership with Laura Storm ☾ 11

We are back and we kick off season two with a talk about sustainability, leadership.

In this episode I talk to Laura Storm. Laura is my friend, inspiration and, in May, also my partner as we open the ‘doors’ to a retreat we’ve called ‘Rewilding yourself in the Workplace’.

In our talk we take a journey back to where we began moving away from nature and it’s intelligence and more importantly - where we stopped seeing ourselves as nature, a part of this eco-system. Laura talks to how we can take leadership, a new definition of efficiency and creating a language for tapping into nature’s intelligence.

Laura is a wealth of knowledge! This is one to listen to.

Listen in on our conversation here:

Laura Storm has spent her entire career working in the intersection between business, leadership, sustainability, climate change policy and innovation leading and creating impact- and purpose-driven organizations, conferences, campaigns and movements. 

Currently she dedicates all her work to Regenerators that she started in February 2018 and is getting ready to launch her book on Regenerative Leadership in June 2019 with her colleague and leadership expert Giles Hutchins. 

For her work, she has been awarded the title World changer by Greenbiz and is selected by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader. She serves on multiple Boards – including the Danish Design Council, World Economic Forums Expert Network on sustainable development and climate change. She holds a Master in Political Communication and Leadership, with special focus on sustainability leadership, Copenhagen Business School.

Find Laura Storm here:

https://www.regenerators.co/the-collective

And our retreat in May here:

http://www.carinalyall.com/rewild-yourself-in-the-workplace

The Becoming Nature Podcast - Pilot

Something exhilarating is happening.

And I just know you’re going to love it.

My brand newpodcast, Becoming Nature, launches this week.

To say I am excited is an understatement!

Becoming Nature is here to inspire you to come closer to nature.

 

Practically

Spiritually

Bodily 

Even more so this is a personal launch. Saturday the 25th marks a special day, the podcast goes live on what would have been my dear friend's 48th birthday. She passed away in January and I wanted this season 1 to be a tribute to her, to her work, to our friendship. A tribute to the change we wanted to see. The hikes and ceremonies we did together in Nature. And also just a tribute to how much she inspired me, cheered me on and never thought anything I came up with was a shitty idea. ;) 

Are all of these interviews perfect, no. Not in the polished sense, but they did move me - every single one of the people who came on inspire me. They have something to say and a strong voice for change. 

The wonderful guests I will be hosting will inspire and motivate you in encouraging ways to live more sustainably, connected to the Earth beneath your feet!

They will show you what choices you can make in your own life to leave a gentle footprint on the planet. 

Honoringour homes, the body and Earth. 

Honoringthe wisdom of both. 

Celebrating the options we have to live more sustainable lives. 

They will do the same for you; I guarantee it. 

You’ll learn about actions you can take in your own lives to live more sustainably in the nature of your body and the nature around you. You will begin to feel clear around why this is important.

In Becoming Nature, I feed the ‘what we can do’and not just the horror stories. 

The inspiration may be born from urgency and the pain that we inflict on ourselves and the earth, but I don’t want to create panic. I want to call out the wisdom, knowledge and hope for the power we hold in our choices. 

The people I interview … their work is so important and there is a hunger for it within this community that you are apart of.

Guests will include Callie from Alone season 3, Clare Dubois; the founder of TreeSisters, Stephen Jenkinson, A plastic Planet, Easky Britton, Luke from the Holistic Survival School and more. They are an inspiration, and through their words they will impart wisdom to you on Becoming Nature.

I can’t wait for you to join me on this thrilling new podcast adventure.

My first episode 'Turning off the Plastic Tap', will be airing on August 25th via iTunes.

Stay tuned and follow the blog, Instagram or Facebook to listen in...