The Earth Keeper’s Handbook

The Inward Journey It may seem paradoxical that the fastest route to connection with others is to go inward. Nonetheless, it’s true. It is through our inner landscape that we are offered a direct line to the whole complex web of life. The network of connection we inhabit reminds me of mycelium, the delicate white strands of fungi, commonly known as mushrooms, beneath the ground. “This fine web of cells courses through virtually all habitats … unlocking nutrient sources stored in plants and other organisms.”1 The invisible matrix of interconnections between us is demonstrated in every ecosystem on earth. We are born of it, and from it we are continually fed and nourished. Separate from it, we would not exist. And yet, our greatest challenge is to know that we are integral with all that is. It is the illusion of separation that both proffers us the greatest individual glory and invites us to perpetrate the most heinous of acts. But connection redeems us, offering fulfillment and a whole universe of untapped resources. Ancestral Wisdom The more we learn about nature, Earth’s myriad ecosystems, and the imperative of biodiversity, the clearer it becomes that human oversight regarding our interconnectedness is the root cause of our burgeoning woes. When we know our interconnectedness intimately, we walk on the earth with reverence. We hold one another with the understanding that you are another me. Earth-centered, native 1 Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 2005). 2 Loren Swift cultures have revered nature and our interdependence with all things for eons. Their worldviews hold all things as sacred and interwoven. In earth-based cultures, the elevation of individuals was due to their prowess within the context of serving their community, say as a skilled hunter, medicine-herbalist, or talented shaman. From our Western vantage point, we can only imagine what it may be like to live knowing no separation from the web of life. Yet this ancestral wisdom pulls at us to remember ourselves as part of the whole. As radical as it may seem, science has now proven our ancestors correct. We live in a world of seamless connectivity. When we experience the potent connections that start with our inner world, we amend the soil for our own growth. In this chapter, our exploration focuses on self-connection, the crux of the inward journey. Metaphorically, it reminds me of a stone dropping into the mirrored surface of a pond. The deeper the stone descends, the wider the ripples of understanding spread. So it is with us. Deep self-connection affords us a wide range of insights via our expanded awareness. It gives us access to our hearts and minds, to intuitive awakening and creativity, to one another, and to spirit. Self-connection is also the basis from which we can skillfully navigate the world around us, from clear communication to conscious choice making. Inevitably, as we descend through the layers of self-awareness, our assumptions about ourselves and the world will surface. It can feel like taking off outer garments and regarding them quizzically. To look objectively at our personal habits and tendencies can be disorienting, like walking through a hall of mirrors. It also can be amusing or frightening, or inconsequential. No matter how much meditation or introspection you may have done, there is more to garner from the inward journey. I invite you to try a new approach. This isn’t about overcoming the obstacles to inner peace or slaying the demons of the monkey mind. It’s about letting your self-awareness drop even further inside, allowing every passing thought, feeling, and notion to be seen and acknowledged along the way. To do so is the inception of deep states of acceptance and inclusion, necessary qualities for both inner peace and transcendent awareness. They also lay the foundation for connection and understanding with others. To look inward first is the way to mend disconnection from ourselves and each other. It is also the path to liberation. The Earth Keeper’s Handbook 3 Acceptance as Path Acceptance as path opens the door to radical aliveness. It is an internal shift of perspective that allows room for whatever arises in us to simply be there. Acceptance promulgates a wide array of possibilities for living and working together. Simultaneously, it neutralizes the generally held assumption that there is an allknowing, external judge of what is “right and wrong” or “good and bad” outside of us. Our own internalized judge perpetuates this insidious premise, bestowing the appropriate punishment or reward depending on what we “deserve.” Such core beliefs hobble us with guilt and shame and undermine our self-esteem. They separate us from ourselves and divide us from each other. The reorientation to self-acceptance relieves us of the moralistic burden of judgment. With self-acceptance, real change is possible. Our return to self-connection, seeded by deep self-acceptance, is free of judgment. This freedom is the ground for personal sovereignty, for becoming the leaders of our own lives. It inoculates the shift germinating inside from fear of judgment to empowered action. Acceptance is like an enzyme that metabolizes the anxiety produced from the familiar, authoritarian meritocracy. With self-acceptance, we become free to share what is gritty and authentic of ourselves with others. If going inward as a practice is new to you, and even if not, the beguiling ways of your innate self-protection mechanism, also known as the ego, will likely want to meddle in your adventure. No problem. This is to be expected. As we build up the nutrients of our internal resources and establish a new ground of being inside, whatever shows up is responded to with acceptance and compassion. This is about making room for all of it. Everything is included; everything is greeted with respect. As we learned when we were very young, the best way to chase monsters away is to turn on the light. Simply by shining the light of our awareness on what clings below the surface often frees it to morph right then and there. Awareness with acceptance also empowers us with choice. We are free to face and even befriend that particular thought, fear, or feeling, whereas to keep it hidden in the dark only drains our precious internal resources while feeding its influence over us from the shadows. Self-awareness, as with information in general, is power.