Robin Cody, a storyteller who mesmerized us all with his powerful words, began his stories with "Back when mountains were people..." and explained geology and natural wonders with beautiful myth. Robin engaged my senses, from the view of Mount Jefferson, to his soothing voice, to the taste of the sour-sweet huckleberries in my mouth and the smell of the forest. Senses have power. Senses are stirring.
After touring a hydro plant, a wind farm, and a coal plant, I felt changed. Energy took on new meaning now that it was tangible. Now that I had touched a wind turbine while feeling real wind on my face, energy was suddenly very real. Now that I felt the heat from the burning coal, energy became real. Tangibility. Senses have power. Senses are stirring.
Enrique, a facilitator... speak from the heart, from the "I." Speak of dreams and of vision. Speak from the base metaphor.
We all belong to one of four quadrants- innovators, storytellers, technicians, politicos. I am a storyteller. What happens when the four quadrants come together to collaborate? Four strands forming one braid. A pyramid sitting on a solid base, pointing toward one goal. Interdependency. Interconnectedness.
Having a sense of humor - that is important. We laughed through skits, we laughed around the fire, we laughed during awkward silences. We sang songs, we made fun of each other. Roby Roberts, a speaker from the wind industry, reiterated this point. Even as he spoke of disappointments and setbacks, he put a positive and funny spin on things. It helps. We need funny.
"Don't let your education define you. It's a tool, but not your whole toolbox." - Nick Scott
What is the story of now? We have to be shameless and fearless to put out our public narrative which will inspire people to act. Urgency demands us to sometimes drop everything, while maintaining a sense of identity and morals throughout. I need to demonstrate what I am for, not what I am against. Movements are like tidal waves and often can't be stopped.
On the hike up Mount Hood, I witnessed a receding glacier. Once again, senses and the physical world filled me up to the brim. It is one thing to hear about the effects of climate change, and a whole completely different thing to see it, to feel it, to experience it. And yet, at the top of the ridge, conversations of hope. Of solutions. Personal reflection. Collaborative reflection. Mountains all around and snow in August. The natural world inspires in a way that no human being can.
Allison Gannett walks the talk. She is idealistic - a professional skier and climate change activist. She is pragmatic - a carbon footprint fanatic. She is technologically savvy - a straw bale house designer and a farmer. She comes from all four quadrants, and so she has a grasp on the world - its problems and its solutions.
Walking over "roadblocks" on a team brainstorming session through the woods. The act of physically stepping over logs and moving to new spaces really did help my group come up with some ideas about how to work together toward solutions. "Grasp" was born - the Craig's List for environmentalists and problem solvers.
I returned to my Berkeley community, energized, stronger, more connected, more powerful. Recharged. Ready to Focus the Nation.
