How It Looks From Here

This month we're sharing a conversation on the implications of climate change in an aging society. HR (Rick) Moody, a scholar of philosophy and career-long leader in positive aging, pulled together a group of people on Zoom, asking neurologist, educator and creative Peter Whitehouse to join Full Ecology's Mary M Clare in leading a discussion focused on Elders and Climate Change.

Dr. Moody is deeply committed to climate repair and has recently released a new book entitled, CLIMATE CHANGE IN AN AGING SOCIETY, published by Routledge Press. He also edits the weekly newsletter by the same name.

Peter Whitehouse is a leader in Alzheimer’s research, having established that the diagnosis cannot represent a stand-alone disease, but rather a complex combination of challenges that vary from person to person. He is also deeply involved in education. He and his wife have, for 25 years, been champions of three charter elementary schools in Cleveland, Ohio focused on bringing young learners and seniors together to enhance the learning of both. Central to the curricula of these schools is attention to the environment and climate challenges. 

Rick then invited Mary M Clare, the host of HOW IT LOOKS FROM HERE, to join as a second primary speaker. Rick was interested in Mary's work with Gary Ferguson on Full Ecology, together with her current work with what she calls “Inner Elderhood.” .

Rick, Peter and Mary join with others who attended the Zoom session to discuss the salience and nuance of Elderhood in times of climate change. You'll hear new links between Elder years and the environment, as well as an enlivened exchange on the intersection of Climate degradation and ageism.

You can learn more about Elderhood and Climate Change by checking out Rick Moody’s newly released book, CLIMATE CHANGE IN AN AGING SOCIETY. 

If you’re interested in receiving the weekly newsletter by the same name by going to this newsletter link. 

Learn more about Peter Whitehouse by tapping into a few interviews with him recorded on you tube videos. These, of course, are also in the show notes.

And, keep listening to HILFH for more from Mary - you can also stay current by subscribing to the Full Ecology newsletter through the link on the Full Ecology website - www.fullecology.com.

The bottom line here - there’s always more to learn toward doing our parts as good stewards of the planet, no matter our age.

RESOURCES

David mentioned the veteran's organization that advocates for environmental justice and policies that protect communities, Common Defense.

Tara mentioned the book about indigenous people of the Amazon entitled: The Continuum Concept. Jean Liedloff.

MUSIC

Sebuah kenangan. Music by Wahyu Music from Pixabay

 Romance. Music by Jourin Hannah Hannah from Pixabay

 Relaxing Music. Music by Wahyu Music from Pixabay

To begin this month of love in all its guises, we reached out to a person who teaches the kind of love that makes communities thrive. Courtney Gambrell brings a long and rich background in behavioral health and spiritual care to wellness work. She’s is a licensed clinical social worker in Texas and practiced psychotherapy there for many years. More recently, with an additional graduate degree she’s served as a board certified spiritual care provider and staff wellness coordinator at Boulder Community Health in Boulder, Colorado. Most of her work has been in high acuity settings like the Emergency Department and Intensive Care Unit. Over the years, Courtney has developed rituals with the wild just outside the hospital door, using it to support humans as nature in life shifting changes for patients, their family members and healthcare staff. 

Throughout, Courtney continues awed by self-inquiry processes, humbled and heartened by the benefits of gathering in mutuality and shared purpose. You’ll hear this awe throughout our conversation. Listen closely and you’ll also hear echoes of the breeze, the songs of contented birds and perhaps a whisper of what might be a gentle brook. This is the vibe Courtney brings to things.

Courtney shares her work as one way to affirm the power of community. She honors the connection of human and beyond human community as a source of health, and a source of healing. Our conversation today stands as an invitation to all of us to give abundant attention to the unity that is the living world of which we are a part.

If you're interested in more on how our social ecologies can be tended in ways that are good for all ecologies, Courtney suggests you consider the work of Richard Schwartz on Internal Family Systems. Most recently, Schwartz has teamed up with Melissa Gilbert to produce this audio series.

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Wave - Music by Tomomi Kato from Pixabay

Excuse Me Cat - Music by Geoff Harvey from Pixabay

Close to Closing - Music by Restum Anoush from Pixabay

Dr. Carma Corcoran is an Elder and enrolled member of the Chippewa Cree Nation. She lives in Portland, Oregon where she’s a longstanding public leader in response to social justice concerns. Professionally, she directs the Indian Law Program at Lewis & Clark College Law School. She also serves as an adjunct professor of Indigenous Nations studies at Portland State University and of Native American studies at Salish Kootenai College. She’s holds membership on several boards of directors for organizations focused on the interests and concerns of Native American people.

Carma’s devotion to indigenous people and community led her to pursue her PhD with Pacifica University where she studied Gentle Action Theory with Dr. David Peet and applied this set of understandings in working directly with incarcerated Native American women. Her book The Incarceration of Native American Women: Creating Pathways to Wellness and Recovery through Gentle Action Theory is a summary of her original research and was recently published by University of Nebraska Press.

In this episode, Carma shares implications of Gentle Action Theory for climate repair. She speaks specifically of the application of traditional ways for coming into right relationship with ourselves, each other and the natural world.

To learn more about Dr. Corcoran, read the article featuring her in Underscore Native News. Watch Carma’s facebook and instagram pages for where in the country Carma is speaking next and the chance to listen in on more about her work and insights. Finally, as we step into this New Year, bring along Carma’s suggestion that, to be of service in this weary world, we must start by going within - daily - to know and grow ourselves.

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Flute/Guitar Classical Instrumental Oqu by Creative Freedom from Pixabay

Tabla Flute 102. Music by Johnson Cherian from Pixabay

 Flute Drums 106. Music by Johnson Cherian from Pixabay

This month – following the recent U.S. presidential election - we wanted to speak to our listeners who may be feeling challenged to be at peace right now, while at the same time staying responsive to right action. In the face of that challenge, we’re thrilled to have as our guest. Alison is an activist and public leader in New Haven, CT. Most recently she's been deeply involved with volunteer work for the Harris/Walz ticket.

Mary and Alison have spoken before - nearly 2 years ago in February of 2023. In the time since, Alison has continued in her role as Director of Professional Formation for Yale University's Divinity School. For two decades prior to that post, she was Chief Executive Officer for Columbus House, a nonprofit organization devoted to providing homes and shelter for people who need them. Still before that, she had a good run as owner of a New Haven women's bookstore.

In their conversation, Alison and Mary considered ways for going forward into this uncertain future ina a way that will contribute to social and environmental justice. Given Alison's involvement in the Harris/Walz campaign, we realize we can't fairly represent thoughts, experiences and anticipations of people who voted otherwise; nonetheless, we trust the listener will recognize that limitation and find something helpful here.

You can learn more about Alison at this link describing her current work with Yale Divinity School, and at this link about her previous role with Columbus House as an advocate and activist for people without houses.

Now, here in this season of darkness turning back toward light, we wish each of you only well. And we know that, no matter the votes we cast, each of us will experience joys and sorrows, big and small triumphs and profound disappointments and losses in the coming days, weeks and years. In times like ours the opportunities are countless for learning ever more about how to live present and with love and kindness - to ourselves, to other people and to all beings. Thank you for listening in and for taking care of yourselves and each other.

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Relaxing Piano Music

Music by Clavier Clavier from Pixabay

Sad Violin

Music by Restum Anoush from Pixabay

Inspirational Calm Relaxing Piano

Music by Josef Surikov from Pixabay

This month, Mary had the opportunity to meet with artist and scholar, Neal Aronowitz. They spoke in Neal’s studio in Portland, Oregon - a place where he works with concrete and wood, aluminum, marble, glass and electricity. Neal applies his artistic sensibilities to furniture design - specifically consoles, coffee tables and light fixtures. His style is profoundly affected by his kinship with the natural world. 

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Neal came to know wild nature in adventures his family would take into the woodlands and mountains of New York State. He studied art and architecture at City University of NY and Massachusetts College of Art exploring the disciplines of metalwork, glassmaking, woodworking, ceramics, photography, and multimedia sculpture. Then, to keep his young family cared for, he developed a construction business. All along, however, he remained powerfully interested and invested in the plant world - expressing his devotion through urban gardens of fruit and vegetables - and gardens of water. 

Now he’s essentially finished with construction and spends his time pursuing his life’s love of artistic expression in design. In the short time he’s been giving the majority of his attention to this work, he’s received great acclaim, including being the subject of an award winning documentary, HOW TO BEND CONCRETE IN 108 EASY STEPS. He’s been featured in Interiors Magazine, Luxe, Spaces, Elle, and Kaza - a magazine in Sao Paulo. He won the 2017 Gray Award and was named Best of the Year in 2018 by Interior Design. He was also recognized by Artisan Design and was a finalist in the 2024 NYC by Design Awards. 

In this episode Neal shares the story of his artistic pursuits and then weaves that tale directly into ways that we can all be part of climate repair.

You can learn more about Neal and see examples of his designs by visiting his website @nealaronowitz.com. And, in case you missed the link above, here's access to the documentary, HOW TO BEND CONCRETE IN 108 EASY STEPS. For those who are interested, we asked Neal for his recommendations on what to read to learn more about Vedanta and include those with other resources he mentioned during our conversation. We list those below.

Throughout our time  Neal emphasized how nothing happens separate from the physical world - from nature, its atomic and subatomic activity and order. The whole world is here and in relationship with each and all. As Neal reminds us, we’re in good company. 

Vedanta:

You can learn more here about Vedanta and Neal’s spiritual path and sangha for the last 28 years.  www.SRV.org

Other resources:

Carl Jung. Man and His Symbols.

Nathan Cabot Hale. Abstraction in Art and Nature.

Frank Lloyd Wright. A Testament.

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Smooth Jazz Saxophone Solo with a LoFi Vibe

Music by Nicholas Panek from Pixabay

Podcast Jazz Waltz Cozy Relaxing Vibes

Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

By the Sea

Music by Krzysztof Szymanski from Pixabay

For this episode, Mary spoke with Katja Biesanz, Katja says of herself, "I help people like you to discover and to integrate different parts of themselves." She provides this service as a professional counselor, drawing on her experience as a dancer, poet, masseuse, and forest farmer.

By the time she was 12, Katja and her family had livied in four different countries. Several of these countries, and ones they traveled through, were dictatorships; the things she saw through her child's eyes have stayed with her. She routinely draws on them. including using them to help shape how she thinks about climate change and climate action.

Katja is also profoundly skilled in dance and movement. She draws on this knowledge in her therapeutic work. That service is also significantly influenced by her immersion in Latin American cultures, experience she credits with seeding in her the capacity to sense the energy people carry.

Finally, it's important to mention Katja's commitment to land stewardship and restoration. As you can imagine, ours was a wide-ranging and rich conversation, entirely in keeping with the suggestion that each of us is our own wilderness.

You can learn more about Katja by visiting her website at katjabiesanz.com. You can also check out this facebook link to - The Land - TEMENOS where Katja and her partner practice forest farming - tending and harvesting only the plants that grow in the ocean-front rainforest ecosystem. 

Below you’ll find references for the three books authored by Joanna Macy that Katja mentioned early in our conversation. You’ll also find the list of characteristics shared by dictators that Katja has compiled as a diagnostic tool and as a warning.

Perhaps most powerful in our time talking together were Katja’s offers of ways for considering our energy fields in relation to those of each other and all of the natural world. Let’s take what she suggests and open to the possibilities.

Joanna Macy (2012). Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re In Without Going Crazy.

Joanna Macy (2007). World as Lover, World as Self.

Joanna Macy (1991). Mutual Causality in Buddhism and General Systems Theory.

Distilled List Dictator Traits (in progress)

• Admires “Strongmen”
• Showmanship — Entertainment — Display
• Emphasizes Masculinity & Denigrates Women
• Violence - Instigating and Threatening
• Uses Military Domestically
• Uses Plausible Deniability to Instigate Chaos
• Special Clothing of Followers - Cult
• Demagoguery - Becoming what the Crowd Wants
• Emotion - Anger, Fear, Mean Humor and Hate
• Desensitization, Numbing, Dehumanizing
• Uses Religion, Usually Cynically
• Jingoistic Nationalism vs. Patriotism
• Scapegoating/Playing the Victim
• Self Enriching, Feeding Plutocracy (if Loyal)
• Cultivates “True Believers”
• Creates Division
• Lies Repeatedly & Discredits Reliable Sources
• Projects Unowned Parts of self
• Government is Self Serving — Retribution, Money & Power
• Harms Minorities, Women and Ultimately the Country
• Drains Resources, Steals Wealth, Harms the Natural World,
• ...
• Not taken seriously until too late

MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Jazz Waltz - Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

 Southern Jazz Bossa Nova - Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

 Beautiful Piano and Flute Instrumental- Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

With this episode, we begin our 5th season of How it Looks from Here - Life in the time of Climate Change. As we've done in the past, we're launching into year 5 with an episode involving the two of us - co-creators of the Full Ecology programs. 

Ten years ago, we began creating the programs and ideas we hold under the canopy of Full Ecology. Among those initiatives is this podcast. In this episode, we look back together over the past four years and share our sense of where we've come, where we are now, and where we're going. We also interview each other to learn how the world is looking to each of us these days.

Listen in to hear about our extension of Full Ecology into each of our current projects, our continuation of programs from the past, and what we're seeing going forward. Gary shares updates from his writing on the Ponderosa pine forests of the American Southwest. And Mary speaks about her new work on Elderhood and wilderness. Finally, with the opening of this HILFH season, we take a step toward keeping our programming real and growing by introducing a way you can help support our work (see below).   

You can learn more about our work by visiting our website, www.fullecology.com. We also invite you to drop us a note. As I said in the podcast - Do Not Be Shy! We truly want to hear from you and welcome you as part of the Full Ecology community. Write us about Elderhood or aging. Write us about Ponderosa pine.  Share your stories. Ask for a recent newsletter and join us on the second Tuesday of each month for a Deep Dive into topics linking all ecologies. 

The thing we can guarantee is lively conversation about trees and wilderness, about devoted hearts, and about wild Elderhood.

Finally, do check out the two friends Mary mentioned. Listen to Paris Mullen speak of his experience in two early HILFH episodes [Episode #3, and Episode #4], and dive into the profound work of Dr. Carma Corcoran, Chippewa Cree scholar and Elder. Dr Corcoran's book, published by University of Nebraska Press is entitled: The Incarceration of Native American Women: Creating Pathways to Wellness and Recovery through Gentle Action Theory You can also learn about Carma in this recent Underscore Native News article.

HOW YOU CAN HELP~

If you like what you’re hearing on HILFH, make sure to subscribe. Let’s get these perspectives out there. Tell your friends and family. Share a link right now with someone you know would enjoy learning how it looks from another viewpoint. As you know, you can find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you find your podcasts.

And remember, there’s a new way to support us by going to VENMO and sharing a donation of $5, $10, heck $25 with How It Looks from Here and Full Ecology. Go to @FullEcology. And thanks for helping us keep it all real and growing.

MUSIC~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Good Morning Café Jazz - Music by Sleep Volume from Pixabay

Podcast Smooth Jazz Instrumental - Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

 Harapan Ku (this is the only credit listed)

Jacqueline Courteau, Ph.D. is an ecologist, consultant and writer. She's also a teacher of university ecology courses in the field, and focused on restoration, sense of place, natural history and environmental writing.

Most recently, Jacqueline has established NatureWrite, LLC to provide ecological assessment and monitoring, and to measure forest regeneration, deer impacts on vegetation, and other interactions between plants and animals. Earlier in her career, she worked as a science and environmental policy analyst in Washington, DC contributing to an early 1990's report to Congress on how federal agencies could plan for an uncertain climate

In this episode, Mary and Jacqueline  consider plant ecology, medicinal plants and love - all in exploration of avenues into climate repair.

You can learn more about Jacqueline by checking out her articles in Feb/Mar and Apr/May issues of Rural Heritage magazine where she offers a two-part series on herbal remedies.

Throughout our talk, Jacqueline continued to call our attention back to relationship with nature - no matter the ecosystem and no matter how urban. Her contention is that paying attention in this way helps us rediscover the love we have for the natural world - a world of which we are and have always been a part.

Jacqueline also mentioned these resources including books on observing plant life, and apps for Citizen Science.

BOOKS:

Kimmerer, Robin Wall (2015). Braiding sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.

David Haskell, David. (2012). The Forest Unseen: A Year’s Watch in Nature. Viking Books.

CITIZEN SCIENCE:

Spring phenology

Budburst: https://budburst.org

Nature’s Notebook: https://www.usanpn.org/nn

Others

Firefly Atlas: https://www.fireflyatlas.org/get-involved/how-to-participate

Species identification

iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org 

This is a species ID app, but if you allow your location to be used, every time you look up a species (and the community confirms it), your finding is mapped, so there’s a great collection of what species have been found nearby.

eBird: https://ebird.org/home

For those of you interested in birds.

And a recent compilation from the Smithsonian, which might list a few additional apps:

https://ssec.si.edu/stemvisions-blog/mobile-apps-citizen-science

Additional Citizen Science Efforts focused on weather:

Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network

cocorahs.org

Skywarn Storm Spotter Program

https://www.weather.gov/skywarn/

MUSIC~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Peaceful Guitar - Music by Tung Lam from Pixabay

Thinking of Home - Pixabay, No credits available.

Cozy Guitar - Music by Olexy from Pixabay.

Jeanne Cuff is a Director with the Information Services Group in Chicago. In that role, she does what she likes best - tackling thorny tech problems by applying her superpower of making sense of chaos, and doing what she describes as interpreting IT speak for the masses. At 50, Jeanne returned to school to earn her Masters of Science in Technology Management from Columbia University in New York City. With that credential, she burst onto the scene unknotting tech tangles left and right while, at the same time, advocating energetically and constantly for advancement of women and girls in IT. 

In the conversation Mary and Jeanne had this month, they looked together at the way Jeanne's passion for supporting women in tech, and for encouraging girls into the sector, links with climate repair. Listen and catch the inspiration.

Jeanne mentioned Tech Equity for All, the nonprofit she’s established to support girls moving into IT. You can find that organization here.

Jeanne also spoke of other tech focused organizations supporting women and girls - Chick Tech, Girls4Science, Girls Inc and We are BGC (Black Girls Coding).

You can learn more about Jeanne and her initiatives by catching up with her on the podcast she hosts - ISG Digital Dash. Finally, she recommends a recent discussion on LinkedIn featuring women in tech and entitled: Clean Tech - The Future of Sustainable Technology. 

Get inspired! Join Jeanne in supporting girls and women in tech roles. It’s good for everybody - and everything!

 MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Jazz by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

Jazz Easy Listening Music by Denis Pavlov from Pixabay

Jazz Streets by Michael Daniel from Pixabay

Hilary Zaranek is a wildlife biologist, a ranch woman, and a horse woman. A woman who both learns from and is constantly inspired by animals.

Riding the range, Hilary spends a good deal of time watching and listening to the predators who share the lands of her family cattle ranch at the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park.

The quality, focus of her attention has led to her becoming internationally recognized for her pioneering work in predator-livestock conflict reduction.

Together with her husband, Hilary is committed to ranch resiliency through regenerative agriculture. She's also a mother of four children who learn every day from the land and its wild beings.

This month Mary had the chance to spend time with Hilary to learn about how we can reclaim our kinship with both animals and the land that holds them. As you'll hear, there’s much to be learned about how to live well, simply by opening fully to our relationship with all beings. 

You can learn more about Hilary and her family in these articles. This inspiring look into Hilary’s life on the land from National Geographic entitled: Discovering Hope on the Range. Also Bugs, Bovine and Beavers, Oh My! - from Western Sustainability Exchange, and Field notes: An Entire Ecosystem of Conservation on the JbarL Ranch - from Vital Ground Foundation

Each is fascinating and, like Hilary herself, provides generous insight into the natural world that is, in the end, who each of us is. We are nature and Hilary shows us how both to remember and to revel in that.

 MUSIC ~

This episode includes music by Gary Ferguson and these other fine artists.

Forest Lullaby

Music by Oleksii Kaplunskyi from Pixabay

River Tram

Music by Olexy from Pixabay 

Relaxing and Calming Acoustic Guitar

Music by Premankur Adhikary