lingering in the cocoon of darkness.
a paradoxical compass for 2024
dear sojourners,
a warmer than average december in the pacific nw has finally packed up and moved on to…well who knows where. it is “weathery” across the continental usa with wind and snow/rain in all its complexity winterizing january this week.
we need snow in the cascade mountain range, as we are well below average for this time of year. without a solid snowpack, the wildfire danger increases exponentially come late spring and into summer. i’ve experienced firsthand (or would that be first-lung?) ash|air from an onslaught of fires in recent years and witnessed the devastation to towns|forests not so distant from my own. a change in wind often determines what burns and what remains. so no complaints about below freezing temps on the horizon. but then, i am securely housed, have homemade soup in the freezer, sweaters to layer and blankets to snuggle under. plus candles so i can read by their glow in the event of a power outage.
solstice was almost three weeks ago and i am still lingering in that cocoon of dark stillness. yes, the days are inching toward light’s awakening minute-by-minute, but it is the dark that still holds me close. i find myself wanting to bat away the light and allow the night to nourish me a while longer. i continued to offer myself the gift of reading and resting last week and allowed posting to fall by the wayside. honestly, this post has taken more effort than usual. one, two weeks isn’t long enough to rest…but i have my annual solo winter beach retreat scheduled soon. the north oregon coast in winter is my heart
anyway, i listened to an interesting podcast, Cars of the Future (NOT EVs!) – Transforming Transport and Business with Hugo Spowers of Riversimple Movement, on Accidental Gods, hosted by Manda Scott. lots of perspective widening! i have heard that the lithium batteries used in EVs (and our smart phones and other electronic devices) is a finite resource and is not always mined ethically (think how coal mines were using children in the usa a century ago.) so while EVs may be a cleaner environmental solution short-term than fossil fuels, longterm the industry is still built on an early 20th century automobile business model—using disposable and scarce resources. EVs fix a “bit of the system,” but due to the complexity of the industry, needed to work into a set model.
what Riversimple is working toward, per the podcast, is “about optimizing the whole system rather than trying to optimize the bits in the system.” oh, perhaps i should mention what powers the cars they are designing are hydrogen fuel cells. (an aside: i remember hearing about fuel cells maybe 20 years ago when my mum was still alive, because we had a conversation about how it would revolutionize heating our homes. that shows how slowly it takes some ideas to “ferment”.) anyway, hydrogen fuel cell technology allows for a total rethinking of how a car is designed: braking, construction material due to weight of the car (lighter), passing the car along to new users, life of service and having all aspects renewable. the focus is on longevity, not obsolescence.
while redesigning the automobile, the company redesigned the concept of a corporation. what Hugo Spowers calls starting with a “white sheet of paper.” today’s western economic and corporate structures are based on 19th and 20th century paradigms and those no longer meet the needs of our shifting global circumstances. the model they have developed is called “Future Guardian Governance” and it shifts how decisions are made. it is still a for profit model, but it is radical in that it address needs beyond bottom line shareholder value.
“Riversimple’s model of governance is structured to represent and be relevant to society today, just as our product and service should be relevant and benefit that society.” from Riversimple’s website
i listened to the podcast and then read the transcript so i could start to get my head around what was being discussed. it was a lot to take in and it has been 40 years since i was in college for my BS degree in business (i think a few things have changed!) there was no discussion of public transport (maybe “too early” for that?) it will be 2027 before the first models are ready. and the board was still all from western countries. these are simply noticings.
so lots of stirrings. a new model for doing business that wasn’t all about making money. a model that looked out with equal regard for the environment, customer, community, staff, investors, and commercial partners with six “custodians” helping make decisions. the risks it took still seemed to fall under “western capitalistic” boundaries. would business-minded folks find it disturbing— sure. if it worked and became profitable and productive, would it be embraced in a decade or so. i think so. it is a fresh approach. i’m feeling lots of both/ands as i continue to reflect. and it has me pondering many institutions that are still using 19th and 20th century (or older) models. it seems like the time is now to start with, at a minimum, a “white sheet of paper.” i would be interested in hearing what you think if you have the time to listen and/or read the transcript.
i find the Accidental Gods podcast pushes my buttons in several ways depending on the guest. sometimes i’m curious. or confused. uncomfortable. sometimes i’m annoyed. other times i feel quite judgmental (i know, hard to believe!) and it’s okay to not take everything at face value and ask questions or just to sit and wait to see how information settles. in our society where we have information tossed at us constantly, allowing time to respond with a combination of intuition and ferreting out the noise is becoming even more imperative. and checking in with those we trust…our community is worthwhile too.
i’ve also been noticing something in general about the podcasts i listen to. they fall mainly into these categories:
public radio fodder: this includes main stream science, cultural information, author events, poetry. if boundaries are “pushed,” it is more a slight poke. very much within western cultural belief systems (for example, not questioning roots of psychology and how that may bias our approaches to, say family systems.)
myths, folktales, fairy tales, and storytelling: i’m interested origin stories and reinterpretation of stories and archetypes. i’ve read books and taken courses from Dr. Sharon Blackie for several years now and find this area rich and engaging.
grief, end-of-life, death, rebirth: death education, the mystical aspects, and diving deep into how we are on this sojourn together is one of my passions.
women and aging, menopause: actually anything gender related, but since i am “midlife” this floats my boat.
the current health/wellness industry and non-traditional medicine: so much entwined in this.
spirituality: rather broad, right?
history/herstory/therestory: seeking new perspectives.
some of these overlap. i have favorites. some i listen to occasionally when they peak my interest. what i noticed recently though, was my list excluded marginalized voices. oh they have marginalized guests, but my line-up didn’t included folks from non-western cultures. and some podcasts seem to refer back and forth to each other…so a closed loop. hmm. so my invitation is to expand my playlist. do you have a favorite podcast you would recommend? one that shares views i am missing out on? and another wondering…do i not have access to the podcasts i’m looking for due to “gatekeepers” like Apple or Podlink? also, i only speak english, so there is that…
as the calendar year 2024 begins its unfurling, the words of Báyò Akómoláfé in his final essay of 2023, Why I Sang in the Dungeons: A Prophecy to End the Year 2023, tug at me. he continues the theme of “descending” that was woven throughout the We Will Dance With Mountains: Vunja! course i attended in this past autumn. our not being called to “rise above it all” but to descend or as he says:
“Descending is a ‘how’, not a ‘where’. A placeless place, a process, not a remedy.”
it is why i feel i am wanting to linger in this dark season of winter. to allow for my own unfurling into this descent. to have a wee bit more clarity. and i have a strong urge to explore and play with the myth of Demeter and Persephone as one descent myth for our times.
i did meditate on what my compass points might be for 2024. owls seems to want to be my guides (thank you—night vision appreciated.) and paradox an overarching “word.” so while i might be expanding, there will also be contracting. while i’ll be simplifying, there will be entanglement. oh, and the William Stafford poem, “Being A Person” came forward (i usually have a poem for the year.) it is an interesting compass to be leading the way into the descent! what are your compass points or intentions, if you discerned any?
so here we are, ten days into the calendar flip. the amaryllis my neighbor gave me is wildly blooming. the christmas cactus that never so much as sighed a bud back at my old abode is abundant in blooms. my first batch of sauerkraut was a failure (see post: ”fermentation is my new crush”), so i just started my second attempt, because fermentation is about experimentation. and something tells me this year is going to have its share of internal fermentation (and failure) happening as i descend with Demeter, Persephone, and all the pondering to come.
thank you reading this meander. hope you stay warm/dry/fed/safe whatever “weathery” events are blustering around you.
in gratitude,
anne
ps: here is the William Stafford poem:
Being a Person
Be a person here. Stand by the river, invoke
the owls. Invoke winter, then spring.
Let any season that wants to come here make its own
call. After that sound goes away, wait.
A slow bubble rises through the earth
and begins to include sky, stars, all space,
even the outracing, expanding thought.
Come back and hear the little sound again.
Suddenly this dream you are having matches
everyone's dream, and the result is the world.
If a different call came there wouldn't be any
world, or you, or the river, or the owls calling.
How you stand here is important. How you
listen for the next things to happen. How you breathe.
by William Stafford
Lovely!