The Origin Of The Heartwood Path Reveals the Curative Aspect Of Nature
Personal Growth Is An Environmental Protection Strategy
For thirty years my main professional focus was outer world environmental action. I established conservation goals, worked hard, and, by 1983, met my goals.
Get to know the curative aspect of nature.
Although I was a successful conservationist, my intuition told me that I needed to hunt for something more.
David Brower’s approach to environmental protection is to use the political system to demonstrate that one’s will to protect wild places is greater than the collective will of those hell-bent to destroy such places.
The Heartwood Path Began As A Burnout Cure
This hunt started as a charge to find a cure for “burnout” in environmental activists. From this narrow bud, a flower emerged that is much more universally significant.
To be more successful, the environmental movement needs to add to its agenda changing the collective human mindset that is now leading to environmental destruction.
The Discovery Of The Path
The man who saved the Grand Canyon and essentially invented the modern environmental movement once asked me to “write a piece” about how to prevent “burnout” in environmentalists. My first response to his call to action was to ask: “why me?” My second response, kept to myself, was to wonder what I would have to say in such a “piece.”
David Brower’s (1912-2000) call for me to write happened in 1986. It did not take me numerous decades to become articulate about the subject of perseverance. It has, however, taken me that long to be able to produce what I believe to be the real benefit of Brower’s request. In looking for ways to keep environmentalists active I also discovered ways that personal growth is good for the planet, ways the planet can aid in helping people add to their development, and ways nature can lead us to find happiness.
These ways come from the Enduring Stream itself, but, to reap its rewards, one has to first uncover the Enduring Stream, for it is largely hidden from the bulk of humanity, especially those of us who live the bulk of our lives indoors, detached from nature, where “the enfolding earth is filtered through a dense panoply of technology” (Abram, 2010, p. 263).
Since the nature of something is often best revealed in its origins, I will explain here how Brower’s charge to help fight “burnout” in environmentalists led to something that is good for everyone. Like a prophet, Brower arose to the occasion, knew what was needed, and knew how to, at least, get it started.
Given the alarming dropout rate for volunteer and professional environmentalists, given my passion to protect nature, and given my undying admiration for David Brower, I would eventually become excited about my new assignment. Not at first, however. Here’s how it went down:
David Brower, the man a book-writer named Stephen Fox called the “most prominent conservationist of the post –war period,” wanted me, then a seasoned regional representative for one of Brower’s organizations, (Friends of the Earth), to figure out how to help my eco-comrades persevere.
Although that was for me quite an honor; it was also daunting, to say the least.
“Why do you want me to write it?” I asked. “After all,” I said, “who better than you to pen such a ‘piece?’ You have four more decades of experience than I, and nobody has a better history of successes.”
His answer began curiously: “You live in the Midwest.” I suppose for him the Bible Belt section of the Midwest was the American equivalent to living in Siberia.
“And with practically no support” he continued, “you stick to it, year after year, winning scores of conservation battles on a limited budget.” Then came the part he knew would make me rise to the challenge, just to prove a point:
“And, despite the low pay and isolation, you never give up.” There, he said it: “isolation.” He knew that would be the clincher. Dave knew how I felt about being regarded as an “isolated, out of touch, hick from the sticks.”
Looking like he realized his statement demonstrated a prejudice against the Heartland, he wryly asked with a self-knowing chuckle: “How do you keep the fight going year after year after year?” I was flattered.
Then it hit me. Despite my history of attempting to overcome “Midwest-ism” by attempting to be a good example of an articulate, dedicated, mover-and-shaker, I had no answer for the one man I admired most professionally. I did not know what I did to keep myself from “burning out” so how was I going to write a piece about perseverance in environmentalists?
This realization sent me on a quest, and in the process of attempting to present “burnout” remedies for activists, my own and those proposed by others, I discovered something that can be good for everyone, especially those who seek to make a difference in the world without crashing. Eventually, I would put all I learned into this series of courses that I continuously see as being beneficial to both individual participants and the planet as a whole.
The eartHeart’s main approach to environment protection is to show those who care about the environment how to add to their personal growth in ways that make them more effective and happy.
I am helping to develop a new arm of the environmental movement. So fruitful do I believe this approach to be, I am now personally doing what I never imagined I would do: I am transcending the approach I learned from Brower and others in the environmental movement: I am presenting a new, softer approach to the old mildly militant one from my days working at Friends of the Earth and elsewhere.
This is not a change, for that would imply giving up the old approach. I believe Brower’s approach is still valid: fervently and legally use the political system to demonstrate, though media attention, local demonstrations, and letter-writing campaigns to governmental officials, that one’s will to protect wild places is greater than the collective will of everyone hell-bent to destroy such places.
This approach is well suited to winning conservation battles, but I fear in the years to come that it, by itself, will not be enough to win, using the jargon of my fellow eco-warriors, the overall “war to protect the environment.” While saving individual wild places is a valid endeavor, saving natural places alone will prove to be an insufficient solution to the global environmental predicament because during the fray to save a place (or a species, for that matter) little is done to correct the root cause of the global environmental predicament.
To be truly successful, the environmental movement needs to add to its agenda changing the collective human mindset that is now leading to environmental destruction. The magnitude of the job of reversing the psychological underpinning that promotes the ecological destructiveness of modern civilization understandably causes much of the burnout amongst environmentalists Brower was asking me to address. Changing the minds of the masses seems too overwhelming for even a legion of environmentalists to take on.
So the question arises: “What sort of manageable “fulcrum” can be used to tip the big, collective mindset of humanity towards a consciousness that promotes ecological sustainability?”
Given that we in the United States are blessed to live with a political structure that allows citizens to affect change, I am not advocating throwing out what works well on targeted campaigns. I am, however, about to propose an additional tool, a sort of fulcrum, one that is an adjunct to both traditional psychotherapy and the traditional environmental advocacy approach.
The new approach I am about to present, therefore, is not a change but a transcendence.
I am proposing that those who care about the environment add to their time-tested targeted tactics a new approach that will have a broad and deep impact. I make this suggestion because I have found that when environmental advocacy is combined with helping people work to regain their psycho-spiritual sense of wholeness with nature, the total is greater than the sum of the parts—especially when the work is laid out along an understandable and doable pathway.
The path I am about to describe is where the perseverance Brower wanted me to write about comes about. Beyond the attainment of perseverance, this path is also where one can find an amazing source of guidance, information, and the healing—all necessary for personal happiness, improved relationships, and a protected environment.
Brower, more than anyone else, taught me how to “save the earth, one place at a time.” His charge made it possible for me to add “saving the earth, one person at a time” to my suggested approach to environmentalism. Switch for the moment from saving the environment to savoring the environment and, specifically, to savoring in ways that engender greater Triple A Happiness—a type of gladness that I abundant, abiding, and authentic (described more fully in future Substacks).
A good anchor for your own happiness is the source of your calling. The following activity will help you recall the origins of your passion.
To recall the source of your calling, commune with nature, look around the scene for natural aspects that jog your memory about what led you to become passionate about someone or something in your life, and write down what, if anything, in nature was a source of your passion.
HumaNatureConnect Activity
Revealing The Origin Of Your Passion
For this activity, look around the scene for natural aspects that jog your memory about what led you to become passionate about someone or something in your life. Write down what, if anything, in nature led to your calling or was a source of your passion. If possible, recall the moment or moments something in nature set you on a primary pathway of interest in your life. Write down a brief story about the natural origins of your major life interest or interests.
Solutions To Inner World Sources Of Environmental Destruction
Here are some potential actions for you to consider:
Promote sustainable consumption patterns by raising awareness about their environmental effects.
Advocate for policies and practices that encourage long-term thinking, such as sustainable business models, conservation initiatives, and responsible resource management.
Promoting environmental education and outdoor experiences to reconnect people with nature.
Support educational initiatives designed to raise environmental awareness.
Promote an approach which integrates technological innovations with lifestyle changes and sustainable practices, and encourage the development and adoption of eco-friendly technologies.
Cultivate a sense of collective responsibility through community involvement, social movements and policies that foster cooperation. Highlight how closely human health is tied to global well-being.
Advocate for policy changes that integrate environmental considerations.
Promote and celebrate successful examples of sustainable living and business practices, providing incentives to individuals and companies alike for making eco-friendly choices.
Nocturnal Pilgrimage
Look For Causes Of Gratitude And Possible New Work In Your Dreams
Once you have recalled the beginnings of your own passion or life’s work, as you did in a previous activity, bring these origins to mind immediately before going to sleep. It will likely help if you associate some natural being that was in or near the scene where your inspiration occurred. The same power that gave you your original motivation can also guide you toward important adjustments. To increase the chances that you will have dreams that offer origin-related images that you can use to make associations and amplifications that help you with your most important tasks, repeatedly give your appreciation with your inhalations and offer your gratitude with your exhalations. Develop the intention that you will look for ways in your dreams to further express your gratitude; for ways to improve upon your existing work; and for, quite possibly, images that propel you towards a different, more satisfying, line of work.
Don Pierce and Bentley at Morro Rock, California.