Climate breakdown. Endless wars. Pervasive misogyny. Grotesque income inequality. Widespread extinctions. And political and corporate leaders worldwide who seem to be committed to perpetuating this dystopian vision.
How do we—you and I—meet all this without either immobilizing despair, or rage and bitterness?
To keep going, and to be useful to the earth, ourselves, and our larger communities, we must tap into a place of optimism. Not false bravado or masky cheerfulness. Real optimism. Real trust that a better future beckons and that we can go in that direction right now. We can do this by affirming the reality of Regeneration. [Read more…] about You and I Can Feel Radically Optimistic!
This is confirmed by both the world’s remaining indigenous peoples, and by researchers in archaeology and anthropology. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors, and the early agriculturists too, had to be observant, attentive, and patient. We can also surmise that those primal peoples felt grateful, even reverent, toward the land, plants, and animals that gave them life. We know that they expressed this reverence through an enormous variety of earth-centered spiritual practices. The most enduring of these still survive today. From the beautiful annual cycles of dance and ritual performed in the Native Pueblos of the American Southwest, to the simplicity of Scottish and Irish country people putting out milk for the faeries, ancestral veneration of the natural world and its gifts is still being expressed around the globe in ways both large and small. 
As the days shorten and the fruitful darkness of winter approaches, Gaia’s Blog is entering a time of renewal and growing relevance. My own thinking about Gaia and humanity—where we are now, and where we need to go—has become clearer and more incisive. And also more hopeful—which might be surprising, considering the state of the world right now.