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Trebbe Johnson's Newsletter
August 2010
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Dear Questers, Friends, Pursuers of
Radical Joy for Hard Times, and
Seekers of the Beloved,
I write this in a lovely blue and
white bedroom in Tacoma, WA in the
home of my friend Ruth Dow Rogers,
whom I have known since we went to
high school together in Omaha,
Nebraska. Outside the window I hear
ravens opining and complaining in
the tall pines across the street. I
am here to present one of my
Path of the Lover workshops
based on my book,
The World Is a Waiting Lover.
Since I began to explore the
archetypal Beloved more than ten
years ago, after falling into a wild
passion for a younger man (a journey
detailed in the book), I see
allurement, desire, and love
differently than I did before. I see
the impact that desire has on our
lives and how it can be
life-changing in positive ways, even
if it doesn't lead where we wish it
would. And I see, in myself and
others, how fascination breaks
through pain if we're open to the
possibility. It may flower for only
a few instants before quickly
fading. But in that moment life is
filled with grace.
To those who are receiving this
newsletter for the first time...
welcome! Here you'll find
profiles of extraordinary people,
news of upcoming
Vision Arrow
events, updates on the non-profit
organization
Radical Joy for Hard Times,
reflections, and stories of
transformation that occur when we
accept, in small, bold, startling
ways the invitations that the world
is always sending us.
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ALLUREMENT or DOING SOMETHING YOU'RE
NOT GOOD AT
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Dance class, Munduk, Bali |
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Back home in Pennsylvania the other
day I was talking to my friend
Kathryn LeSoine, an artist and
photographer, about the new work she
is doing. She's working with many
new media: plunging in,
experimenting, seeing how things
work and how they work together--all
this without a defined goal. It was
a great thing, she said, to work at
something she's not yet good at.
I said that, for me, that kind of
foray into new territory is
answering the call of the Beloved,
saying Yes to allurement. A
person, a place, an activity
beckons, inviting us to step beyond
the safe and familiar and into the
unknown and seductive. We fear doing
so: What if it doesn't work out?
What if we make a fool of ourselves?
What if we're not good at it?
If you're intrigued with the idea of
doing something you're not good
at... and tracking your own
allurement at the same time, here's
an exercise I offer frequently at my
workshops:
Get a piece of paper and number down
the side from 1 to 25. After each
number, write something you're
currently allured to. It could be
domestic (you've always want to make
a chocolate soufflé), humanitarian
(you want to end hunger in Sudan),
familial (you really need to make
amends to your brother-in-law for
what happened ten years ago),
educational (you'd love to learn
Italian). Try to focus your
allurements on being and acting
rather than on having.
Then, every week, take steps to
launch yourself on the path to one
of these allurements. You probably
won't get to them all. That's okay.
But you'll get to a few, and you'll
discover unexpected surprises.
You'll meet new people. You'll learn
something that it feels profoundly
satisfying to know at last. You'll
find out you can do things you
didn't think you could do. And
you'll let your psyche know that
it's okay to take risks and step
into the mystery.
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BEYOND THE PERSONAL
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People pursue private
interests and exchange views
at the Parliament of the
World's Religions, 2009 |
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Theologian
Frederick Buechner has written
that one's calling is the place
where "your deep gladness and the
world's deep hunger meet." Hunger
and gladness: these are surprising
partners--not hunger and eating, not
gladness and sorrow, but gladness
and hunger. Buechner implies that a
hunger, however and wherever it
arises, is a need that is best
satisfied not by those with certain
credentials, certain provisions, but
by those who feel the most ardent
joy in responding.
For two or
three decades, many people have been
on a path of self-discovery. They
wanted to be more at home in the
world and with themselves. They
sought a sense of freedom, a release
from self-consciousness. They longed
to be healed of past wounds, to open
to love.
Now that path seems
to be turning a corner. For one
thing the economy is making it hard
enough for people to buy school
books and groceries, let alone spend
time and money on what may seem like
the luxury of inner work. Second, as
a friend who tracks such trends in
the cultural consciousness told me
recently, people are increasingly
focused on their communities.
This is a very positive shift,
especially if what we bring to our
communities is our whole, energetic
self, our joy.
The Path of the Lover is in
direct alignment with this shift.
The Beloved is an ancient archetype.
The myths of many lands tell of a
divine figure that bursts into the
life of a human being (man or woman)
and sweeps her (or him) off her
feet, changing her life forever and
compelling her to become her most
sacred self. In personal terms, the
inner Beloved is the dynamic force
that pulls you in the direction of
passion and joy, connects you with
God-the Great Mystery-your higher
self, and emboldens you to move past
fear into the mystery that both
frightens and allures you.
The world's hungers make themselves
known in infinite ways. People need
food, they need compassion in a time
of loss, they need a ride to work,
they need an aspirin, they need
directions, they need silence. By
paying attention to the hungers that
call to our own particular joy, we
respond with integrity. We give
without feeling depleted. We come
into alignment, rather than
competition, with others.
Responding with joy to what which
evokes our fascination and urge to
participate, we enter a path that is
made just for us. It won't all be
easy. We'll make mistakes, we'll
lose our way, we'll have many
questions. But we'll be saying yes
to the call that is aimed in our
direction. We'll know joy, and
someone else will be fed.
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RADICAL JOY FOR HARD TIMES NEWS
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Global Earth Exchange,
Ariel, WA |
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If you haven't yet looked at the
slide show of the Global Earth
Exchange on our
website, you're in for a treat.
You can see images of the events
that people all over the world did
on June 19th to find and make beauty
in wounded places. Next year's
Global Earth Exchange is already
scheduled for June 18, 2011.
Several exciting events are
happening this fall that will spread
the word about this pioneering new
path of environmental activism.
UPCOMING EVENTS
September 24:"Wild, Sad, Deep, and
Joyful: Finding Heart in Wounded
Places." Keynote speech by Trebbe
Johnson. 8th Annual
Wilderness Therapy Symposium,
Naropa University, Boulder, CO.
October 21-24:"Radical Joy for Hard
Times." Workshop by Trebbe Johnson.
Bioneers by the Bay, New
Bedford, MA. Sponsored by the Marion
Institute. (Exact day for workshop
to be determined.)
October 30: "Gulf
Coast Rising: A Day of
Solidarity, Beauty, Healing, and
Yes, Even Joy for the Gulf of Mexico
and Its People." From Galveston, TX
to Panama City, FL, people will come
together in a spirit of appreciation
for their beautiful, damaged home.
We
need volunteers: team leaders,
networkers, media contacts!
For more information and to join,
see our
website.
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LOVE OF NATURE AND THE END OF THE
WORLD
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Since
I have been in the Pacific
Northwest, I have had the privilege
of meeting
Shierry Weber Nicholsen, whose
remarkable book,
The Love of Nature and the End of
the World, I read
recently.
In this book, Nicholsen a Seattle
psychoanalyst, studies the effects
of war and exile on people in an
attempt to understand the how
similar psychological reactions
affect the humans victims of
ecological destruction. She delves
into the paradox of the human
relationship to the natural world:
on the one hand people love nature
in a truly personal way; on the
other hand, they seem indifferent to
its destruction. This book is
complex and thought-provoking. If
you've ever longed to go beneath
surface environmental preachings and
appeals and really ponder the
complex factors that make humans
behave the way they do to nature,
and respond as they do when nature
is damaged, then I highly recommend
this book.
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WRITINGS AND UPCOMING EVENTS
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The World Is a Waiting Lover,
with a foreword by Thomas Moore,
author of
Care of the Soul, is
available from
Amazon.com or from your favorite
bookstore.
Article:
My article,
"World Religions Get Down to Earth,"
about the Parliament of the World's
Religions in Melbourne, Australia
last December, appeared in the
summer issue of
Parabola. It has also
been reprinted in the
Parliament of the World's Relgions
newsletter.
Interview:
The
Spiritual Book Club blog did an
interview with me recently. Very fun
questions.
RADICAL JOY FOR HARD TIMES EVENTS
WITH TREBBE JOHNSON:
September 24:"Wild, Sad, Deep, and
Joyful: Finding Heart in Wounded
Places." Keynote speech by Trebbe
Johnson. 8th Annual
Wilderness Therapy Symposium,
Naropa University, Boulder, CO.
October 21-24:"Radical Joy for Hard
Times." Workshop by Trebbe Johnson.
Bioneers by the Bay, New
Bedford, MA. Sponsored by the Marion
Institute. (Exact day for workshop
to be determined.)
UPCOMING PROGRAMS from
VISION ARROW
Path of the Lover Workshops
We all live with two inner forces
that influence many of our decisions
each day. One calls us forth into
the mystery that beckons us to
expand more fully and authentically
into the world. The other holds us
back and urges (often excessive)
caution. This popular workshop,
based on my book, focuses on the
first voice, that of the archetypal
Beloved, a figure that shows up in
the myths of many cultures, the
poems of mystics, and in our dreams
as the symbol of wholeness. Brought
to conscious awareness, the Path of
the Lover can bring us joy, passion,
and fulfillment.
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Connect with the archetypal
Beloved in you, that knows how
to say YES to what you love
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Discover how your past loves
(including those that didn't
work out) were essential in
opening you up to a bigger
capacity to love
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Learn to recognize the inner
voice of the "loyal soldier"
that wants to hold you back from
following your heart
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See how fascination and
allurement have led you onto
important paths all your life
November 12-14:
Schloss Glarisegg, Lake
Constance, Switzerland (contact
Silvia Figel)
November 19-21:
Eschwege Institute, Eschwege,
Germany
Endless Mountains Vision Quest
August 9-13
This four-day program, held in a
secluded 400-acre nature preserve,
is specially designed for those who
seek a meaningful rite of passage in
a beautiful, yet accessible place.
You explore many of the same
processes and practices as in the
longer vision quest, but with a
focus on reading Nature's lessons
and discovering how they apply to
your own path in life. For the
twenty-four-hour solo you may choose
from among diverse ecological
niches: glacial pond, meadow,
wetlands, stream, or forest. Minimal
backpacking. $605
What Now?
September 10-17
The time comes when everyone who has
quested for a vision or dedicated
themselves in some other way to
bring a vision to fruition needs to
re-explore what happened and how the
insights of that experience relate
to your current life. During this
week-long retreat, held in
old-growth Joyce Kilmer Memorial
Forest in North Carolina, you'll
explore what about your original
vision still has heart and
meaning... clarify where you are
right now and what you are called to
contribute to your community and
your planet... and discover how you
can reshape your vision to feed your
own joy and the world's hunger for
meaningful change. There will be a
one-day solo in the ancient forest.
Guides:
Trebbe Johnson
&
Eugene Hughes
Cost:
$1,050.
Click here to get to the
Vision Arrow website, where you
can download our beautiful flyer by
Charlotte Dewar, who works with
Eugene.
Sahara Vision Quest and Camel
Caravan
January 1-15, 2011
NOTE:
This may be the last year for this
extraordinary journey!
There are major changes going
on at Foundation Iferouane, the
Swiss organization that sponsors it,
so if you have ever been drawn to
participate, don't tell yourself,
Maybe next year!
Following the steps of intrepid
seekers throughout the ages who have
been drawn to the desert to fast and
pray for guidance, we venture into
the greatest desert of all: the
Sahara. Our guides are a group of
nomadic Tuareg, a matriarchal people
known for their love of the desert,
poetry, camels, and beauty.
Our base camp in the black basalt
wonderland of southern Algeria is
truly remote, reached after 1-2 days
travel by Land Rover, followed by
3-4 days in a camel caravan. To
undertake this journey, you must
have an adventurous spirit and be
prepared to sleep under the stars,
immerse yourself in the ways of
another culture, experience hot days
and cold nights, live three weeks
without a shower, and move
fearlessly into a life of meaning
and fulfillment.
Guides:
Sabina Wyss, Trebbe Johnson, Adem
Mellakh, and Tuareg hosts
Cost :
4,444 Swiss Francs, (approximately
$4,500.00), including all meals,
camping fees, riding camel, land
transportation in the desert, and
air travel from a European city to
Tamanrasset, Algeria
For a complete list of programs
offered by Vision Arrow, see our
website.
Call 570 727 4272 or
email
Trebbe if you have questions or
would like to talk about any of
these programs.
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