Day 80 – Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson – and Ecopoiesis

-

 

Day 80 – Today I listened to an On Being podcast of an interview between Krista Tippet and Ayanna Elizabeth Johnson – a marine biologist, policy expert, writer, and Brooklyn native.  I was completely smitten by Ayanna and the interview. Ayanna spoke of her work on several projects including, The All We Can Save Project – in which she focuses on solutions we can take to be part of a collective response to the climate crisis and our disconnection from each other and the planet! 

 

She spoke of her hopes to focus on potentials, possibilities, and to be part of the “generative narrative.”  Johnson spoke of using the arts to inspire us to free up our imaginations to generate solutions.

 

The On Being website describes the interview as Tippet drawing out Johnson and “her creative and pragmatic inquiry: Could we let ourselves be led by what we already know how to do, and by what we have it in us to save? What, she asks, if we get this right?”

 

Johnson then read a poem that really moved me!!   Go to the link to hear Ayana Johnson reading the poem!!

 

Last, I couldn’t help but get excited by the coincidence of this podcast and an email from Stephen Levine regarding the pre-order for his book, Ecopoiesis: A New Perspective for the Expressive and Creative Arts Therapies in the 21st Century, which he edited together with Alexander Kopytin.   He also reminded us of an open source journal - the journal, Ecopoiesis: Eco-human Theory and Practice (www.en.ecopoiesis.ru)

 

Enjoy the poem!!

 

ON ANOTHER PANEL ABOUT CLIMATE, THEY ASK ME TO SELL THE FUTURE AND ALL I’VE GOT IS A LOVE POEM

Written by Ayisha Siddiqa

Read by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

 

What if the future is soft and revolution is so kind that there is no end to us in sight.

Whole cities breathe and bad luck is bested by a promise to the leaves.

To withstand your own end is difficult.

The future frolics about, promised to no one, as is her right.

Rage against injustice makes the voice grow harsher yet.

If the future leaves without us, the silence that will follow will be an unspeakable nothing.

What if we convince her to stay?

How rare and beautiful it is that we exist.

What if we stun existence one more time?

When I wake up, get out of bed, my seven year old cousin

with her ruptured belly tags along.

Then follows my grandmother, aunts, my other cousins
and the violent shape of their drinking water.

The earth remembers everything,
our bodies are the color of the earth and we
are nobodies.

Been born from so many apocalypses, what’s one more?

Love is still the only revenge. It grows each time the earth is set on fire.

But for what it’s worth, I’d do this again.
Gamble on humanity one hundred times over

Commit to life unto life, as the trees fall and take us with them.

I’d follow love into extinction.

 

“ON ANOTHER PANEL ABOUT CLIMATE, THEY ASK ME TO SELL THE FUTURE AND ALL I’VE GOT IS A LOVE POEM” by Ayisha Siddiqa. Poem originally published by The Eco Justice Project.

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Creating a forum for discussion

-
For some time I've been discussing the possibility of creating a blog for expressive therapy on my website with one of our alum, Eve Lyons. Well, there's nothing like a pressing project (how will I motivate myself when my dissertation is done?!) to get you moving! My hope is that this can be a way to make expressive therapy even more of a living process for those of us who are interested in learning more about it. So, here we go!
Read more

100 days of dialogue!

-
Image
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash Day 1:  I'm on sabbatical again - thank you Lesley University!! I have 100 days before I'm due back on campus. So I've decided to do a small project of choosing something I'm researching, reading or writing about to share on this blog each day. I've been writing about expressive arts therapy.  My goal has been to articulate a critical perspective on expressive arts therapy, but as usual, writing is never easy, and I feel pretty alone in the writing process.  I like to write (sort of). I like to read (definitely!). And I know there is a connection between the two.   For me, research, theorizing, and critical reflection are not only for me.  Although I do enjoy the process of playing with ideas, writing (and by extension teaching and practice) for me is my work - my attempt to be part of a future building and change process that is done in community! I've been feeling a bit bereft of community, so here is my attempt to bu
Read more

Day 16 - Inspiration

-
Image
Day 16 – One of the pleasures of being on sabbatical has been taking advantage of the opportunity to read, play, and go down the rabbit holes of research, which involves quite a bit of internet “stumbling upon.”   I’ve stumbled upon music, poetry, visual art, people’s stories, scholarly websites, articles, literature, and social action projects.   One of the things I tell students and believe, is that everything can be used as inspiration for sessions and connection. Here are just a few that have been particularly inspiring in the past few days – enjoy!   Amplifer – https://amplifier.org/about/   “a nonprofit design lab that builds art and media experiments to amplify the most important movements of our times. Our experiments are built on a foundation of free and open source art, the unlimited possibilities within a human centered design process, and the potentials when analog and digital technology merge.”   Blair Imani - https://blairimani.com/   In particular, check out h
Read more