"The trees died for us," they said.
Their dance was like the swaying of the trees, This “Elm dance” originated in the town of Novozybkov near Chernobyl and was born out of the grief the community felt when they could no longer enter into the forest.. now off limits to them due to radiation poisoning of the land. it was a haunting dance of remembering, of grieving and of a collective will to heal and to live.
I encountered this dance for the first time in 2002 at a workshop facilitated by Joanna Macy (“The Work the Reconnects”). It brought me to tears --something about the story and the movement together brought the grief of that loss home. I felt the sadness of a people who loved the trees.
I had no idea that we would need a dance for our own trees nearly two decades later.
The first of the megafires came to Lake County in 2015. The Valley Fire took out a half dozen small communities and thousands of acres of forested lands. Since then, over 60 percent of the lands surrounding Lake County--nearly all of the forest and range lands, have been consumed by fire, the most recent of these being the Ranch and River fires which scorched over 400,000 acres including nearly the entire Mendocino National Forest.
Normally fire in landscape is good for the trees, but not after so many years of no fire at all. Human land (mis)management set the fate of these trees. The firefighters face towering tsunamis of flame --unstoppable fires. They focused their limited resources on saving homes and people—including my own home.
So in a sense, these trees died for us too.
What we have so loved has been lost.
Today, remarkably, SO many young adults here want to learn and help regenerate the forests and wetland ecosystems. They are asking for the tools to do this work.
Restoring ecosystems is the right thing to do for most of the problems we face on a global scale--especially climate. But it is more than that, it is a labor of love. I wonder if it isn’t a form of soul repair.
Regenerative education has the potential to activate and heal our community, who long for sustenance, connection, meaning and health. That’s why we are in the process of founding a place to amplify this regenerative education: New Paradigm College (“NPC”). NPC is focussed on both leadership and practical tools to address issues
like climate and the loss of so many important and sacred places. This important work starts with ONE place, OUR place: Lake County, California. We are taking on the insane project of transforming a 1920’s era majestic hotel known as the “Lucerne Castle” into a functioning residential college and conference center to amplify this work. www.newparadigmcollege.org
New Paradigm College’s intention is to bring this regenerative education to all who want to make this kind of difference in these times.
Our motto: “So crazy this just might work.”
Wish us luck.