|
|
|
Carol
Adrienne's work and teachings have been a great
inspiration to me! In August of 1998, about four months after my
father passed away, I read about one of Carol's
workshops in a Learning Annex catalog and
synchronistically found her book on a bookshelf at the
bookstore. The themes of her teachings were
familiar and comforting, as they confirmed the thoughts
and ideas my father had shared with me shortly before
his passing. Her books and workshops ignited my
spiritual curiosity, setting me on my soulful life path,
which led to the very creation of
SoulfulLiving.com! Carol's participation has been
an integral part of SoulfulLiving.com, at its soul
level! Thank you, Carol, with all my heart!
~Valerie, Founder and Soul, SoulfulLiving.com |
When Spirit Moves us
One day in mid May, I was sitting at my dining table
looking at the pine tree outside my window. The late afternoon
sun was shining in on the bookcase behind me, causing a
reflection in the window. Suddenly, I could clearly see a
reflection of some of my books exactly in the middle of the
tree trunk. It wasn't hard to see the symbolism of the books
appearing in the trunk of the tree. What had heretofore been a
subliminal worry about how my work as a writer might affect
the environment--using trees, polluting rivers with toxic
printing chemicals--came forward in my mind. I felt a kind of
mental groan in the face of something that seems very
complicated and overwhelming--especially since it affects my
livelihood. These are the very real barriers we face when we
think we want to do something for the environment. How much
change are we really willing to do?
Two weeks later Elizabeth Jenkins, my friend whose new book
Initiation: A Woman's Journey to the Heart of Peru, had
just come out, and I were on the airport shuttle in Berkeley
on our way to give presentations at the IIIHS conference in
Montreal. As we chatted, it occurred to me to mention the
vision I had of the books in the tree. I shared with her my
concern about being an author and being responsible for the
results of my endeavors. "You're right!" she
exclaimed. We began to discuss avenues of learning more about
the printing process and how we might gather together with
other writers. About eight minutes had gone by, when the van
stopped to pick up another passenger--a woman. Elizabeth and I
later recalled that we each felt an immediate urge to engage
her in conversation. Overhearing our conversation, she turned
around and we began to talk a little. I asked her what she
did. I'm an environmental writer and a Jungian psychologist.
Dr. Meredith Sabini was on her way to a conference on healing
in Boulder, CO. It turned out that good friends of hers
already knew of Elizabeth's work in Peru and had mentioned her
in their book. Within minutes we were making all kinds
of connections, and even the van driver got excited because
his sister was just reading the Experiential Guide for the
Tenth Insight! Amazingly, Meredith showed us a sample of
Kenaf, a plant-fiber paper on which her stationery is printed.
It has a lovely feel and is much kinder to the environment,
using no toxic chemicals in processing--and it is a
sustainable crop which does not use trees!
After this encounter, Elizabeth and I looked at each other
in amazement at how instantly the universal intelligence had
put us in touch with exactly our next source of information.
I asked Meredith to tell us more about her passion for a
simple and ecologically sustainable lifestyle. "This
began for me with the drought that we had in California twenty
years ago. The drought seemed to initiate my awakening process
in relation to the environment. Instead of resenting the
drought, I learned to work with it. It reminded me of camping,
and it put me in a pleasant state of mind. Water took on more
value, and my respect for it increased--like a limited
inheritance you have to spend wisely. Water became my teacher.
I was quite embarrassed that I had the typical western
assumption that resources were always available."
"My relationship with the drought had a deep impact,
and not just about water. I realized that I needed to make
major changes so that I didn't consume as much. Jung talks
about sacrifice and collective guilt, and I was willing to
take on the guilt of using too many resources. As a
psychologist, I was already interested in the symbolism of how
our country spends so much on defense and so little on
creativity, children, and the environment. It made sense to me
that our country was facing an energy crisis, since we spend
more on defense than anything else. If I had a patient with
these behaviors, I would be asking some serious
questions."
"Tuning into nature and its cycles, and looking at my
own lifestyle felt very much like a religious
conversion," Dr. Sabini continued. "I published an
article entitled In Praise of Drought, and joined with
other ecopsychologists in the Bay Area. I stopped buying
things that were new. This major shift in attitude allows
synchronicity to take place, as I find what I need without
making much effort."
"I live part-time in Berkeley and part-time in a
wilderness area, where I have an electric truck, a telephone,
and use a solar cooker and solar light system. I hang laundry
in the sun. Each of these activities allows the spirit to be
present. Carrying Kenaf with me to a copy shop is part of my
devotion. I think this is one way spirit can come into
relationship with matter. The process of washing clothes and
folding laundry becomes meaningful and enjoyable. Feeling
pressured by time and thinking work must be ‘hard’ spoils
the spirit of work. Anthropologist Edward Hall, who wrote Dance
of Life, helped me understand that time was a cultural
fantasy. Our culture's notion of time is the collective
fantasy that things have to be done fast. Actually, most tasks
are voluntary and could be done when the spirit moves
us."
*This article first appeared in The
Celestine Journal September, 1997.
***
Meredith Sabini, Ph.D. is a licensed
psychologist, dream researcher and consultant, and Continuing
Education Provider. She is available for lectures about living
in harmony with nature, dreams and spiritual aspects of daily
life. Contact her at (510) 845-1767. To learn more about Kenaf,
contact the manufacturer directly, Vision Paper at (505)
294-0293 , Real Goods, 1 800 762-7325, or Earth Care Paper at
1 800 347-0070.
© Copyright 2002 Carol Adrienne, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved.
Carol Adrienne, Ph.D., is an internationally-known workshop
facilitator and author whose books have been translated into
over fifteen languages. Oprah hailed, The Purpose of Your
Life: Finding Your Place in the World Using Synchronicity,
Intuition, and Uncommon Sense a must-read. Her new book is
When Life Changes, or You Wish It Would: How to survive and
thrive in uncertain times. My website has a new domain
name: www.CarolAdrienne.com.
My email address has changed to carol22@sonic.net.
Author Carol Adrienne has
been an intuitive counselor since 1976. Visit her website at
www.CarolAdrienne.com
or call (510) 527-2213 for:
- Personal consultations
- Coaching
- Numerology Life Charts describing your destiny
|
Click
Here to Learn More About Carol Adrienne
Read Carol's Past Columns
September
2002
August
2002
July
2002
June
2002
May
2002
April
2002
March
2002
February
2002
January
2002
December
2001
November
2001
October
2001
September
2001
August 2001
July 2001
June 2001
May 2001
April 2001
March 2001
February
2001
January
2001
December
2000
November
2000
October
2000
September
2000
August
2000
July
2000
June
2000
May
2000
April
2000
March
2000
February 2000
January 2000
|
Visit
Carol at her Website: |
|
Some
of Carol's Book Titles:
|
|
