Hi Friend,

Picture this: Krissy and I were co-facilitating the follow-up conversation from our wonderfully full Fourth of July webinar, which looked at some of the indigenous roots of democracy. People were sharing some powerful insights, including about how one person's relationship with the river in her own city was significantly shifting thanks to participating in some indigenous-led, cross-cultural paddle experiences. We were beginning to make connections between rivers and governing systems. And then one of the participants shared that Joe Biden was stepping down from his run for presidency.

I don't think I will forget that moment.

Even though we all knew it was possible, it was still a surprise... and receiving that information whilst in the midst of co-facilitating a conversation about the indigenous roots of democracy was.... kind of a head-spin.

It’s been powerful to have these conversations about democracy's origins while America is in a Very Topsy-Turvey election moment, where multiple sides (let's not fool ourselves into thinking there are only two sides) are utterly convinced that the "other" (erm, multiple others here) is some version of 'evil'; wherein 'the future of the country is at stake', and there are vastly different interpretations of reality. Most of which does not acknowledge the reality of indigenous origins of democracy or even consider their implications.

In the last few days, there are ways in which some things are changing super fast. And other things are deeply entrenched. And much is uncertain.

I remain clear that engaging with these long dis-membered histories is critical: to understand and interpret where we are now, to take further steps in personal, collective, and ecological healing, and to create possibilities for better, more sustainable futures.

But these conversations do not fit into easy politics. They don't fit into the kinds of storylines in which the moves and countermoves of the different parties are reasonably predictable. The conversations and deeper somatic engagements we are hosting and aiming towards are not pre-written scripts.

Upcoming….

We've got what I hope some of you will find to be a cool podcast coming out with a Scottish elder and spiritual activist, Alastair McIntosh. Amongst other things, he offers some interesting reflections on where America is right now, from his islands in the outer parts of Scotland -- the same islands from when Trump's family came. It's a story of multiple generations of trauma.

And we will soon offer a podcast with one of the speakers from the July 4th webinar, Jasmyn Story, who is doing some incredible work around restorative justice, engaging deeply with land practices, and a range of other incredible healing and justice-orientated work.

And other podcasts coming too.

In the meantime, here are a few things we wanted to share with you:

1) We are in the process of creating an 'origins of democracy' booklet. Similar to the land acknowledgment booklet - but longer and focused on untold histories.

Short, sweet, elegant, highly engaging, cool images, and filled with quotes and critical historical information that has been consistently missing from our collective understanding of where democracy comes from - and thus from resources that can help us better engage with it today.

This booklet arose after several people who attended our webinar asked me 'How can we quote your PowerPoint'? And I was like, but, um, you don't quote PowerPoints. And then I realized I didn't have anything to give them that was quotable/shareable. Maybe we'll make a podcast out of these themes as well - there is certainly ample material!

It was the same feeling I had over two years ago - and which led us to creating our Land Acknowledgement booklet which so many of you have appreciated and used in many different ways.

We have an initial draft. We will be sharing it with several colleagues and friends to get their feedback/input before it is more widely available - don't worry, we will let you know.

2) We are considering offering a series in the Fall on this topic.

Please respond to this email if participating in this series is of interest to you. In addition to the need to shift the way the history is narrated in educational instruction on democracy worldwide, there is also a need to think together through and with some of these implications. Our July 4th conversation was one step in that process. Regardless of whether you attended that particular event, we are curious if you would like to continue engaging in that process with us.... and/or with some of our partners who are engaging in related questions.

3) Might you be interested in deepening into the pattern of those dis-membered histories that are contributing to our current challenges?

The dismembered histories of democracy are part of a larger colonial pattern of multiple forms of dis-memberment, leading to misunderstandings and the lack of contemporary tools, resources, and ways of being together that can address some of the bigger questions of our times. The best way I know of helping people go deeper into understanding this pattern of disconnection whilst actively engaging in re-membering it is through engaging with these histories more substantially and more deeply. I do that through the ReMembering Course.

I'm inviting you to join Krissy and me in a ReMembering Course Info Webinar. We have one on August 6, 1 pm ET. We also have one in early September. Regardless of your choice to participate in the course, one of our aims for the webinar, which includes Krissy sharing why she encourages people to take this course and why she does not co-teach it with me), will leave having had a meaningful heart-mind connective experience. We hope that our time together can re-orient and support you. Register here

Finally -

4. Krissy and I are going to NACRJ in Washington, D.C. next week and then participating in a land justice gathering in the area.

Let us know if you are also going to NACRJ and/or if you are in the D.C. area and want to say in-person-hellos and/or set up an in-person healing session. I can't promise total availability - I'm expecting it will be a super full week - but who knows! We love IRL connections.