March Resource Round-up

March 31, 2011

Hi everyone! Beginning today, I will be concluding each month at Trust Tending with a round-up of trust-nourishing resources related to each month’s theme.

Can I just say after gathering this list that the wind in my sails is HUGE? Good heavens! There are lots and lots of people doing amazing, trust-inducing, Earth-loving things!! I could fill pages with wonderful links!

Instead, I’m going to offer the ones that I know personally and the ones that shone brightest in my recent wanderings. Karah Fisher Madrone, my dear friend, directed much of my wandering this week, and is someone I hope you get to know much more of in weeks and months to come. She and her partner Lorrena, along with many brilliant collaborators, are soon to launch a new site called greenjump, which is a sustainability homepage: positive news, green directory, and local networking hub. I will let you know when that launches, but for now, offer thanks to her for sharing some of the resources she knows about through her work there and her years of deep love of our planet.

I want to give quick voice to the reality that for some people, the links below might do the very opposite of their intent, which is to nourish trust. While some people can click through a list like this with growing joy and even move on to make lists of their own, others – myself included! – can get overwhelmed by how much they (or people they know) don’t know, how many blind spots they weren’t aware of having, or simply by the SEA of good things in our world to learn and care about.

Here’s my best advice if you’re someone who responds to lists this way: channel your inner turtle. If you’re drawn to earthy things, pretend you aren’t capable of moving more than an inch an hour in pursuit of them. Click on one link from the list below. Enjoy what you discover. Be proud that you discovered it and then move on with your day. Do that again another day, leaving adequate space in between.

There is no race to learn everything possible in one day or one session at your screen, and if you let yourself get overwhelmed, you’re much more likely to make NO steps in whatever direction you’re wanting to go.

Okay, so without further adieu:

Writers and Poets:

David James Duncan I love all of his stuff, but his novel, The River Why, and his two collections, My Story As Told By Water and River Teeth, are particularly nature-y + trust-inducing.
David Whyte Whyte is not a nature writer per se, but his works are often deeply informed by nature, and I can’t recommend him enough. He writes poetry and prose, and has some wonderful CDs of his teachings.
Mary Oliver Her poetry is some of the most nature-full, trust-inducing, and accessible I know.
Wendell Berry My personal readings of his work are not extensive, but everything I’ve read has left me more rooted. Highly recommend.

Magazines:

Orion Orion’s mission is to “inform, inspire, and engage individuals and grassroots organizations in becoming a significant cultural force for healing nature and community.” Awesome publication!
YES! “YES! Magazine reframes the biggest problems of our time in terms of their solutions. Online and in print, we outline a path forward with in-depth analysis, tools for citizen engagement, and stories about real people working for a better world.” Always inspiring for me.

Movies/Short Films:

Winged Migration A breathtaking documentary of the migration of many types of birds. Heavy on imagery, light on words. Perfect.
The Shift This is a documentary film about the shift underway toward global consciousness. It’s still in production, but if you click on its Twitter link, you’ll stay up on some wonderfully hopeful happenings.
The Story of Stuff Project This project is multifaceted, and aimed at educating not only about environmental issues, but also social and economic. Their whole website is worth exploring, but their short films are particularly accessible and informative.
Queen of the Sun A just-released documentary about the future of bees.

Courses/Ebooks:

Abbey of the Arts Christine Valters Painter – interviewed here this month – has some wonderful resources at her site. Here is a page devoted specifically to nature-related offerings.
Living in Season Waverly Fitzgerald’s whole site is wonderful, but I have particularly enjoyed her holiday ebooks, which offer history and ideas for celebrating seasonal holidays from around the world.

Food, etc:

Michael Pollan Thoughtful writing about the food industry and healthy moves we all need to make.
Slow Food “A global, grassroots organization with supporters in 150 countries around the world who are linking the pleasure of good food with a commitment to their community and the environment.”
Local Harvest A website that helps you find organic food grown near you (…if you live in America).
The Regenerative Design Institute “A non-profit educational organization with the vision that all people can live in a mutually enhancing relationship with the earth.”

Lifestyle:

SouleMama Amanda Soule and her husband are raising 5 kids (so far) on a farmstead near Portland, Maine. At her blog, she chronicles her earth-conscious lifestyle, which includes lots of homemade everything, gardening, knitting, raising of chickens and more.

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Have more resources you’d like us to know about? Please share in the comments below!
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