#80 Leah Rampy on eco-grief and the paradox of reconnection to the more-than-human world
“My question, my hope, my wandering is could I open my heart in a way, with a tree that is outside my door, to understand what that tree might want from me? We are very confused about a lot of things when it comes to our role and our responsibility and how we, even with the very best of intentions, might support the woods around us or a field or a clear cut area. What are we supposed to do? Those of us who care want to do something. A first response is, well, how can I fix this?
What if it is not about what we are supposed to bring to it? What if it is about what that particular area wants and needs of us? I can’t know that from my head. Maybe if I can keep going to the heart, I can catch glimpses of a wordless understanding about what’s invited. ”
As we mourn human-induced ecological loss and violence to the more-than-human world, what space do we hold for grieving what we have lost in ourselves by creating walls that were once blurred boundaries between our bodies and the ecosystem? How do we create joy from what remains of our lost capacities to communicate and connect to other bodies through languages of the heart?
This month we bring to the space Leah Rampy, a writer, retreat leader, and educator who weaves ecology, spirituality, personal stories, and practices to help others deepen their relationship to the natural world. With experience as a teacher, professor, corporate and nonprofit executive, and leadership consultant, she began a decades-long journey to understand what lies beneath our unwillingness to change our interactions with the natural world. Her growing commitment to reweaving soul and Earth has been informed by leading over a dozen pilgrimages and many more retreats, extensive reading and research, her contemplative practice, and she shares her wisdom of the living world through her book Earth and Soul: reconnecting amid climate chaos. Rampy has taught in public schools and universities, held leadership roles in Fortune 100 companies, offered executive coaching and leadership consulting through a company she founded, and led a nonprofit organization. Rampy holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum from Indiana University.
The episode explores the complexities in grieving ecological loss and degradation community fragmentation and environmental inaction, particularly bringing focus on the paradox of reconnecting to the natural world we were never apart from. Our conversation invites moments of reflection on how we see our ecological crises through a human lens but also how we see ourselves placed in the ecosystem, from moral responsibilities to collective identity.
What will be covered:
Bodies as biomes and blurring boundaries between internal and external worlds
Othering the human being through exceptionalism and domination to invite humility and challenge our tendency to control
Remembering we are the younger kin and have much to learn from those who have existed before us (with example of trees)
Kinship and loss - grieving something/one we love over what we need for ourselves
The paradox in reconnecting as interconnected beings and challenging reconnection narratives in the environmental space
Taking responsibility to bring down walls of isolation to rebuild connections to the more-than-human world
Shifting narrative from extraction to reciprocity and care
Kincentric ecology - Dr Enrique Salmón
Tensions around using kin for those who we don’t personally know —> understanding we are not central to these relationships
Tending to the needs of a space than just our needs
Language and relationships: defining our relationships on vulnerability and emotional connections than labels
Holding space to accept the limitations of our capacity (of verbal communication)
Re-capacitating our bodies to make meaningful connections to other bodies who do not speak the same language(s) as us
Dancing along the fine line between grief and joy in difficult times - Möbius strip demonstration
Trebbe Johnson - sitting with grief and loss in a clear-cut forest and creating pockets of joy and hope from what remains
Leah’s upcoming book Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees (co-authored with Beth Norecross)
Episode resources:
Find out more about Leah’s work on leahmoranrampy.com
Connect with Leah on Instagram (@leahrampy)
John O'Donohue - Anam Kara (Celtic spirituality)
Dr Enrique Salmón - kincentric ecology
Trebbe Johnson - eco-grief and hope
Beth Norecross - Centre for Spirituality in Nature and co-author of their upcoming book Discovering the Spiritual Wisdom of Trees
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Mind Full of Everything is a podcast calling for the radical healing of the self and community to outgrow the broken dominant culture of radical individualism and disconnection from our place as interdependent beings, so that we can collectively re-envision a safer, healthier and equitable world. Each episode takes a healing-centric approach to explore the embodied ways in which we can collectively restore and transform our journeys as stewards of community and earth through conversations with writers, researchers, coaches and educators, as well as reflection episodes with the host Agrita Dandriyal on her journey navigating the world as a deeply conscious, culturally-rooted and relational being. Learn more here.
