On Relational Being, with a local Sourdough Starter
Finding humility, patience, gratitude and awe through co-creating a Sourdough Starter, in a collaborative relationship with Wheat, Rye, Spelt, Water, Air, and local 'wild' Bacteria and Yeast.
Thank you, Wheat, Rye, and Spelt for your inspiration.
Life, in its myriad forms, is amazing. Especially when you help welcome in new lifeforms through an active relationship with beings beyond the human variety.
And let’s be honest here, bread is magic. Well, I suppose all bread is, but especially bread that is fermenting in this symbiotic relationship, continuously coming to life through these awesome relationships between various plants, Water, minerals, bacterias, and yeasts. We humans play some role in the process of bringing something like a Sourdough loaf of bread into this world, but the truth of the matter is, we couldn’t do it without the support of so many agents and collaborators that fall outside of our generally human focused communities.
Relational Be-ing with this multi-species community
In order for these glorious loaves of bread to arise into this reality, sooooo many active relationships within this local ecological community needed to take place. And before the properly local action could happen here in this canyon, the Wheat, Rye, and Spelt plants had to respectively go through an impressive journey, starting first as a seedling upon their kin’s stalks, connected with the roots and soil, the land and ecology of their particular link with time and space. From there, they carried on as individual seedlings, harvested and gathered by a combination of human hands and likely heavy, fossil-fuel powered machinery. Then, along with thousands of their seed siblings, stored for some duration, and then planted back in the living soil community, perhaps far from where they were first born. Then growing forth through the darkness, amongst mycorrhizal networks, earthworms, and all sorts of various stages of composting beings dancing between life and death. Then emerging into the light, sprouting up towards the sky, and the celestial being we call Sun, swaying with the winds and rain, feeling the various light energies of the lunar cycle from our constant companion, Moon. These dear grain beings will have continually interacted and engaged with Water in its many magical forms, as dew, rain, and quite likely through another ancient sunlight-fossil fuel powered system that sprays Water from a source some distance away (or deep within this living planet). The vast network and web of relationships at play is wild to comprehend.
Until these beings grow to their full maturity they likely find themselves in both beneficial, and detrimental relationships with various insects and birds, and small furry creatures as well. Thankfully the humans tending to these particular plant companions have not introduced harsh chemical compounds into the mix, so many related beings experience this intense warlike exchange through what we’ve deemed ‘conventional farming’ methods, that are said to be done for the good of the many (humans). We are thankfully coming to terms with these detrimental agricultural practices and more and more we see regenerative, biodynamic, syntropic, nourishing ways to care for the beings who become our food.
As Morcheeba sings it: It’s All Part of the Process…
That headline may seem to have come out of nowhere but stick with me here, first of all, Part of the Process, and the entire album Big Calm as a whole is perhaps objectively definable as fantastic. I jest, only slightly. What this song, and those lyrics have to do, in relation to this moment, is that this dance that is life is a process, one that is ongoing, and everything is a part of it. The process of these words being written, is taking place in this moment with another couple loaves of bread that are being collaboratively created by the air, water, time, space, 50 some odd different bacteria varieties o’ life, 20 or more Yeasts (and all the life that comprises the Sourdough microbiome), and what humble efforts I can contribute in order for these loaves to arise into our shared reality. And this is all happening, today, as Moon is nearly entirely being blocked from Sun’s shinning rays, by us collectively here on this living planet.
We call it a ‘new Moon’, though it is the same Moon who has always spun along with us through the cosmos. Yet this auspicious portion of the lunar cycle does provide us with a place to set intentions, to extend gratitude, and to bring awareness that this process is happening in relation to so many local and cosmic goings on. Through this awareness and mindfulness of these relationships and cyclical patterns, there can be found meaning and purpose as we drop into these cycles in considerate ways. I like that giving more attention to the cyclical nature of reality can help to make our interwoven lives more interesting, mysterious, and magical as well. It also helps us to remember, and reveal how complex and entangled all of life really is. How we’re never alone, always belonging to, and with the rest of nature and the cosmos beyond.
Solstice is nearly upon us
In approximately 9 days, 9 cycles of motion where this living planet spins and brings ‘Sun-rises’ and ‘Sun-sets’ to us all, all while swirling around a Star we call Sun, who spirals among countless other Star beings in a galaxy, among countless other galaxies that make up the greater cosmos and universe, we here will arrive at what we call the Solstice. As it goes, due to this spherical celestial bodies tilt, the Solstice will bring forth both a Summer, and Winter vibrational and energetic shift with it. How absolutely incredible to try and comprehend this all. That us human folks, and all of our multi-species companions North of that imaginary equatorial line will be a part of a seasonal cycle and shift that brings the darkest, and often coldest of days, and meanwhile all the human folk, and more-than-human ecological communities in what we refer to as the southern hemisphere, will be seeing the longest days of light, with warmer temperatures to boot.
That’s so cool.
And what does this mean in regards to being a relational being? I suppose that depends on what level each of us, people of the human variety or otherwise, decides to pay attention to it, find meaning in, or bring significance to it all. For these seasonal, lunar, solar, and greater cosmic cycles are happening and effecting us on one level or another always and in all ways, whether we’re paying attention or not.
Let us be Relational Beings, together.
To be a Relational Being, is a process of continual becoming, not as an individual as such, but part of a network, mycelial meshwork, and numerous interwoven celestial, terrestrial, and watery flowing systems that are bound and threaded together through space, and place. And as one relational being to another, I welcome you to embrace these muddled metaphors and the mixed bag of partially broken, and perhaps even at times nonsensical narrations that are spilling forth here. The greater invitation is for you, in this deep breath (why not take one?), and the following, is to be willing to dig into the unknown with me, and our shared ecologies. Get dirty. Get messy. Be playful. Surrender to the process and all the while do your best to have the constant companions of care, reverence, and respect along for the journey.
It is unclear exactly what the expectations might be for you and me with this first entry for ‘On Relational Being’. This curious place will be left with spacious room for emergence, opportunity, collaborations, and well, who knows what else? I will however conclude by noting that there is an important undercurrent through this whole flowing river of words (and those that will follow) that is energetically dedicated to de-centering the human story, celebrating and illuminating an eco-centric, collaborative way of going forth, with love, respect, awe and reverence for the multi-species ecological communities that are helping to co-create this with me and you.
Oh, and please do be on the lookout for ways to get more engaged in the processes and growing community that focuses on supporting Relational Being. There is an Institute of Relational Being that has been taking shape for many Moon cycles now, as well as a rather exciting app called ReBe that is in development. ReBe will invite you to become part of a relational media network that illuminates more eco-centric landscapes, which ideally will help to bring into our everyday realities a better awareness of our non-human relations. As well as tuning us collectively in to the cycles that continually are taking place around and within. These regular practices and processes will help to contextually place you into a better framework of how you are a part of nature, and specifically, what ecology, and bioregion you belong to. So much more to come on all of that soon enough. For now though, please do be on the lookout for regular writings that will come through on here. You can subscribe by clicking on that bright red button just above.
Did I say thank you yet? Because, I sincerely thank you for being here now.
However you happened upon these words, I thank you sincerely for reading them and making it to this ending point. Nothing ever properly ends of course, but you know what I mean. And I’d also like to invite you to extend gratitude out to all the ancient sunlight (a term I thank Thom Hartmann for bringing to my attention a couple decades ago), this ancient sunlight was once alive through myriad lifeforms who were a part of this living planet, and who over deep time have been transformed into energy and what we call today ‘fossil fuels’. Yes, thank you fossil fuels. I know you’re not that good for us when it comes to climate change and this rather hairy carbon situation we’ve got going on, but my goodness it is impressive how you have, collectively, allowed for all of this technology and advancements to occur. It has immensely benefited the largely human part of our shared journey. This technology and these advancements have come at great cost to our shared ecologies though. And it has happened under modernity’s rule, capitalism and colonialisms reign, and mostly by humans who have had the notion of being a part of nature severed from their identity.
So, the tricky part now is, after extending the gratitude, to get more and more realistic on how to considerably scale back the use of this sacred energy and for humanity to humble way, way down and realize that we kinda overdid it a bit with all of this. And now need to get back into more localized, non-combustible powered ways of living as part of multi-species ecological communities. Along with this there is a great deal of accountability, responsibility, healing and a whole lot more reckoning that will need to be a part of this process as well.
I’ll conclude with just one more thank you. The impending journey ahead for us humans, and our ecological companions isn’t necessarily going to be a pretty one. But it doesn’t all have to be unpleasant or painful. So thank you for just being you. For dancing with the sacred and the profane. May we grieve and move through trauma in supportive ways to the best of our situational, and contextual abilities. This journey can often seem to be a non-linear paradox, so may we also draw upon that multiplicity of truths and welcome in the forces and sources from all the cosmic realms of possibility, beyond our limited concept of ‘time’, so we may be of service and support to our shared past, present, and future, simultaneously.