EARTH VOICE – An Interview with Duane Elgin

At the very time our Earth is moving into an unprecedented crisis with the prospect of creating an uninhabitable Earth for much of life in this century, we are also moving into the unprecedented possibility of communication together as a human family. The push of profound necessity is matched by the pull of profound, transformational opportunity. In this supercharged setting, many would seek to use Earth Voice to express their rage, outrage, anger, and blame for the destruction of the Earth, the immense greed, short-sightedness, and narrow-mindedness that has gotten us to this critical place in our collective journey. Others will want to cast blame and seek revenge. Is there a way to acknowledge these views and feelings while exploring a deeper healing journey for the Earth? Beneath the anger and blame there is an ocean of suffering, loss, grief, and sorrow that calls for collective awareness and recognition so that with truth, we can begin a healing process and move toward a regenerative relationship with one another and the Earth.

All this raises the question of “What are the questions that can move us toward unity rather than deeper division?” How can the Earth Voice conversation begin in such a way that encourages healing and unity? How can Earth Voice become a “Compassion Voice” for healing? How we begin will surely have an important impact on where we go from here. Do we begin with the “surface” concerns of the climate crisis and invite a simple communication about “policies and practices”? Or, do we begin from a deeper place that honors our unity as a species and the recognition that our very survival is now a team effort? What are the simple questions that invite this level of communication? How do we talk with ourselves as an extraordinarily diverse community of life?

As Earth Voice launches, I’m sure many will ask “whose voice is being expressed?” Is Earth Voice primarily for the wealthy elites or does it somehow include the impoverished masses? Is Earth Voice a vehicle for the voiceless—those who are impoverished and excluded by racism, ethnic and religious hatred, gender divisions, poverty, and more? Does Earth Voice give voice to the animals and plants suffering in one of the greatest extinctions of life that the Earth has ever experienced? Does Earth Voice enable the actual “Earth” — the oceans, land, forests, rivers — to speak and be heard? Does Earth Voice honor the youth who feel doomed to inhabit a dying Earth, as well as the elders who have the life experience to bend the curve of evolution? Do we give voice to our struggling adolescence as a species and call for growing into our early adulthood? Do we give voice to a new image of what it means to be human and an inseparable part of the ecology of all life—on Earth and in our living universe? What is the tenor and what are the qualities of our voice? Harsh? Soft? Wise? Sorrowful? Does our “voice” only talk or does it also sing, chant, and read poetry? How can our conversation become a catalyst for a larger and ongoing global conversation leading to greater unity?