What the bleep…..
Jul 28th, 2009 by
DO WE DO NOW?
Given the incredibly messed up state of the world, what can/should we be doing ? Well, we probably shouldn’t be assuming that by being PC in what we eat, use, drive and etc. we are making a huge dent and doing all that is possible or necessary. Read Derrick Jensen’s recent article in Orion Magazine, “Forget Shorter Showers,” for more thoughts on this. http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4801/
His point, well taken, is that we have to be actively doing something to change politics as usual; just being model consumers isn’t enough. Yes consumer choices can drive the market, but effective, well-organized consumer boycotts do more. We have to stand up for what we want and believe in and really agitate for change; we’re not made out of time here. As Jim Hightower puts it, the agitator is what gets the clothes clean in a washing machine. So how do you agitate? Join groups locally and nationally that are working to change things. (I like  the Progressive Democrats of America, pda.org). Write letters to the editor and to lawmakers, make calls and send emails. Speak your mind and take a stand. These kinds of actions really do help. Support groups that you feel are helping make the change we need in the world. Work for democracy, local control and sustainabilty at the community level, like making political campaigns publicly-sponsored rather than privately-funded. Â
To potentiate your actions, add the element of manifesting. I think that might be an underutilized X factor in social change movements. I am exploring this aspect with a few friends and we hope to have a course available soon to help teach people to use energy, healing, intention, thought, and emotion to heighten the impact of their efforts, individually and collectively,  to help the animals and the earth. Stay tuned for that one; we’ll be getting back to you.
 LIKE MY NEW BANNER?
My student, Cass Martinez, helped me do it. Thanks Cass! I think horse trekking is the coolest thing you can do in this world, unless of course, your horse goes lame, you fall off, run out of water, or get lost. BTW if you ever do get lost just drop the reins, your horse can figure it out! Its not me in the photo, but don’t they look like they’re having fun?
STARFIRE’S TASK
Here is the final installment of Mark Whitley’s story about Starfire. Thanks for the great story Mark.
That was not the only time my right leg buckled, nor was it the only time I fell off of Starfire. But over the next four months I gradually became stronger, and the shaking stopped. The pain receded, and proper sensation returned to my calf. The following summer Starfire introduced me to the local trails, and we often spent a quiet Sunday afternoon riding through the fields and woods. I kept on riding, and moved on to other horses. But at least once a month I made it a point to ride Starfire, until years later after I graduated from college, and I moved to Connecticut.
Epilogue
They say you can never go home again, and I suppose that is true, for the one thing that never stops is change. Even if the place you return to is not that different, and the people you love are still there and healthy, you will have changed more then you know. When that happens, “The old suit may no longer fit.â€Â After, a war and seven bitter years, I knew I had changed, and not for the better. But sometimes, with opportunity, hard work, and a bit of divine help, you can heal. For me, my help from heaven came with four sure hoofs, a soft nicker of encouragement, and a gentle yet courageous determination. I am forever grateful that Starfire lived up to her name.Â
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Mark and Pompie (his current equine friend)
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I was watching the News Hour on Public Television a few weeks ago, and saw to my surprise a segment on horseback riding physical therapy for badly wounded troops returning from the war in Iraq. The “Old Guard†cavalry troop in Washington, DC, working with the medical staff at Walter Reed Hospital and physical therapists, is providing riding physical therapy for even amputees who may be missing both lower legs. It helps that the horses of the “Old Guard†are some of the most “bomb proof†horses available. Since these horses perform all of the military funerals at the Arlington National Cemetery, they are used to rifle and cannon fire, as well as cars, traffic, and parades. These horses are about as unflappable as they come, and totally focused on their riders and handlers. So, it appears I was present at the start of military horseback riding physical therapy, and now it is a mainstream treatment. I hope and pray each of those wounded men is chosen by his own “Starfireâ€, who will help him heal and become whole again.
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If you have stories to share, comments, questions, and ideas to contribute, I would love to hear from you. Share this blog with your friends.
chow, Marta
Tags
horses, natural horse training
Hey Marta, I enjoyed your blog again, as usual, and I always wish you well. I think it’s great that you’re encouraging your students to think bigger, to realize their capabilities, to empower themselves, and to use their inner resources for political change.
I’d be very interested in helping to develop the course on manifesting. It’s what I do every day; albeit I might call it going for my wildest dreams or chanting for world peace or visualizing/believing/feeling/imagining my friend overcoming leukemia. Using hypnosis is a great tool in this category as is The Secret as are all of the above. I agree that it’s a tool that is overlooked in the political arena but its potential for change is undeniable and vast.
Please consider my offer. No hard feelings if you decline; great possibilities if you agree. Thanks and best regards, Marlane
Hi Marlane
Absatively… will call and discuss.
M
Someone commented the banner looks peaceful. Yes it does .. I was drawn to it as my dream is to go horse camping again. It was really fun and Rio loves the ocean. He sees the horizon and says, OK are we going all the way down there? Great, let’s get started.
Hi Marta,
I agree with Marlane, your blogs touch upon those issues that matter!
I found this website a while ago while researching something for my study and have had it sitting in my ‘investigate further and possibly join’ box since then:
http://www.theintentionexperiment.com/
Started by Lynne McTaggart, The Intention Experiment are experiments which are scientifically controlled testing the power of positive thought and intention to change the physical world. The topics vary from the quality of water to healing people who suffer from serious diseases to world peace. Participants are from all over the world. There are some brilliant examples of what a large group of dedicated people can achieve by visualizing positive change.
As this one seems primarily geared towards human issues, would it not be great to have something similar for animals and the earth?
Best regards,
Vicki van Rossem
What a beautiful story from Mark about ‘Healing by Horse’. I loved it and it was so good Mark gave Starfire so much credit.
Also what a wonderful suggestion from Vicki van Rossem. In the blog on my website I have been launching a bit of a campaign to make No Kill Shelters the norm, not the exception. If you want to see this go to http://www.annwalkerbooks.com and click on Ann’s Blog.
Power showers. If your get water from a watershed that has impaired fish habitat, taking a shower can mean death to a pool of endangered juvenile salmon. How we live in our watersheds has a very real and direct impact on all living things. And local small issues are just as impotant as the larger ones. Along with boycotting Monsanto we need to keep our personal act together as well.
Hi Georje
True… We have to do both. Instead of “thinK globally act locally” we have to think and act both locally and globally. The point Derrick made was that what we do on the local level can easily be subsumed by forces working at the global level, like Monsanto. I conceed that the title of his article, Forget Shorter Showers, may have been a poor choice. We dont want to forget that, or ignore the needs of the other life forms who need and depend on the water in the watershed… we came last not first to the watershed, but if we can’t stop corporate fascism, we’re screwed. There was one point he made that I didn’t agree with, however. He indicated that making the choice not to breed wasn’t radical, and suggested that as long as we were good stewards, the number of people on the earth would not be particularly relevant. I completely disagree with that one. I think it is profoundly radical to recognize that we are procreating at an exponetial rate and to take a personal stand to stop doing that. Our popuplation has doubled since Kennedy was president, approaching something like 8 billion. I say time for less human babies and more manatees. And by all accounts the best way to achieve a stable world population is to empower and educate women. So who is messing things up for rural women in India and Africa etc… well, Monsanto comes to mind. They are systematically trying to wipe out independent, organic, locally based, small farming agriculture everywhere in the world. Want a global cause? That’s a good one!