Rio Grande Gorge Bridge by @kylegarrity

FLORA & FAUNA

Big Horns of The Rift

Dropping into the Orilla Verde area from the mesa, it's not uncommon to see some of our horned and hoofed neighbors peacefully enjoying the land around and within The Rift. Parallel to our local history, it has been a long and winding road for the Bighorn. Once estimated to be around 2 million, unrestrained hunting practices pressed the robust local species to the brink of extinction. As with the river otters, this absence of a key species led to significant ecological imbalance. To this day, diseases to which they have no immunity are easily spread through domestic sheep in the area. To protect the vulnerable population, bighorns found in private pastures among sheep are immediately culled. This is why sheep farmers must be especially diligent in maintaining fence lines. It presents an issue of real world concern with metaphorical value: Do rifts between worlds sometime serve as a protective barrier when needed?

Read more:

Meet the bighorn sheep of the Río Grande Gorge

"The Rocky Mountain bighorns and the desert bighorns are the only two subspecies of bighorn sheep in New Mexico. It’s a meeting in the middle. The Rocky Mountain type, as their name suggests, historically roamed the mountains from Alberta, Canada, all the way south to New Mexico. The desert bighorns, on the other hand, show up just south of I-25 and can be found well into Mexico…"

WELLBEING

Island of Knowledge: Human Flourishing

Of the fuller interview with three neuroscientists, I chose to highlight the conversation with Dalal Abu Amneh. Dalal is a Palestinian singer as well as a neuroscientist. She says music has a special capacity to heal because it transcends language and engages the entire brain. It also has the power to bring people together in the midst of political conflicts. And that’s saying a lot, considering her own experience. When the war in Gaza broke out, she was subject to death threats and nightly protests outside her house in Israel…

These conversations were recorded at the Island of Knowledge Institute, Tuscany, birthplace of the Italian Renaissance in the 13th century.

Find the conversation with Dalal here

and fuller conversation with all three here.

LISTEN

Hania Rani - The Boat

Composed and filmed on the majestic Scottish island of Islay.

A TALE OF TWO BOATS

The Party Yacht and the Deep Sea Schooner

In the harbor were gathered some 100 people. They looked on as two very different boats approached. The first they saw was a long schooner with towering masts. Zipping out in front of the schooner was a smallish yacht with colorful flashing lights and lively music. From the yacht, a woman shouted through her megaphone enticing the onlookers aboard their party boat as her husband, giving a friendly cheers to the crowd, throttled the engine for a dramatic entrance.

The schooner, with its rust red sails and mahogany hull, stood in sharp contrast to the gleaming white fiberglass yacht. In no rush to arrive, the schooner carefully made its way into the harbor. The captain of this ship seemed a strange woman. She held up her pipe and gave a nod to the onlookers in a discrete salutation. Was that Rachmaninoff playing from her hand-cranked radio? Hm.

The two boats docked. Though the large schooner could accommodate them all, many of the onlookers eagerly began piling onto the small yacht where they were gingerly greeted by their charismatic hosts. A few others were curious about the schooner and what adventure it might take them on though, seeing that more among them were drawn to the party vibe of the yacht, they chose to join the crowd. There were but a handful of adventurous spirits who boarded the deep sea schooner which was just right as it meant more space and peace for the small group to enjoy.

As the two boats set out for their respective adventures, it soon became clear there was something a bit off with the yacht. Too distracted with the fun they were having, few onboard noticed they were going in circles and had been for some time. As the schooner continued out to the deep sea, the yacht remained in shallow waters. The partygoers on the yacht were having a good time so few seemed to notice much less care. Though, as they watched the great schooner disappear on the horizon, some among them did wonder just a little bit what those aboard that vessel were off to.

Having become fatigued and ill with intoxication while looping in circles, many among the once merry partygoers requested an early return to shore. Some time later, the schooner also returned. As the small group on the schooner disembarked, those within earshot could hear their excitement in recounting the great adventures they'd experienced on those deep and mysterious waters: There were many challenges as they learned how to handle the ship and navigate the open sea; there were surprise interactions with porpoises and whales; a triumphant swordfish catch provided for their evening meals which were topped off with a small glass of rare Portwine for dessert as they recounted their adventures of the day while gazing nightly upon both a vast sea and ever vaster universe above. While there was far more work involved in their adventure, the deep sea schooner crew felt greatly satisfied with what they had accomplished. They returned bonded to one another, renewed in spirit and forever changed for the better.

There is no ending nor real moral to this story, it's simply a tale of two paths (or two brain hemispheres, see the work of Ian McGilchrest below ☟). Perhaps some on the schooner crew will choose the yacht on another occasion or some yacht-goers may choose the schooner. Both boats are ever-available to us in any moment as is the choice of which we'll take.

EXPLORE

Building a Shared Future

Barefoot and wearing a battered suit coat, a bark belt and village woven lap-lap (apron) with cordyline leaves covering his buttocks, an old man stood to address the attendees of the District Planning meeting, and began to sing. In his native tongue of Anggal Heneng, the elder told a story of sitting on his hill watching the Europeans as they entered his land. With their arrival, he had seen things he never dreamed were possible. As a boy, when he had met the first Europeans to arrive there, he led them up the valley to his home. Until then, his people had no idea of the outside world. Some years later he became the leader among his people who convinced them to surrender the disputed land upon which the current provincial capital of Papua New Guinea was built.

The Europeans brought many marvels to his people which were greatly needed while other things he saw them do was completely stupid and in no way should be spread to his people. Looking at the ways of the Kondol or "red man” (from the sunburns white people easily get in the thin atmosphere of the highlands), had caused him to look at the ways of his own people who did some things that were equally stupid and should not be allowed to spread. True provincial development, the old man sang, was a new kind of bridge built between the two. It could start, he suggested, as a simple rope bridge but should be gated at each end. From the European side, only characteristics of a desirable future should be allowed while excluding those that were undesirable. Same from the side of the traditional villages. As more and more came onto the bridge, it should be rebuilt—first of timber, then with steel and concrete, allowing more and more to come onto the bridge. One day, the elder prophesied, everyone would be on the bridge and, at that time, the gates at each end could be dismantled as true development would have taken place.

*This story comes to us from John Croft, co-developer of the Dragon Dreaming approach mentioned in the issue 16: "Land of Enchantment”. For anyone interested in how to develop thriving communities and organizations of all kinds, you can find more about the Dragon Dreaming processes here.

THEORY OF MIND

The Tyranny of the Left Hemisphere | Iain McGilchrist

“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Albert Einstein

This conversation explores how the hemispheres of the brain pay attention to the world in fundamentally different ways, influencing human nature and our search for meaning.

Key Insights from the Divided Brain

• The Master and the Emissary (4:42-5:03): McGilchrist explains that evolution equipped creatures with two ways of paying attention. The right hemisphere provides a broad, context-aware understanding (the Master), while the left hemisphere focuses narrowly on details to grab and manipulate things (the Emissary).

• Modern Imbalance (26:05-26:52): The modern world is increasingly governed by the left hemisphere, leading to an overgrowth of bureaucracy, reductionist thinking, and a loss of contextual understanding and appreciation for the whole.

• Integration and Health (24:32-24:55): Healthy human functioning requires the left hemisphere's analytic capabilities to be reintegrated into the right hemisphere's holistic vision. The Master needs the Emissary, but the Emissary must respect the Master.

McGilchrist's Career and Philosophy

• Interdisciplinary Approach (15:28-16:35): McGilchrist discusses his background in literature at Oxford and his subsequent pivot to medicine to understand the mind-body connection more deeply.

• The Role of Arts and Values (34:00-34:37): He highlights the importance of values beyond utility and power, citing Max Scheler's hierarchy of values, which includes the holy, the beautiful, and the true.

Addressing the Totalitarian Streak

• Restoring Balance (44:02-46:30): To counter the totalitarian tendencies of a purely left-brained society, McGilchrist suggests that individuals must change from within by recovering the right hemisphere's perspective. He emphasizes that change starts with individuals discovering these truths for themselves rather than being told what to do.

THEORY OF MIND

Western Civilization in the Grip of Left Brain Thinking

Iain McGilchrist is a former Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, an associate Fellow of Green Templeton College, Oxford, and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists to name a few. A leading scholar in the field of neurology he has published original research on neuroimaging in schizophrenia, the phenomenology of schizophrenia, and is the author of, The Master and his Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. He joins Socrates in the City host, Eric Metaxas to discuss the myths and misconceptions between the left and right hemispheres of our brain. McGilchrist highlights the importance of understanding the balance within our brains, and how this has shaped and changed Western Civilization.

Why Left Brain Thinking is Leading to Western Civilization's Collapse: Iain McGilchrist

Consciousness and Meaning (part 2)

Drive-through education:

McGilchrest explains the difference between the brain hemispheres (a short excerpt from full interview Understanding the Brain, Society, and the Meaning of Life)

Left and Right hemisphere (succinct description)

What happens when the Master is out and the Emissary takes control?

Sorcerer's Apprentice - Fantasia

Little man in the driver's seat

And what can we do on the most basic levels to course correct?

An Exercise to Balance Your Brain's Two Hemispheres

EARTH SCIENCE

A Community Divided

In the previous two issues of The Community Garden, I offered a more "enchanted" view the land as a living and dynamic influence in our lives, one that is largely overlooked as the predominant cultural perspective tends to view our relationship to the land through a very different lens.

There are largely two ways of seeing and relating to the natural world. One perspective sees the land as non-living, purely utilitarian, to be used as the humans who "own” it see fit. If those of this viewpoint do outwardly express interest in or concern for the land, it is as a commodity to be acquired or for purposes of politically motivated virtue signaling. The other perspective comes from a place of reverence born of true relationship with the land not merely objectified as "the environment", but as the Source and Sustainer of our material life. The enchanted view regards the land as an expression of a very alive and beautiful mystery. There is a palpable quality of spirit that inhabits and is unique to our local terrain as part of a larger world soul or “Axis Mundi". The soul essence within the land—as within our own bodies—pulses with life, is expressive, and does interact with us though on a more subtle level than what the physical senses alone can perceive.

In the science and art of Feng Shui (briefly mentioned in issue 17: Earth & Sky), the features of the land are very often described in terms of dragon symbolism and imagery. Dragon veins (longmai) in Feng Shui are the energetic pathways of the earth represented by undulating mountain ranges that carry and concentrate Qi (vital energy). These features, alongside water, determine the well being and prosperity of a site, often ending at "nodal points" (usually caverns) where energy accumulates.

The image above is an aerial view of the area surrounding the Greater World community with the more pronounced band near the middle (running north to south) being The Rio Grande Rift. Crossing horizontally through the Rift is a line which represents an energy pathway called a "ley line” (this term being from another geomancy tradition rooted in Europe). These earth energy pathwaysof the upper crust are called telluric currents and are informed by activity in the upper atmosphere and cosmos beyond. As with certain types of earth energy lines in Feng Shui, ley lines tend to run between nodal points. The eastern nodal point in the image above (of the ley line running through GW) is at the Taos Pueblo ceremonial grounds. As I've directly experienced it, the energy is of a sharp dart-like quality and runs from the ceremonial grounds west to the Cerro de las Taoses volcanic vent (a cavern) or "Two Peaks” as its referred to locally. West of the Rift in this image you'll see where I've marked the GW community well which is also bisected by the ley line path.

I find it interesting how the energy line between these two points literally runs through the heart of our community (an apt metaphor on its own) and through the community well location which has been a particularly persistent issue fueling division and contention for decades now. Perhaps you, like me, see enough evidence here to consider this interesting correlation worth investigating further with a geomancy/earth energy expert. If this is of interest to you, or you have something to contribute to the topic, feel free to reach out—I would love to hear from you!

SCIENCE OF PERCEPTION

Expand your perception. Change your life.

At age 37, neuroanatomist Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor suffered a stroke that would take her eight years to fully recover from. This is how it changed her understanding of the brain. In this interview, Dr. Jill draws a map of the human brain, explaining how it is comprised of four distinct modules, each serving a unique role in function and personality.

This combination of cognitive and emotional components gives rise to the multidimensional characters within each of us. Are you looking to be more rational, more creative, more forgiving, or perhaps less rigid in your thinking? Dr. Jill suggests that by becoming aware of the four modules of our brains, we can consciously choose to engage specific parts. This awareness allows us to harness the true power of our brains and shape who we want to become, ultimately fostering less anxiety, more inner peace, and a vastly more purposeful life.

Read more from this interview ► https://bigthink.com/perception-box/j...

TRANSFORMATIVE ART

Thomas Deninger

Thomas Deininger is a Rhode Island-based artist whose work merges environmental concerns with an innovative approach to image-making. His found object assemblages are crafted from non-recyclable and non-biodegradable materials that accumulate in our nation’s landfills. Such works provide a thoughtful response to mass consumerism, urging viewers to reconsider the potential for transcendence in the mundane.

In his early twenties, Thomas Deininger traveled extensively, exploring Europe, Central America, and the South Pacific. These experiences shaped his thoughts on American consumerism as he witnessed the resourcefulness of non-industrial cultures and the waste impacting the shores of distant islands. After a visit to the Nantucket landfill, he conceived the idea of creating realist assemblages from found materials. His detritus mosaics respond to the threats that mass-produced consumer cultures pose to our natural environment, raising questions about value, perspective and our capacity for meaningful connections in a media-saturated world.

It requires viewing his work from multiple angles to really appreciate the complexity and layered nuances of his cheeky, trashy apocalyptic commentary.

JUNGIAN PERSPECTIVE

HEALING the RIFT: Anima Mundi in a Disenchanted World

Is every object alive? Are wind, oceans, and mountains sentient? Jung, inspired by Anima Mundi or world soul, believed so. This concept, rooted in ancient philosophy, originates with Thales of Miletus, who envisioned the universe as interconnected and alive. Plato furthered this, proposing the World Soul as a bridge between ideal and physical realms.

Born into a religious family in 1875, Jung strove for a fusion of science, psychology, and esotericism. He lamented that excessive intellect had stripped humanity of meaning. Although ancient beliefs might not resonate with modern minds, he felt that dreams could reawaken our world and called this spirit Anima Mundi. Jung moved the gods from external to internal realms, calling them archetypes. He associated the disconnection from these myths with societal ailments. “The gods have become diseases,” he stated, suggesting that disregarded psychic content still governs us, appearing as neuroses. The quest for soul in matter inspired alchemists. Jung proposed that merging ego with the imaginal spirit or anima/us yields a new personality type, the alchemic Lapis. Ian McGilchrist defines this as “unity of the hemispheres.”

Reenchanting the world involves seeing ourselves within a responsive life web and resisting the view of nature as an object. This reawakening symbolically reflects our actions, revealing our interconnectedness. Understanding that our actions ‘sing into’ objects reinstates feelings. It is indifference, not evil, that fills our relationship with nature. This indifference permits destructive actions. The world soul isn’t a belief, but an inner response, always communicating with us. It provides a mirror to our actions, enriching our lives with feelings that urge us to pause and reflect.

HORROR FILM

The Act of Killing

In this chilling and inventive documentary, executive produced by Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) and Errol Morris (The Fog of War), the unrepentant former members of Indonesian death squads are challenged to re-enact some of their many murders in the style of the American movies they love. In the 1960s AnwarCongo was a leader in Indonesia's pro-regime paramilitary group, Pancasila Youth who, along with his band of dedicated followers, was amongst those who participated in the murder and torture more than a million alleged Communists, ethnic Chinese and intellectuals.

Proud of their deeds, which have still gone unpunished, Anwar and his pals are lauded as national heroes, and are delighted when the filmmakers ask them to re-enact these murders for their documentary -- in any genre they desire. Initially Anwar and his friends enthusiastically take up the challenge using hired actors, making elaborate sets and costumes, but eventually as the movie violence is played out and reconstructed, Anwar's conscience begins to stir and feelings of remorse surface.

For additional context on the making of this film - The Documentary That Exposed a Genocide

TRANSCENDING DIVISION

Etty Hillesum ~ A Free Bird

Esther (Etty) Hillesum (15 January 1914 – 30 November 1943) was the Dutch author of confessional letters and diaries which describe both her religious awakening and the persecutions of Jewish people in Amsterdam during the German occupation. In 1943, she was deported and murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp. Hillesum’s approach to spirituality was not about striving for ecstasy. Rather, she longed to meet the depth of her own interior and life itself. Her spirituality was not confined to her intellectual understanding of a greater power and the depth of her direct insights is reflected in her diaries.

In the concentration camp of Westerbork, she had unusual experiences of spiritual awakenings and insight: "Those two months behind barbed wire have been the two richest and most intense months of my life, in which my highest values were so deeply confirmed." These excerpts of her writings have been primarily sourced from the text: An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941–1943.

CINEMATIC LENS

The Look of Silence

Joshua Oppenheimer’s powerful companion piece to the Oscar-nominated THE ACT OF KILLING. Through Oppenheimer’s footage of perpetrators of the 1965 Indonesian genocide, a family of survivors discovers how their son was murdered, as well as the identities of the killers. The documentary focuses on the youngest son, an optometrist named Adi, who decides to break the suffocating spell of submission and terror by doing something unimaginable in a society where the murderers remain in power: he confronts the men who killed his brother and, while testing their eyesight, asks them to accept responsibility for their actions. This unprecedented film initiates and bears witness to the collapse of fifty years of silence.

Joshua Oppenheimer on two gut-wrenching scenes from The Look of Silence

WHAT THE FLICK?

Accidental Courtesy

The award-winning documentary features Daryl Davis, a black musician who befriends members of the KKK and other white supremacists in search of the answer to his question: "How can you hate me if you don't even know me."

More about this amazing man…

Daryl Davis Did the Unthinkable - Daryl Davis was determined to understand why he was hated for the color of his skin. His pursuit for answers brought him face to face with the leader of the KKK. Find out how one conversation is changing history in real time.

Klan We Talk? | Daryl Davis - Daryl Davis used honesty, respect and human understanding to break down and dissolve the bitter, time-worn barriers that he encountered…

HUMAN POTENTIAL

The Power of Forgiveness

Immaculée Ilibagiza was born and raised in a small village in Rwanda, Africa. She enjoyed a peaceful childhood with her loving parents and three brothers. Education was very important in her household, so it was no surprise that she did well in school and went on to the National University of Rwanda to study electrical and mechanical engineering. It was while she was home from school on Easter break in 1994 that Immaculée's life was transformed forever. On April 6 of that year, the Rwandan President's plane was shot down over the capital city of Kigali. This assassination of the Hutu president sparked months of massacres of Tutsi tribe members throughout the country. Not even small, rural communities like Immaculée's were spared from the house-by-house slaughtering of men, women and children. To protect his only daughter from rape and murder, Immaculée's father told her to run to a local pastor's house for protection. The pastor quickly sheltered Immaculée and seven other women in a hidden 3 x 4 foot bathroom. For the next 91 days, Immaculée and the other women huddled silently in this small room, while the genocide raged outside the home and throughout the country.

GOOD READ

Who Do We Choose to Be: Facing Reality, Claiming Leadership, Restoring Sanity

“Is it possible to use our influence and power to create islands of sanity in the midst of a raging destructive sea.” - Meg Wheatly

When uncertainty and disruption surround you, how do you respond? Do you grit your teeth and try to take control of what you can? Do you bury your head in the sand and hope things will magically sort themselves out? Or do you use your insight, compassion, and influence to connect with others and find a way through together?

“Fear of the uncertainty that we face, when perceived as a threat, can cause us to retreat from one another, from values that held us together, from ideas and practices that encouraged inclusion, from faith in leaders, from belief in basic human goodness,” explained Dr. Margaret Wheatley, “But whatever the problem, community is the answer.”

Meg’s research has found that it is possible, when facing the complexity of problems, to find a path of contribution and meaning if we turn our attention away from issues beyond our control, focus on the people around us who are yearning for good leadership, and engage them in work that is within reach. By using our insight, compassion, and influence to consciously and wisely create islands of sanity, we help each other remember that we can find our way through most things as long as we work together.

Find a book review for Who Do We Choose To Be here.

Meg Wheatley's Islands of Sanity presentation here.

GOOD NEWS

New Mexico DOT sets aside $8M to raise rails at Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

TAOS — For years, mental health advocates in Taos have warned the state must act to prevent suicides at the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge. It seemed at least their calls would be answered when New Mexico Transportation Secretary Ricky Serna promised to raise the bridge’s rails at a community rally in December.

Now, after the announcement of Serna’s resignation effective Friday, Transportation Department officials are assuring the public millions of dollars in promised safety modifications won’t slip through the cracks…

WISDOM WORDS / HUMOR

Before you criticize someone…

Jack Handey—who is indeed a real person, despite common misconception—is best known for his series of hilarious faux aphorisms, Deep Thoughts. Handey is also the writer of many of SNL‘s best sketches from the 80s and 90s, such as “Toonces, the Cat Who Could Drive a Car,” “Unfrozen Caveman Lawyer,” and “Happy Fun Ball.”