Bioneers Conference Honors the Earth with Hon

Let’s face it, things are heavy. September 11 shifted all of our lives. The planet and all its inhabitants have suffered a devastating blow and the pain continues with each day’s headlines. Clouds of fear, uncertainty, and injustice hang overhead. We vacillate between being overwhelmed with what is happening globally, or in complete denial of it. Or we strive for somewhere in between. The middle path of seems even narrower. Add environmental issues, human rights abuses, biased media, and greed based economic system to the picture and it can just feel bleak.

But in these (polluted) oceans of deep blue, the recent annual Bioneers conference provided a shining yellow ray of light. A ray of inspiration, hopes, and dialogues. A reminder of what and where our priorities need to be in an Earth Honoring Culture. Sold out for the first time ever, the Bioneers conference raised the bar on what it set out to accomplish: to nourish, educate, and connect spirits, ideas, visions and people with one another.

The complete conference schedule can be viewed at http://www.bioneers.org and included a brilliant assortment of voices and visionaries. Teachers speaking their truth and inspiring their students to do the same. The opening plenary, Janine Benyus began the conference with a theme that resonated throughout the three-day event: Biomimicry, the concept that supports humans emulating natures’ interconnectedness. She says, “…in nature, the places where two ecosystems meet are the most fertile. The same holds true for people when ideas and philosophies meet.” The essence of Biomimicry permeated the conference as restorative and practical solutions for living in an earth honoring culture abundantly flowed. The integration of many ideas and schools of thought from biology, ecology, agriculture, sustainable business, celebrating the feminine, indigenous peoples’ struggles, activism, and spirituality created a beautiful life-affirming web of hope. Hope anchored in a reality-based solutions shared by those who are walking the talk.

Two of the central spokes of that wheel were sustainable business practices and restoring the feminine balance of the earth. These themes culminated in a workshop with three individuals who are the sheroes of “compassionalism”: Anita Roddick of The Body Shop, Laura Scher, CEO of Working Assets, and Judy Wicks, activist restaurateur. Moderated by Global Exchanges’ Kevin Danaher, these women illuminated how socially responsible business practices, a fierce commitment to right livelihood, and honor of the energy of money can not only be profitable, but meaningful in an way that a sheer greed based system simply can’t support. Anita pointed out that “Business can only change if it makes good business sense” and her global success proves that integration of compassion within a business model can create positive social change, while providing the profit to sustain that mission. That Alternative Economy workshop was given on the heels of a host of other integrative discussions: Eco-Feminist Visions, Fundraising: Turning the Tide, Social Entrepreneurship: Improving the Environment by Changing the World, and Daughters of Thoreau featuring the dynamic trio of Terri Swearingen, Diane Wilson, and Julia Butterfly Hill. These three women have courageously, and successfully, followed their hearts and spirits to take on some of the biggest polluting and environmentally destructive corporate interests in our society. As Diane so eloquently put it, “It is the reasonable woman who adapts to the world. It is the unreasonable woman who makes the world adapt to her. Be unreasonable.”