Water Wisdom: Walk in the Wilds

The waters are angry. The winds are furious. Pachamama is no longer whispering. In the US, Hurricane Fiona and now Ian. Raging tornadoes. Flooding in coastal Australia, extreme heat, wildfires, and drought in southern Europe. The list goes on.?

As a scientist, I’ve been watching with dismay since my early days in graduate school, when I learned from the work of Wally Broecker at?Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory?of the possibility that the conveyor belt in the ocean, which largely controls climate on earth, might slow down or even stop suddenly if the temperature and thermohaline gradients of the ocean weaken sufficiently. This doesn’t bode well for the planet.

I’ve been carrying around this understanding for decades, watching as the world continues to dig in. While it is not the focus of my professional work, it weighs on me, much in the same way my understanding of the global water crisis does. Like?many others, I’ve felt like a?Vox Clamantis in Deserto—a?Voice Crying in the Wilderness. Recent conversations about global change and its implications, the possibility of societal collapse, and the?concept of Deep Adaptation—a movement positing that?social collapse due to climate disruption is inevitable, we’re in deep denial, and all the modeling, strategizing, and corporate ESGs (Environmental, Social, and Governance metrics) are hopeless distractions—has (re-) stirred my well of eco-grief.?Am I playing a game of avoidance as I try to manage these emotions and go about my life (albeit trying to walk with light footsteps and live in integrity)??

The one truth I do know: Time in the Wilds is necessary medicine for me. It is a place of solace, connection, grounding. It’s the chapel where I can practice deep listening and deep observing—witnessing the messages of the wind; the energy of the gentle beings—the elk and deer, the eagles and the larks, the pika and the chipmunks; the secrets housed by layers of sandstone and shale; the riotous color of the rabbitbrush blooms.?

And, so, this past weekend, I took a walk in the Wilds. This was both for my personal wellbeing and as part of a peak bagging event to honor a college classmate lost to suicide and build support for mental health services for students. It didn’t take long for angst to melt and larger truths to reemerge. Soft whispers guided me back to connection with the natural world around me, the calm, gentle energy inside me, and a knowing that this is the healing we all need. I don’t have strategic answers to our global struggles but I’m clear that the quiet voices—those of the planet, women, indigenous—possess a kind of deep wisdom, largely eluding the worlds of capitalism, patriarchy, and artificial intelligence, that just might guide us there. Get outside.

Are you taking time to connect with natural world around you in whatever way, no matter how small, it is accessible to you??

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I'll be joining a volunteer-led and self-funded international team of 34 Indigenous and non-Indigenous women ocean explorers, scientists, artists, photographers, videographers, lawyers, historians, traditional knowledge holders, educators, and scuba diving professionals.

Our vision is to foster a circumpolar network of Indigenous and non-Indigenous women leaders who will help shape the future of the Arctic and our planet. We need your help!

About

Dr. Wendy Pabich is on a lifelong journey to absorb and share the lessons on offer by Water herself. She’s studied, analyzed, trekked, traveled, boated to the most distant reaches of the planet, academia, and mind?body?spirit in search of know-how and answers. Along the way, she earned a Ph.D. in water resources from MIT, wrote a book about her personal journey to reduce her water footprint, has spoken to diverse audiences about all things water, painted up a storm, and earned a yoga teacher's credential.?Her work focuses on bringing wellness to people through water.?

Learn more at?https://www.drwendypabich.com