A Gaian Perspective on Tariffs, Free Trade and the Creative Process
Might there be the seeds of opportunity buried in the current crisis?
Greetings, friends.
How are you managing to keep your spirits up through these tumultuous times?
For me, good medicine has come from participating in the electrifying Bioneers conference last month, and co-leading a deep, thoughtful writing retreat by the banks of the Petaluma River with my friend and Birth Your Truest Story co-founder Audrey Kalman.
I’ve come to realize that whenever we tap into our own creative cores and share the molten gold we find there with others—whether it’s by coming together for a barnstorming conference like Bioneers, gathering for writing retreats with kindred spirits, or taking time to walk and commune with plant kingdom now waking up from the long northern winter—we are resisting the domination of our minds by all those talking heads telling us everything that’s wrong in the world today. We are wrenching our psyches free from the prevalent political groupthink, which can leave us overcome and paralyzed with fear, anxiety and dread.
Instead, I take time out to listen to our great Mother Earth, who is telling us in countless voices and through myriad actions that no matter the foibles of homo sapiens (or should that be homo stupidus?) Spring is coming and there are nests to build, young to tend, flowers and fruits to create, fresh snowmelt rivers to follow down to the sea.
Our Mother Gaia does not waste time condemning, sulking, raging or feeling frustrated.
She focuses on life, life and more life—a huge outpouring of lifeforce that begins to hum towards its most energetic in the Northern Hemisphere in the months between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice, when all living beings turn their faces to the Sun and begin to grow and reproduce like crazy.
Now is the time to get outside and take in the wonder of the baby leaves unfurling, the new flowers opening daily, the spring peepers singing in the vernal pools and the birds darting busily from nest to garden, full of purposeful energy.
Yes, the political earthquakes radiating out from Washington DC are infuriating and destructive, setting off so much unnecessary suffering that will affect many innocent people as well as the wider more-than-human world.
Yes, the sadistic, short-sighted, moronic would-be fascists now in power must be confronted and resisted.
But there is more to the story than this, and we creatives who want to “write to right the world” must not lose sight of the vaster Gaian tapestry, of which the narrative coming out of Washington DC is just one thread.
For example, like everyone else I know, I decry the stupidity of the tariffs imposed indiscriminately on countries around the world. They will inflict a great deal of economic harm, not to mention shredding longstanding positive relationships among nations.
And also…there’s another side to this story.
What if the US tariff debacle had the unintended positive side effect of reducing international cargo shipping, which has been shown to be destructive to climate and marine life?
Back in the 1990s, many of us progressives protested the implementation of NAFTA and the ubiquity of globalized “free trade,” which was often a euphemism for goods made by exploited workers in places with low environmental regulations, requiring minimal corporate taxes to contribute to local well-being.
Over the years we in the US have gotten accustomed to this “free trade” system, which began to seem normal and inevitable. We enjoyed the access to “cheap” imported goods and liked to imagine that perhaps working conditions and environmental damage had improved a bit as consumers pushed transnational companies to pay more attention what was happening in and around their factories.
But the truth is, global “free trade” is anything but free when it comes to the harm being inflicted on our planet by out-of-control consumption of natural resources and the sweat shop working conditions endured by the people churning out “cheap” products to send across the globe on all those cargo ships.
Surprisingly, global trade might be an area where the left and right can find some common ground.
Can we agree that yes, goods should be produced in healthy, regenerative ways, much closer to the distribution point, by people who are able to take joy and pride in their living-wage work?
The people controlling Washington DC right now are not thinking along these lines. Far from it—but it is still possible that the kind of pressure being exerted by the grinding of the harsh political tectonic plates will result in unprecedented opportunities to create a new and better United States.
I may be wrong, but it is too soon to give up.
I continue to take my cue from Mother Nature, who never gives up and never turns back.
She places herself steadfastly on the side of Life and moves forward without hesitation. If one experiment fails, she immediately sets to work trying something different, without rancor or discouragement.
Now is our time to fly straight and true, like migrating birds who navigate by their deep intuitive sense of which way is the right way.
We may not all agree on which way to go…but we can all agree that we humans, like any other part of nature, are here to flourish. And in the 21st century, we are finally recognizing how intimately the flourishing of each individual is bound up with the flourishing of the whole—and not just the human collective, but the vast web of interbeing, the ecosystem of Life that has kept our planet green and vibrant for millions of years.
When you tap into your own creativity, you also tap into that deeper source of Life energy that burbles up within each of our psyches, and within the wider collective consciousness too.
As we align ourselves with Mother Earth, we allow her to work through each of us. That partnership is as powerful as the little sapling that can split asphalt, or the rivulet that can bring down a mountain.
This is why taking time for your own creative practice, whatever it may be, is not self-indulgent—it’s actually one of the best things you can do for others and for the Earth.
The truth is, as the title of my upcoming workshop at Rowe Retreat Center puts it, when we mother the self, we mother the world.
Your own creative spark contributes to the great energetic dance of Life on Earth. Out of the fire we make together, the phoenix of a better world can—and will, I believe—emerge.
Yours in the crucible,
Jennifer
Meet me in Rowe, Massachusetts for a weekend retreat in the beautiful month of May!
Come on retreat with me in the budding springtime setting of Rowe, Massachusetts, where we’ll write to explore our deep connections with our Mother Earth, Gaia, as well as how the potent theme of mothering and nurturing has shown up in our lives.
Rowe is a magical retreat center nestled in the northern Berkshire mountains, with trails through mature forests bordering a tranquil lake. It’s rustic in a way that encourages communion with the land and camaraderie with the kindred spirits in our circle.
May 9 - 11, 2025. Sliding scale tuition and a variety of accommodations on site.
I can’t wait to share this special experience with you!
Come Riding & Writing in Iceland with me in June!
Riding & Writing in Iceland!
June 2 - 8, 2025
The creative tonic of Iceland has to be experienced to be understood.
Come experience the body, mind and spirit glow that comes from Riding & Writing in good company in a beautiful place, warmly hosted by our friends Gudmar and Christina at Hestaland.
Click here to find out more and see beautiful photos from my past Riding & Writing trips to Iceland.
Friends, it’s my pleasure and my passion to support you as we stretch towards living our lives creatively and to the fullest.
The motto of my author consulting business is “Writing to Right the World,” and the motto of my book publishing business, Green Fire Press, is “Books that Make the World Better.”
If these intentions resonate with you and you are working on a book, or have one in mind, don’t hesitate to get in touch!
Supporting creative people bring their work more strongly out into the world is one way I try to make the world better.
Thanks for this breath of fresh, hopeful air. I, too, harbor hope that sometimes unintended consequences might be positive.
Beautiful!