Our Grandmother.
This is a wonderful quote. When we think of our grandmothers, we think of someone we want to treat with respect, dignity, and integrity for their wisdom. Mother Earth is the same. She possesses so much wisdom that when we are open and see ourselves as being one with the world we receive that wisdom.
Today, Kathy and I talked about place the Wendell Berry speaks about it. When we feel we live in a place, it means something profound to us. We think of those places not as out there, but very much in us and us in that place. We find community in those places because we have much in common with the others who live, animate and inanimate.
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About ivonprefontaine
In keeping with bell hooks and Noam Chomsky, I consider myself a public and dissident intellectual. Part of my work is to move beyond (transcend) institutional dogmas that bind me to defend freedom, raising my voice to be heard on behalf of those who seek equity and justice in all their forms.
I completed my PhD in Philosophy of Leadership Studies at Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA. My dissertation and research was how teachers experience becoming teachers and their role as leaders.
I focus on leading, communicating, and innovating in organizations. This includes mindfuful servant-leadership, World Cafe events, Appreciative Inquiry, and expressing one's self through creativity. I offer retreats, workshops, and presentations that can be tailored to your organzations specific needs.
I published peer reviewed articles about schools as learning organizations, currere as an ethical pursuit, and hope as an essential element of adult eductaion. I published three poems and am currently preparing my poetry to publish as an anthology of poetry.
I present on mindful leadership, servant leadership, schools as learning organizations, how teachers experience becoming teachers, assessement, and critical thinking. I facilitate mindfulness, hospitality retreats. and World Cafe Events using Appreciative Inquiry.
I am writing and researching about various forms of leadership, how teachers inform and form their identity as a particular teacher, schools as learning organizations, hope and its anticipatory relationship with the future, and hope as an essential element in learning.
Teacher as Transformer 
I love Wendell Berry. I recently read Jayber Crow and recommend it enthusiastically.
I’m a bit confused by this from the link you provided: “In his opinion, many environmentalists place too much emphasis on wild lands without acknowledging the importance of agriculture to our society.”
I am an environmentalist, and I very much understand the importance of agriculture, as do all the environmentalists I know. What we oppose is the same thing Berry opposes – corporate agriculture. Farming belongs in the hands of farmers. Family farmers are being displaced here and abroad by monstrous corporate farms that destroy the earth, use too much water, and poison our lands. I see Berry and environmentalists in the same camp here.
Wendell Berry’s work is important to the deep ecology movement which works at finding a right balance between use and conserving. I think your last paragraph is a great summary. I once watched a documentary with Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki and one of the conclusions was family farmers were great environmentalists. Similar to Wendell Berry, Suzuki and his guest, felt when we hold the place close to our being it means something quite different than corporate posturing
from years of living with native americans
i’ve gained much understanding of Wendell Berry’s words, thanks
You are welcome.
That is certainly a lovely thought!
It is a great reminder of the way we should live in the world.
peaceful post
Yes. It was easy to add to Eddie’s quote.
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I agree with the thing about Grandmas because our Grandma on the Mom’s side was one of a kind and you get that feel of being in another time and it was kind of fun,
Each grandmother is a special person who brings a different bit of sunshine into our lives.