The Southern Oregon Pachamama Alliance (SOPA) is celebrating its 5th anniversary this fall with the launching of this blog, the updating of its website, and by revisiting its mission to support the work of the global Pachamama Alliance (PA).
It seems the vision that informs the PA’s work – that of a world that works for everyone: an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this planet — is particularly relevant at this time for birthing what it terms “a New Dream for humanity.”
As the pandemic and social and political unrest envelope our country, and wildfires, hurricanes and other natural disasters destroy homes and lives by the thousands, inequities are being exposed in ways not easy to turn away from. Who wouldn’t seek a new dream for humanity at this point? It is becoming more and more clear that the inequities of social justice, the degradation of our living systems, and our search for inner peace, or spiritual fulfillment, are intertwined.
We are fortunate in our community. After the devastation of the Almeda fire, people responded with generosity and turned their desire to help friends and neighbors get through this difficult time into quick action. Churches, civic organizations and individuals immediately began helping with recovery efforts, as did local and state leaders and agencies. Now federal agencies have pledged support as well.
We are also blessed with large numbers of people who love the outdoors and who recognize the human impact we are having on our natural world, the living systems that provide us with our subsidence, both physical and spiritual. This consciousness of our interconnectedness is a mighty foundation for action.
We plan, with the launching of this blog, to hear from many in our community about ways for us to work collaboratively on any facet of our vision, whether their work is for the environment, social justice, or spiritual fulfillment. We know that we must work on all of these simultaneously right here in our community in order to assist in bringing forth a new dream for humanity. To that end, we hope to feature local opportunities for action such as: SOCAN’s 2020 Ashland Climate Voter Project, the upcoming Enabling Regenerative Agriculture: Getting Paid for Improving Soil Health symposium, and the Ashland Food Project.
And, we’ll share information and inspiration from our larger Pachamama Alliance community and partners, such as: Charles Eisenstein’s essay The Banquet of Whiteness, an upcoming discussion about the documentary The Condor and the Eagle, the Move to Amend-sponsored People’s Movement Assembly, and the Peace House list of resources for action.
We invite you to explore and enjoy the new SOPA website and to check back often for updates. And we want to hear from you about your projects and interests, what you would like to share, and what you would like to learn more about.