“What should young people do with their lives today? Many things, obviously. But the most daring thing is to create stable communities . . . ”—Kurt Vonnegut
This issue contains articles about program facilitator Craig Fleck, herbalist Kumudini Shoba, and new staff member Madisun Stern, plus information about our upcoming prize drawing, community festival, and other programs. Scroll down for striking photos from our Sanctuary and Westgarden.
A LETTER OF GRATITUDE by Dan Mahle
Dear Friends,
It is with deep gratitude and bittersweet sadness that I share my intention to complete my role as a staff member with the Whidbey Institute this month. After seven years in the Seattle area, I will be moving to Colorado to be closer to my family.
“If others can see it as I have seen it, then it may be called a vision rather than a dream.” —William Morris, 1890
We want to thank you again for your outpouring of support during our spring GiveBIG campaign. You make what we do possible, and we’re amazed by you! 177 donors contributed $57,653 to the Whidbey Institute on May 6 in order to steward the Chinook land and care for these spaces we love and share. Thank you for being in this work with us!
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This issue includes articles on the evolution of the Intersectional Justice Conference; reflections from the Integral European Conference; musings on the parallels between hedgehog habits and Whidbey Institute work; a school garden article from Edible Seattle Magazine; and announcements on a commmunity film screening and a new local bakery.
It seems impossible to step outside on the Chinook grounds in the spring without being astonished—by the volume and diversity of birdcalls, by the million shades of green, or by the variety and beauty of the leaping, flying, prancing, slithering, and crawling creatures who also call this place home.
We’re also astonished by you, our human community—by your work, by your art, by your gifts and by your presence. To the many program leaders, participants, staff members, volunteers, board members, and neighbors who’ve learned, worked, talked, and played with us this spring . . . thanks! May this beautiful season delight you.
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
Our staff team is growing, thanks in part to a generous capacity-building grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and we are delighted to announce three recent additions to our team!
Jenna Barrett joined us as Development Manager on March 1. Jenna, a veteran of the Seattle non-profit scene and a recent transplant to Whidbey, is already head over heels in love with this island and fully engaged in our Institute work.
Hilary Wilson, former board member, has transitioned into a contract position as a development consultant. In this new role, she’ll work closely with Jenna and other team members to build a robust development office to support our work in the world.
Timothy Hull grew up here and knows this land deeply. He’s stewarded the 30 acre Legacy Forest for quite some time, and in his new staff role he’s bringing additional energy to support land care projects throughout the 100 acres.
Look for profiles of each of these staff members in the coming months, and don’t hesitate to drop by the offices to meet them face-to-face!
At Chinook, the first breath of spring arrives in February. Before the crocuses and daffodils arise from their wintery beds—before the robins return in force to prowl for worms in the awakening meadows, and long before the calendar approaches equinox—there is a stirring. The garden beds, rich and loamy, are turned over in preparation for planting. Days lengthen. Dawns brighten. Newts and salamanders begin to make their explorations once again—and the sun, when it shines, feels warmer. Our calendar is full of life-serving work and our halls and homes are loud with generative dialogue as we, like the wild creatures, awaken to the promise of the season ahead.
We were recently honored with a capacity-building grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to establish a robust development office. This award provides the opportunity to grow our team, including hiring a full-time Development Manager to help steward our next stage of growth and organizational maturity.
In this season in our evolution the Murdock Trust award is particularly meaningful. Our new staff member will help us align resources with our needs and mission as we sustain our 100 acre campus, bring Storyhouse and its youth and social artistry work more fully into our embrace, expand our facilities and lodging to enable long-term financial sustainability and lower physical and financial barriers to participation, steward a networked community of program leaders, increase our reach and impact, and direct more time and energy to our commitment to equity and inclusion. We are deeply grateful, not only to the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for investing in our potential, but also to all our donors and participants who continue to support us in the fulfillment of our purpose.
Click here to view the full issue and read on. This issue contains news of a capacity-building grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, plus upcoming programs, an interview with Board President Kate Snider, a note from Executive Director Heather Johnson, Westgarden news, and a story of a slug encounter!
“Oneness was the theme of my house—oneness with nature, between East and West, spirit and matter, across many cultures.”―Gloria Chou
“Several times, in the stillness of nature or in the song of a bird, I received a silent but persistent message: ‘Only one thing is necessary. Love God with your whole heart and soul, and love your neighbor as yourself.’” —Gloria Chou
2015 took with it a dear soul—Gloria (Fung Chee) Chou. She was a committed volunteer at Chinook for many of her elder years. She lived simply throughout her life, valuing home, community, and service.
We were honored to learn, upon Gloria’s passing, that she had designated the Whidbey Institute as a beneficiary of her life insurance policy—ensuring that the place she loved will continue to touch lives, as it touched hers, in the years stretching ahead.
Gloria’s memoir, written and published during her years on Whidbey Island, describes a life of generosity, equanimity, and grace.
Click here to see the full article, as well as two articles on the Sanctuary, a profile of Board Member Sam Wright, a poem by Judith Adams, and a profile of volunteer Bob Keeney.
“The human family has invaluable friends and irreplaceable allies in the plant and animal worlds. We cannot continue to tug at the web of life without tearing a hole in the very fabric of our earthly existence — and eventually falling through that hole ourselves.”―Van Jones
This issue contains these introductory remarks from Dan Mahle, plus articles on wind damage, Community Gardening Leadership application process, Reinventing Organizations, Gordon Watanabe of Personal Leadership Seminars, and Thomas Berry’s 101th birthday. Click here to view the full issue and read on.
by Dan Mahle
Editor’s note: this is an abridged version of Dan’s introductory remarks from the 2015 Salish Sea Bioneers Conference, held at the Whidbey Institute in November.
I’d like to invite us to start by recognizing the land and the people of the Lower Skagit tribe who lived here and stewarded this place for many thousands of years. My deepest hope is that the work we do here together will honor all of those who have come before us, and all who are yet to be born.
Bioneers is rooted in the fundamental understanding that all life is interrelated: “It’s all alive, it’s all connected, it’s all intelligent, it’s all relatives.” We’re all in this together—and yet, sometimes we feel so alone.
My mother taught me that the key to overcoming the feeling of isolation is to become interested in others—to listen not just to what they say, but to who they are . . . and even to who theystrive to become.
As many people have observed, “The climate crisis is a symptom, not a cause.” It is symptomatic of a failing worldview—a story of humanity that is no longer serving life. Van Jones reminds us that the consumeristic mindset that makes us think it’s ok to throw away plastic cups is the same mindset that allows us to accept the idea that there are throwaway people, throwaway species, and throwaway places.
Will we have the courage to look beneath the facade of false solutions and comfortable quick-fixes? To look down into the root causes of injustice and exploitation?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Will we choose to remain silent in this vital time, or will we choose to educate and divest ourselves from the systems of oppression that have kept us divided for so long?
Inaction is action. There is no neutral stance. Where do we stand? Are we willing to challenge and transform the current narrative, starting from within? To journey into the unknown, to feel the grief of all we have lost and all we may yet lose, and yet still keep our hearts open?
How else can we possibly meet the challenges of our time?
Click here to view the full issue and read on!
“Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.”—Excerpted from the Earth Charter
BREAKING NEWS: Chinook Campus Grows by 30 Acres through Founders’ Land Sale! On November 9, the Whidbey Institute at Chinook purchased 30 acres from Chinook founders Fritz and Vivienne Hull, bringing the total size of our Clinton campus to 100 acres.
Other articles in this issue include a Message of Thanks-Giving from Burundi-based humanitarian Prosper Ndabishuriye; information on CGLT’s $10,000 matching grant; an introduction to board member Ted Sturdevant; video trailer previews from the Thriving Communities team; and an article on Restorative Justice work by Nicholas Bradford.