Phila Back

In our own ways we embody the past and determine the future, having an incredible heritage as well as an obligation to seek our greatest joy of fulfillment through action with other humans and nonhuman nature in pursuit of life fulfillment for all.

Just as loving particular people or all people moves us to act for their benefit, Kimmerer verifies that loving the earth impels us to act in service to it.  Our source of motivation is in and all around us, and our direction is now clear: vigorously support and vote for democracy and climate action.

Every person, animal, plant and inanimate thing, singly and in functional conjunctions with other things, ultimately the whole universe, continually extends their life from the present into the future.  How precious is life, and how great is our mission to serve it!

As we desire to heal the world the world truly desires to be healed, but, as Moffat found, the immensity and complexity of the mountain makes climbing it both difficult and perilous.  Nevertheless the lover of the mountain accepts the challenge and, with skill, experience, tools, perseverance, and help from her friends, she reaches the summit.

My garden is a plenum – a spatially continuous living community which includes me, its caretaker – and I intuitively experience it as such while simultaneously perceiving a visual panorama, an audible space filled with the music of cicadas, crickets and birds as well as an expanse of floral perfume.

Our prize, the goal of our actions and our lives is to achieve the ecological civilization in which, as far as possible, humans interact with each other and nonhuman natural things for maximum mutual benefit.