What first came to mind when I read the instruction to share “the dream that called you to Evolutionary Women” was the name of the book that started me on this journey – Thomas Berry’s The Dream of the Earth. I have come to believe deeply that humans are one of the infinite number of wonderful, magical, mysterious expressions of Earth – we ARE Earth being human. We are not separate from Earth or somehow just living “on” Earth, but we truly ARE Earth. We come out of the 12 billion year story of the Universe and the 4.5 billion year story of Earth. Thomas Berry says, “To tell the story of anything, you have to tell the story of everything.” It’s all connected. It’s all one.

I believe that at this point in the story of the Universe and Earth, the human species is on the verge of evolving to a level of consciousness that will allow us to know at a deep level that we are intimately connected with all existence. It is my hope that this emerging consciousness will allow us to see more clearly through the challenges we face, and that we will develop into a species that lives in mutually-enhancing relationships with other humans, other species and the whole of the earth community.

With all of the struggles we face and hear about every day, I can easily get discouraged about the state of human affairs. My hope lies in the emergence of an Earth/Universe consciousness within the human species, and my desire to nurture this hope led to my interest in participating in the Evolutionary Women retreat.