An Earth Warrior has a soul calling to heal the Earth.
It’s much the same as the calling some have to become a nun, or others have to become a doctor. In fact, for me it’s often felt like a cross between those two – devotion to Gaia, as a healer. That’s the mix with my personality though, others will have a different experience I’m sure. Less nun-like for a start! Earth Warriors show up as environmental professionals, activists and politicians, farmers, lawyers, parents, teachers, volunteers and more. It’s not defined by what you do, so much as why you do it.
I first felt it when I was 17, in geography class when we studied a unit called ‘fragile ecosystems’. I’d always loved nature and when I learned of her plight I decided to “save the planet”. Decided in a ‘this is what my life is about’ kind of way. Have you had that moment? It’s quite enlivening! This flame of passion was just in time to apply to a uni degree to learn how to do just that. Or so I thought. Don’t get me wrong, it was a fantastic course and I loved it, but save the planet it did not.
Do you know what was in the way of me saving the world? Apart from the fact that the world doesn’t need ‘saving’ (it’s we humans that do), it was me. I say this with the utmost self compassion and love, but it was me, myself and I in my own way at every turn. After more than 10 years of working hard but getting in my own way that flame never dimmed, but instead it overcame me and I burnt out.
Thus begun my warrior training.
An Earth Warrior is driven by love, by a deep connection to the Earth. In fact, healing Pachamama isn’t even a choice, because there is no separation between her and the warrior. They are the one entity in different forms. We feel her suffering as our own.
This is the warrior’s weakness. It can lead to burnout, to physical and mental health problems, relationship breakdowns, career challenges.
It is also the warrior’s greatest strength. Because of our connection to the Earth, when we heal ourselves, we heal her. We bring to the world more peace, more love, more compassion, even joy in the face of darkness and fear. When we go within we have the strength and courage to face problems head on. To stand up for what is right rather than what is easy or convenient. We see how an action might positively or negatively impact the greater good and practice holistic decision making. We see to the heart of a problem, enabling us to address the root cause for true healing. We use our unique combination of gifts, strengths and interests to create a world that works for all.
Where do you sit on that scale? Is your warriorship getting the better of you, or are you channeling the very thriving energies of the Earth?
It is time to be strong, warrior.
My path, that beautiful dance of my soul’s longing, has led me here. To this very blog 😉 To helping you to reconnect, to find your courage to go within and do the healing work, to find that spark of your soul and navigate its call with all the other stuff going on in your life. After all, the Earth Warrior is also a human being in modern society!
If you’re a bit under the weather with it all, or if you want to take a step up in your Earth Warrior practice, email me for a free coaching discovery session. Also sign up below for my free ebook ‘Beginners Guide to Soulstainability’ (soulstainability = soul’s calling, sustainably followed) and be the first to know when I release my new 10 week group coaching program ‘Earth’d’, to start moving from stressed, anxious and overwhelmed to grounded, empowered and re-energised. First round to be announced very soon, and there will be a special bonus for email subscribers!
I leave you with Joanna Macy’s story of the Shambhala Warrior which gives me goosebumps every time. The problems of the world “are made by the human mind, they can be unmade by the human mind”.
Rise up with me.
