Love Letters to the Earth - Earth Month session

Please join ecopsychology professor Hilary Leighton and the Climate Action & Sustainability team of Maria Bremner and Beverly de Vries and on April 23rd at Royal Roads University from 1:00 – 3:00 pm as we gather to write love letters to the Earth. 

Designed as a collective act giving voice to love, grief, loss and hope, as an act of disruption, resistance and deep imagination, this is an invitation toward emergence and action as we dare to dream of a world inhabitable for all beings, for all time. 

The opposite of naïve, writing and sending dispatches of love to the sentient Earth, our earthy Mother, can, according to mythologist Dr. Martin Shaw, “rehydrate our ecological reverence” and deepen our web of life connections. What better day than this to honour the world! 

Inspired by Letters to the Earth. Writing to Planet in Crises (Hope, McInnes, Michael and Pengelly, 2019) participants will be invited to write their own letter to Earth in the form of prose, poetry or any other explication of expression you choose. We will share in small groups and then, those who feel comfortable doing so, will read their short letters on video as we prepare to send out one giant love bomb across the wire: LOVE LETTERS TO EARTH FROM ROYAL ROADS. 

Following the wise words of eco-philosopher, Dr. Joanna Macy, “we must act as everything we do will make a world of difference” because it has… and it will. Small acts can create great ripples. Isn’t it time to show our heartfelt appreciation for this bedazzling blue jewel of a planet we call home? We hope you will join us in doing so.

Please wear weather ready clothing, bring something to sit on, water, a journal or paper to write on, and writing implements. The Climate Action Team will provide snacks and tea. In the event of torrential rain, we have a backup location booked. 

Interested in participating but not able to join in person?

Here is your invitation to write a Love Letter to Earth on your own and send it in.

And you might say with all that is going on, “How can it matter?” Well, matter comes from the root “mater” which means “mother”… so you may as well ask “How can it mother?” 

Good question. 

How on earth can Earth mother us if we are unwilling to defend and care for her as our kin? After all she is our original mother therefore, Earth Day could be considered the real Mother’s Day. And so for today, can you show your mother some loving kindness and put pen to paper to tell her how much she means to you? Make an effigy of love which of course can be filled with as much grief, despair and suffering or gratitude, tenderness and praise as you wish. Love is comprised of both grief and gratitude. We grieve what we have loved and lost or are losing which makes evident that grief is a form of love too. Or you may be are inspired to write a light-filled wild blossoming of poetic language…there is no right and wrong here, only write on! 

Please express your affection for our earthly home in any way that feels right to you – prose, letter, haiku, longer poem, song lyric – let whatever arises do so in one page or less please. And then, record yourself reading the letter and send it in. We will weave together the letters for a love bomb from Royal Roads, a detonation of love, an explosion of our affection meant to ripple out in widening circles to all corners of the world to say how much we care. Contact us if you'd like to participate virtually!

Check out the other Earth Month activities being offered at RRU. 

Register below today to secure your spot for the in-person Love Letters to the Earth session!