Pat McCabe, Woman Stands Shining has the honour of being of the Diné (Navajo) Nation. She brings the understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing into enquiry on Sustainability, and carries the foundation of Beauty and Spirit into places where it has been kept out. Her primary enquiry is humanity’s design for Thriving Life. She participates in Indigenous Peoples gatherings in Chile, Belgium, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico and Bali, and has worked with India’s International Center for Cultural Studies, been a cultural consultant to Pachamama Alliance, a presenter at the National Bioneers Conference, a presenter on “The Feminine Design and Sustainability” and a guest instructor for Schumacher College’s “Becoming Indigenous” course.
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Questions for ongoing reflection and dialogue
The following questions for reflection are designed to support you in integrating the content of the session and to enliven your learning journey and process of self-discovery between now and our next session.
What is your design for Thriving Life?
My Design for Thriving Life is actually a visual design, an imaginary combination of the Native American Hoop of Life and a Tibetan mandala.
At the center is the Living Force of the Universe. Two straight lines that extend to the outer rim cross at the Center, one horizontal and one vertical. In the web site I’m working on they represent the four directions and four aspects of the mandala of my life: Relationship, Livelihood, Social Action, and Study. I try to keep the four cardinal points in balance, which allows the Center to maximize in my life. There are a number of other 4-way balances that enhance a similar Center. For example, the vertical pole ends at the perimeter as Inner and Outer and the horizontal as Past and Future. The Center is the timeless Now with inner and outer transcended. And several more.
How are you working toward or against your design for Thriving Life?
What are you perceiving as a limitation or an obstacle to wanting your life?
What I said in the breakout session is My obstacle seems to be the diseases I’m struggling with. If I think of my disease as an obstacle to really wanting my life, that gives me a Practice, doesn’t it? For starters, every time I feel sorry for myself that can bring to mind the wonder and awe that Pat expressed. What I have been doing is using my mental criticism of my caregivers as a signal to reverse it into gratitude practice.
What are your ‘ways of knowing’ beyond the intellect that can support your design for Thriving Life?
What daily practices can you call upon, or what small step can you take now, to cultivate your relationship with the Great Mystery and sustain your commitment to wanting your life – to living a truly Thriving Life?
Helping birth a thriving life planetary consciousness