 a published author, artist, and creative leader here in Maine. So we're really excited to have her join us. And I will stop my screen share and hand it over to you, Helen, to get started with your presentation. Thank you. Thank you very much. Let me put it my view in gallery view. OK, that's better. We didn't welcome Gary, but I can see Gary. I can see his picture, so I hope he is there listening. Thanks for having me come today. We're a small group, so I'm not going to do a whole big introduction. Just tell me, I guess, are all of you involved? Just raise your hand if you're involved with the Sierra Club in any way or what? Yes, OK, great, great. So in the dedication of my book, I wrote, with gratitude for all who work toward a healthier planet, and I'm honored to be with members of the Sierra Club and through my involvement in helping the world is limited because of my age and my health issues. I cherish all those in the front lines working against a corporate system that only looks for profit. For those who haven't thought of it from this angle, it's just something that I realized recently. Religion has had a big part to play, and I'm an interfaith minister. I used to be a nun. Religion has had a big part to play on how the Earth is viewed. When religion began concentrating on heaven as the only important place to focus on, Earth became a place where we struggled to avoid sin. And care of the Earth took a back seat. And exploitation became the norm. So exploitation of peoples as well as the land. So it's a long time passed to reverse that ideology. I'm going to read from the introduction, just a short section. And this is where, as I do practice some Buddhist meditations and the concept of being aware of all sentient beings has really struck me. And so this actually is a feeling that I've had very often walking on, riding on the concrete roads. Sometimes when I travel on roads covered with asphalt, I can almost hear the ground below it crying to me. My breath fails me. My voice is silenced by the noises overhead. My land is barren for lack of sun and rain. I once was rich and beautiful with grasses, flowers, and trees. But progress has meant covering these lands, free for millions of years. This does not stop me from springing up whenever I sense a crack in the roads or sidewalks. I seek the fresh air and the warmth of the sun, and I endure. And this past summer, in the gravel around my building, there was this one flower that poked up around July, right through the gravel. And it went up about two feet and had the most beautiful, it ended up with three beautiful yellow flowers on it. And that was my symbol for the summer of the hope of the earth and the ability of the earth to renew itself. I'm not going to do a lot of talking. Part of my thinking and my drive to write these poems and was from the environmentalist Greta Thunberg, who I'm sure you're all familiar with, who spoke to the United Nations and said, our house is on fire. And then I started gathering these poems together that I had written about global warming and the loss of animal habitat and so forth. And just hearing her speak to the United Nations, hear that little energy and that anger just was very inspiring to me. So I figured the way that I can relate is to write poetry. And I just want to share. I've also been very influenced by some recent books. Well, this one's not so recent. The One of Embraiding Sweetgrass by Robinwell Kimmerer. And that is such a wonderful book. She captures the true reverence between Native Americans and the earth, the relationship that we need to survive. And also the Dalai Lama's new book, Our Only Hope, A Climate Appeal to the World. That is a very wonderful book. And it was great to see him taking on that challenge. And last but not least recently, a friend gave me a book called World of Wonder. And the author, I don't know if I can pronounce her last name, but it's Amy Nezukumatatio. I think she's from Indian descent. She introduces us to some endangered species and ones we have never heard of but who are vital to life. And she said that when she taught to a class of suburban children, elementary school, out of 22 students, 17 had never heard or seen fireflies. They thought she was kidding, simply inventing an insect. Most said they don't go outside, but they're in front of the computer or the television. And in areas where there's too much light, fireflies will only be found at the edges of town. She also said that in her college classes, many students can't tell the difference between a maple and an oak leaf. And that really made me sad, you know? So today I'm just going to read some poems. And I read somewhere that poems aren't meant to be eaten in swallowed whole. They're meant to be savored, taking time to get to the rich flavors of the poem. I've had more than one friend tell me that when they got my little book, they thought, oh, they just sit down and read through the whole thing. And they realized when they got to certain poems, they had to sit and take it in. And I was just telling Marina that I had a call from this wonderful gentleman who had read an article about me in the paper. And he kept talking about my poems. And he really, really got it. He really got where I was coming from. And then he told me he was 90 years old. And I was like, wow, this is really, and he was really feeling. He says, sometimes I just cry for the earth, he said. So I'm going to begin reading. I have my book divided into three sections. And I'll read a few poems from each section. And it won't take long. Last time I had a poetry reading. And I told people I'd read five poems from each section. They said, oh my god, I'm going to be here for all night. But they're not long poems. So let me share with you where my spiritual life has led me. And I think anybody with a deep spiritual life cannot help but be concerned about the earth. This one is called trust. In fear, I contract, fold in on myself, creating barriers I presume will make me safe. Keeping it bay what scares me, I forget that an embrace of fear releases its bindings. Like a butterfly, I work to uncoil from the cocoon, which protected my fragility. With trust, I expand, arise from the silence within, move forward to spread my wings, trusting I will be held aloft by life, where the winds of change challenge me in new directions. The next one is called creative solitude. And in this book, when I put this book together, it was mostly about global warming and the earth and everything. And then when COVID-19 came along, I just began getting more and more poems or inspired by that. And then I finally realized I needed to put them all into a book. This one is called creative solitude. With few distractions and no commitments during this time of social distancing, I am challenged by my solitude. It calls me to live deeply with an inner strength I didn't know I had. Ordered to stay inside to stop the spread of a virus that challenges the best medical minds, every decision I make to live safely is a gift to myself and others. In this quiet space, I access the creativity that becomes my partner in isolation. I accept the opportunity this presents aware of how lucky I am. When the cocoon becomes too confining, a butterfly emerges. When the rain stops and the sun appears from behind the clouds, a rainbow is painted across the sky. When death becomes a daily event, life feels more precious than ever. The next one is called this perfect summer day. It is the end of a perfect summer day, a day of gentle breezes through my windows, pickling cucumbers from my garden, and snuggling with my cat, who keeps me living in the present moment. I decide to end my day at the beach, uniting my rhythm with the eternal waves. It is less crowded than usual, since tourists are limited in coming here. I relish the ocean smells, the gull screeches, the children playing, the people swimming, not far away in the local hospital and at hospitals around the world, doctors, nurses, and other staff are doing all they can to keep people safe. Such a contrast is not lost to me, as I share my journey with two friends challenged with illnesses determined to bring them down. But they know as I do that in every moment, there is a choice of how we will respond. This one's called the masses have awakened. The days of the prophets are passed, long gone into the annals of history. The fear of the Lord no longer a tool to keep the masses in check. Some keep trying to resurrect the old ways of control in the name of an unseen God to further their own purposes and unfounded beliefs. But the masses have awakened to the truth of human connection. We all survive together or perish from the idolatry of money and power. The next section is called challenges. And the first poem is a world on fire from which this book title was chosen. War in the name of a cause, a God, or a perceived truth is a travesty to the humanity that calls us as brothers and sisters to a world community. We are the saviors the world is waiting for. We are the ones who are called to act, speak up, join hands across perceived barriers and work to prevent the useless destruction of forests, homes, and natural habitat in the name of causes that have lost their relevance in a world on fire. Six feet apart, no hugs hello or goodbye, only caution as we place our feet, our chairs six feet apart. 12 months since this virus began and moved steadily around the world. 10 months since we heard the command to quarantine, wash hands, wear a mask, a flu that was supposed to disappear, attacked with fury instead, not giving up control. Wary of being careful, we want to break out of detention but the daily numbers keep us home. In my solitude, I ponder the grace of each moment, the time to be present to myself unconditionally. It is the time for patience and courage to renew commitments to hope in the present and for the future. Again, this one is another relation to the COVID virus, no battle plan. We know we are at war with no unified battle plan, the death count rises, 50 states with 50 different ideas how they should be handled. It's citizens at the mercy of politics which present no reasonable plan at all. How long will the people wait until their lives become more important than the ideologies of their leaders? How long must they suffer the loss of loved ones who die alone and in immense pain? The beloved community is shattered. Or was it ever there at all? And in thinking of that, it makes me think that how hard it is to get things done even for the simplest things like recycling, for example. We have, I'm at a senior housing and we have recycling bins but they don't empty them. And so there's no way to put my recycling except in the trash. And every time I do that it upsets me very much but it's kind of beyond my control. And that's such a simple thing is recycling that we could do our plastic bottles of water and it's so hard to get a unified plan and people, you're either to the left or you're to the right instead of looking at the facts of what needs to be done. That's just, that's me. So this is my answer to no battle plan. It's called returning to balance. Mother Earth's heartbeat, heard in the ebb and flow of the ocean speaks to us of a failure to honor her gifts. Her family of animals losing habitat, rainforest destroyed for farming, feeding the hunger for beef. Coral reefs are dying because of human interference that continues to warm up our only home. I pray that her heart continues to beat with hope as she waits for humanity to finally realize what she has always known. The laws of nature are sacred, must be honored or suffer the consequences. Only humility will return us to balance. The next one is called the grief of the earth. The grief of the earth rises through our bodies, spills out through our eyes. She no longer can tolerate the destruction of her glorious body, her rivers and streams, her animals and plants, and of us, her beloveds. We have seen the decline in animal species and habitat, pollution of water and air, the migration of millions seeking a better way to live. And yet we persist in our ways. She sent a 16 year old prophet who didn't mince her words, who was listened to by the masses, but not by the leaders. And here we are today in a trial by fire, a pandemic loosed upon the earth. She now has our attention, begging us to act while there is time. Well, we finally listen. The next section is hope. So I end the book with poems on hope. And this one is called a paradox. Hummingbirds sip the nectar from the feeder provided them. Squirrels run to and fro chasing each other and raiding the bird feeders. Rory, my black cat sleeps in the sun knowing only comfort. Hospitals are overburdened, loved ones die alone, fear a great motivator for wearing masks and social distancing. Yet some choose self over the great of good. Let safety begin with me. Love guide my every choice as I keep moving with hope toward a better future. This I believe we are one community that will survive or perish together. We're going to read, I think the last section, you know, to have hope, we need time to have reflection. I think when we're working on important causes we can be overwhelmed and sometimes not take the time to nourish ourselves. And so that's why at the end of the last chapter I really wanted to focus more because I could read more poems on global warming and about the COVID-19. And it just keeps bringing up the same issues, but for ourselves as workers or who are empaths and sympathetic to what is going on in the world, we need to take time to renew ourselves. This is called walking the labyrinth. I, how many of you have ever been familiar with the labyrinth, walk the labyrinth? Yes, yes, just one. Okay. I leave my cares at the entry to this inviting labyrinth built with stones, hope and a deep intention for renewal. My feet not used to walking slowly must be told to take their time. The goal to experience fully the journey I've begun. I walk a circular path, but I'm not going around in circles. Unlike a maze, the way is clear, carefully marked. I come into the center. I breathe slowly letting go of things that no longer serve me, no longer bring me joy and peace. I leave a shell to represent this walk, to show I was here with intention. I walk back the way I came with lighter, hot and renewed purpose. The labyrinth was any labyrinth? Have you ever walked a labyrinth, Deborah? Yes, I was just talking about any labyrinth, about the whole purpose of going into the center and being able to find time to renew. Thank you. You're welcome. The next one is a merry Oliver walk. I'm taking a merry Oliver walk, this splendid September morning. Only the usual animals in this neighborhood, squirrels and chipmunks, but they give me pause, bring me the awareness of how all beings fight for their lives. Even the spider I took from the tub with a piece of cardboard and gently laid outside. The neighbor's gardens delight me as I try to identify the many different flowers blooming there, sweetly placed near the sidewalk for passersby to admire. For these few minutes, I can drink in beauty in the life around me, thank the flowers for their colors and shapes, speak to the strong trees, thank them for their shade. All this is a part of the whole of life. Even the trees burning in California, the animals displaced are dying, forest fire from fires out of control, the yin and yang of existence on this earth, what has always been and always will be as we move slowly but steadily to a gentler, more conscious approach to life and each other. And that is really what I pray for as a more gentler and more conscious approach to life and each other. The lack of butterflies in the summer is really being felt. This summer, I think I saw two butterflies and I keep looking for them, but I have to do a butterfly garden, hopefully I can get more back. But it's all connected, so much of it is connected. There's just nothing that's not connected, whether it's religion and the misuse of the earth or the corporate greed or not having butterflies, it's all connected. And sometimes I feel the simple things that I do aren't enough, but I do support some causes that are doing what they can, like the orangutan project in Indonesia. And if I was a philanthropist, my greatest joy would be to be a philanthropist and to be able to all these emails I get from these organizations, send them a huge check and that would be so rewarding for me. Anyway, I continue with another poem on hope and ways that we can renew ourselves. This is called the morning glories. Sitting with morning glories in my garden as before an altar of hope, a sacred moment. I planted morning glories wherever I've lived in Maine. Being with them, I experience a holy calm. They look at me and seem to say, all is right in the world, Helen, all is right in the world. Right here, right now, this moment when you are totally present, nothing else matters. The world around you can be rotating in a vortex that is self-defeating. Let it do that. Just be here, absorb the beauty we offer you, the peace and wholeness you feel whenever you sit with us. And don't forget us when the season is over. Remember what happens when we are together. Remember, trust that next summer we will meet again in this garden where hope begins. And the last poem I would like to read is called On This Beach. Let me die on this beach, low tide, easy walking, sun still warming my face on this first September day. Let me forever hear the lapping of the waves, music in my ears like none other, calling me to stay here and rest. Return to my original home. No loneliness or sense of loss as I feel the embrace of the tides, salt air. As I breathe free and release all that does not bring me peace, changing fear to trust, holding on to letting go. I want to rise like that kite and fly. Thank you for listening. It's been a pleasure to read my poems to you and you can learn more about me on my website, HelenRusso.com. I have my books for sale there. And thank you for, I can tell by your faces your reaction to the poems it meant a lot. And I think that we have to balance our lives. That's what my, we have to balance our lives between working as hard as we can and believing that we can change things around. And also giving ourselves the nourishment we need because we can get burnt out. If we constantly just think about all the things that are going on in the world that are destructive or discouraging. So thanks again for listening and are there any questions? Helen, one question I had. So you mentioned, you know, feeling burnt out and like feeling that we're, what we're doing may not be enough. I'd love to hear what keeps you going day to day. Well, I, one of the biggest thing that keeps me going is for example, watching Greta Thunberg speak, speech at the United Nations, getting regular messages from the, the orangutan foundation. They, you know, they just told me, I just got a letter saying they were able to release two more orangutans into the wild. You know, they saved the babies. I also get, I get emails from different places where they talk about the work that they're doing. And I know that, I get comfort from that and I get courage from that because I know that there's a lot that I can't do. And I do, I do believe in prayer and I pray for all those who are doing that. And I, like I said, I send money when I can. But that's what really keeps me going is seeing, you know, seeing about people who are finding, going into very poor countries and being able to dig well so people can have water, you know. It's very difficult, especially at this time and in the past few years when so much, when, I mean, but, you know, corporations are rich people. They might have been kings or queens. They've always been in control and the little guys have always worked hard. But we've gotten so far, you know, with Black Lives Matter, when I see all these people in the streets, you know, all these different nationalities working for Black Lives Matter, the realization from people white like me who really realize more than ever what the Black people have had to go through in this country. So I do see, I do see hope. I do see hope. Thank you for sharing that. No. Any other questions for Helen? I'm wondering how frequently you write. Is this part of like your daily work? Do you make a schedule and write or is it just sort of when it comes to you? When it comes to me, I'm not a scheduled writer. You know, I do, I am writing a book with four other women. We have a creativity circle and we've been, we read the book. If any of you are interested to creativity, A Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert is a wonderful book and we discussed that for two years and now we're writing a book about, we do all the writings that we did. I lead writing groups and so I lead with prompts. But in that group, we did write regularly. So we are putting a book together. But for me, very often it comes, it comes in the middle of the night. It comes when I wake up in the morning. It's very much like when I went and sat with the morning glories. I just sat out there and then all of a sudden all these words came to me. So I went in the house, get my paper and pencil and started writing. So the emotion of the moment, I was able to capture in the poem. And you know, that's just how I write. It's through the inspiration more than anything. And that's why when COVID-19 started, there were just so many. And that's how I could express my anger at things that weren't being done. And I'm hoping to be able to share that and be able to help. I did a workshop last night on writing as a spiritual practice and writing as being, using writing to be able to work through the things, so that it doesn't stay inside. So thanks for coming and thanks for sharing and listening. I really appreciate it. Thank you, Helen. I enjoyed it very much. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you so much, Helen. I really, really appreciate your time and sharing your poetry with us. It's my pleasure. Yeah, so I've shared on the screen if anyone is interested in purchasing a copy of Helen's book. You can email her directly. Her email is up on the screen. And if you mentioned the Sierra Club, Helen has actually generously offered to donate a portion of the sales to our work here at Sierra Club Main in protecting our environment and helping to combat climate change. So thank you, Helen. Yes, you can also send out that notice to the other people on your mailing list if you want. Yes, definitely. We will do that and spread the word. Thank you so much. And thank you everyone for joining us.