Becoming Fully Human: The Timeless Art of Living and Loving with Thomas Rain Crowe and Marc Thibault

Circle For Original Thinking

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…"

It is striking how much these immortal words, written by Charles Dickens in the mid-19th century at the height of the Industrial Revolution, still apply today. We live in a similarly paradoxical era, only a more complex one. It was during Dickens’ time that we began down the unstainable path of prioritizing industry over ecological health, mainly because we were captivated by the hope of progress, or resigned to its inevitability. These conditions really haven’t changed. What is different is the accelerated pace of change. Most of the technological comforts we take for granted occurred within the past one hundred years, including electricity, which almost nobody had access to one hundred years ago.

So how do we best live and love in modern times? Perhaps the key is to escape the boundaries of time. Both men on this program have stepped outside the conventions of their day. They have left behind modern technological conveniences and chosen to directly encounter the natural world. Thomas Rain Crowe, following the tracks of Thoreau, retreated to his own cabin in the woods, where he lived without electricity and running water for four years. Marc Thibault has ventured deep into the Amazon rainforest on many occasions. He just came back a couple of days ago.

What have these men learned about life while indigenizing themselves to the land? Can we remember what it is to be fully human and learn to live and love in the broadest possible sense? What do kinship systems of nature teach us about love? Can modern society learn to go beyond insular love between two humans and become one with the Beloved, one with the Great Mystery of life we are all so privileged to experience.

ABOUT OUR GUESTS:
Thomas Rain Crowe is an internationally published author, editor, and translator of more than thirty books, including the multi-award winning memoir Zoro’s Field: My Life in the Appalachian Woods (2005). He is also a publisher himself (New Native Press) which publishes works of environmental activism and cultural preservation. He was born and raised in Cullowhee, NC. in the Appalachian mountain region of western North Carolina, and this laid the foundation for his literary endeavors and also shaped his profound connection to his land based cultural heritage. During the 1970s he lived abroad in France and then returned to the US, moving to San Francisco, where he became editor of Beatitude (Be-at-a-tood) magazine and press in San Francisco, which made him one of the “Baby Beat” generation. From 1979-1982, he moved back to the woods of western North Carolina to live in the aforementioned cabin where he composed Zoro’s Field. His literary repertoire includes poetry collections, essays, and books that delve into themes encompassing nature, spirituality, social issues, and the human condition. Beyond his original poetry, Crowe became renowned for his skillful translations of contemporary and historical European, Sufi, and Hindu poets, including his most recent publication, a masterful translation of select Kabir poems entitled Painting from the Palette of Love, which I might add, I just devoured over the last two days.

For a quarter century Marc Thibault has been involved in the social and environmental impact sphere as an entrepreneur, system thinkers and policy influencer covering a wide span of industries and issues developing novel solutions requiring human-centered design while integrating environmental and social concerns. His spent 10 years pioneering model-driven decision support systems until he had his first life-changing epiphany, when he realized how much modern humans, especially children, were exposed to toxic chemicals. Being a father of two boys, he devoted the next 15 years to solving environmental health issues working across the private, public and non-profit sectors and has also worked with hybrid B corps to provide plant based alternatives to toxic chemicals and better protect our children – And then he had his second life changing experience in 2012 when he visited the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest which led him to starting Nativien (an Indigenous-centered hybrid organization using the universal language of medicinal plants). He is currently active in supporting Indigenous Peoples to create a network of Living Pharmacies throughout the Amazon Rainforest, with three essential goals: 1) bring about a biocultural economy, 2) strengthen Indigenous Traditional Knowledge systems, and 3) change the way moderns relate to the natural world and traditional Indigenous communities.