10 AM TO NOON, PACIFIC TIME
Friday
Oct 30
Saturday
Oct 31
Sunday
Nov 01
There is a world that has never stopped speaking to you. It speaks in the language of watershed and wind, of hawk shadow crossing a sun-warmed field, of mycelium threading the dark beneath our feet. It speaks in the older stories, the ones our bodies still remember even when our minds have forgotten. It has been calling us home for as long as we have been wandering.
This symposium is a response to that call.
Over three days, we gather a rare community of poets, mythologists, ecotherapists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, educators, memoirists, and nature writers — voices who have made it their life's work to listen, to translate, to tend the relationship between human and more-than-human worlds. Together, and with you, we will explore the three qualities that make that relationship not only possible but sustaining: belonging, relationship, and reciprocity.
Who am I when my open heart accepts nature exactly as She is?
Who am I when Nature does the same for me?
When I listen to resonance and sense belonging, who do I become?
When I experience relationship in my deep humanness, how does nature respond?
When we live reciprocally in a constant state of awe and gratitude, who might we become together?
Over three days, we gather a rare community of poets, mythologists, ecotherapists, Indigenous knowledge keepers, educators, memoirists, and nature writers — voices who have made it their life's work to listen, to translate, to tend the relationship between human and more-than-human worlds. Together, and with you, we will explore the three qualities that make that relationship not only possible but sustaining: belonging, relationship, and reciprocity.
This is not a conference about nature. It is a practice of returning to it — of embracing our own wild wisdom, aliveness, and creativity.
THREE DAYS, THREE THEMES, ONE CONVERSATION
Day 1: Belonging
What happens when we extend our sense of self beyond the human world into the more-than-human world? When we discover that the creek is an aspect of our inner terrain as much as the hawk soaring over head? In looking at widening circles of belonging we become not smaller and more defended, but larger and more porous.
Questions this day might open with:
What creates belonging? What practices of belonging do you carry? What place has claimed you — not just which place do you belong to, but which place has reached out and taken hold?
Day 2: Relationship
The invitation here is to hold the human relational dimension while steering steadily toward the more-than-human. Building relationship with the natural world begins with presence. Through exploration, storytelling, poetry, and deep listening we weave the threads of connection. We open ourselves to kinship with the Earth community through storytelling, poetry, dialog, etc.
Questions this day might open with:
How do you build relationship with nature in the face of so much loss? What does it mean to tend a relationship with something that cannot speak back in words? How do you cultivate relationship with river, or meadow, or some wild creature?
Day 3: Reciprocity
Reciprocity is a natural outgrowth of love and care. It’s about tending, nurturing, gifting. Reciprocity turns a personal practice into a form of ecological reparation. It reframes ecological engagement as ethical obligation.
Questions this day might open with:
What gifts are you ready to offer the world, freely and with love? What would it mean to participate in the renewal of Earth — not as a grand gesture, but as a daily orientation? What do we have to grieve before we can give?
Your Hosts
Christy McConnell
Christy McConnell, PhD is an educator, scholar, writer, and ecologically-minded adventurer who has researched experience in education for two decades. A tenured professor at the University of Northern Colorado, McConnell has published dozens of research articles and two books exploring ecological and aesthetic experiences. She lives in Centennial, Colorado. Her most recent book is Awakening Wildness: Reconnecting with Nature and Ourselves.
Mary Reynolds Thompson
Mary Reynolds Thompson, CAPF, CJF, is an award-winning author and international speaker whose work lies at the confluence of language, landscape, and imagination. A facilitator of poetry and journal therapy, she coined the term “wild language,” a way of writing and creating co-crafted with the Earth. Through her work with Earth archetypes and nature metaphors, she invites us to break free from domestication, reclaim our untamed inner truth, and rediscover the creative force that rises when we let nature speak through us. Her books Reclaiming the Wild Soul and The Way of the Wild Soul Woman and her most recent, The Wild Scribe, invite us to return to the world—and to ourselves—with renewed wonder and wholehearted presence.
The Guest Speakers
-
Monet Goode
FOUNDER
With a vision for building something meaningful, our founder brings a blend of big-picture thinking and hands-on experience.
They set the tone for everything we do. -
Emmett Marsh
SALES MANAGER
Focused, approachable, and driven by results, our sales manager is all about building strong relationships. They help connect people to the right solutions—with clarity and care. -
Eleanor Parks
MARKETING DIRECTOR
Creative and strategic in equal measure, our marketing director brings fresh ideas to every campaign. They turn insights into action and help our message resonate with the right audience. -
Karl Holland
CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER
Friendly, attentive, and always ready to help, our customer service manager ensures every interaction is a positive one. They keep communication clear, timely, and human.
A FREE Gathering
This is about coming together to explore key qualities, practices and perspectives that can sustain our relationship with nature and each other. The three topics form the animating themes in both our forthcoming books — Christy’s Awakening Wildness: Reconnecting with Nature and Ourselves and Mary’s The Wild Scribe: Words that Emerge When Human and Earth Voices Entwine. In celebration of these connections, we wish to expand the web of ideas and actions that can help us all live in a more sacred and sustainable fashion that serves both Self and Earth.
And we want as many people to join us in the sacred circle as possible.
Who this is for:
This gathering is for writers, artists, activists, ecologists, creatives, Earth-lovers, and educators — for anyone reaching to find words and ways to communicate the vital nature of listening to the land and reconnecting with the natural world as a source of wisdom and guidance. It is for anyone who longs for for a community of likeminded souls doing the work of coming home to the world and to themselves.
When:
October 30 – November 1
Format:
Live via Zoom, three days, one theme per day
Attendance:
Come for one day or all three — whatever your life allows
This is a FREE Event
Recordings: sessions be recorded and the replay access available for those that sign up until December 14.
Register Today
