conscient podcast

e187 alice irene whittaker - caring for the planet I love

Episode Notes

• About collapse acceptance : I've been in that space and it is really liberating. How I frame it for myself is : I don't know how it all turns out and it's really out of my control and to not worry about it (not that I never worry about it) but what's really in my control is : do I show up as a human being and feel my humanity and care for the people I love and the places I love and this planet I love ? That is what I can do.

I first heard about Alice Irene Whittaker’s work from a colleague who said ‘you have to listen to the Reseed podcast’. I did. It’s a brilliant podcast about repairing our relationship with nature - and each other. 

Alice Irene has spent over a decade in leadership and executive roles in nonprofit organizations, think tanks, and charities, with a focus on gender equity and environmental issues. She co-founded, and was Executive Director of Mother Nature Partnership, a charity focussed on reusable, environmentally sustainable menstrual supplies for marginalized women and girls. Alice Irene is a member of Nature Canada’s Women for Nature, a group of women of influence who drive change for nature, and sits on the Board of Directors of Régénération Canada. In a previous life, Alice Irene was a professional dancer and contemporary dance choreographer, which she will talk about during our conversation. 

A heads up that this episode is going to be a 2 part conversation because her new book Homing: A Quest to Care for Myself and the Earth, from Freehand Books, is coming out on September 3, 2024 and I want to have a follow up conversation with Alice Irene specifically about the book later this summer though she does talk about it a bit in this conversation. 

The book is about care, motherhood, healing, faltering, and searching for ways to live during breakdown and about finding home, when our planetary home is eroding, and questioning how - and whether - to have hope. 

My feeling is that Alice Irene is ultimately an optimist but I’ll need to read Homing to find out how. 

We also talked about the role of art in the ecological crisis. Alice Irene notes that:

• Something I've learned about myself over and over again, is that I am an artist and I have an artist's soul, and that there are also other people like that out there. …  I think the role of art is vital and that it's been so underused and under-respected.

We also talked about the influence of sitcoms on changing cultural perspectives : 

• I think TV and movies, which are art, are changing opinions around gay marriage, for example, like sitcoms, and having it more embedded into pop culture is something that will be powerful. 

After conversation on Monday June 10, 2024 we went for a soundwalk to gather further sound material for this episode where she shares stories about her relationship to the land, including how she spent  time during COVID with her three young children by the stream. We’ll start the soundwalk in her husband’s workshop. 

Alice Irene recommended the following books: 

• Mary Oliver's poetry (notably Wild Geese)
• JOY IS THE JUSTICE WE GIVE OURSELVES by J. Drew Lanham
• WILDING: HOW TO BRING WILDLIFE BACK - AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE by Isabela Tree
• ON ANOTHER PANEL ABOUT CLIMATE, THEY ASK ME TO SELL THE FUTURE AND ALL I’VE GOT IS A LOVE POEM by Ayisha Siddiqa from the On Being podcast
• the bibliography of Alice Irene’s book Homing

Note: Homing: A Quest to Care for Myself and the Earth available for pre-order on this website or at  places like Indigo-Chapters or your local bookstore.

Photo of Alice Irene by Brittany-Gawley

Episode Transcription

Excerpts from this episode:

• About collapse acceptance : I've been in that space and it is really liberating. How I frame it for myself is : I don't know how it all turns out and it's really out of my control and to not worry about it (not that I never worry about it) but what's really in my control is to show up as a human being and feel my humanity and care for the people I love and the places I love and this planet I love and that is what I can do.
• Something I've learned about myself over and over again, is that I am an artist and I have an artist's soul, and that there are also other people like that out there. …  I think the role of art is vital and that it's been so underused and under-respected.
• I think TV and movies, which are art, are changing opinions around gay marriage, for example, like sitcoms, and having it more embedded into pop culture is something that will be powerful.