GROUNDED HOPE: WITHIN YOU AND WITHOUT YOU

Written by: Renee Wilde

On the last Friday of June I found myself standing in the middle of a wheat field. It was a soft, heritage variety: Turkey Red Wheat, perhaps? The silver colored seed heads were up to my armpits, and when the wind blew in soft gusts the wheat would undulate up against me and then fade away, like waves lapping against a shoreline.

I had this absolute moment of total clarity, the purest sensation that in this magical moment I was breathing in unison with nature, and the words from the Beatles Within You and Without You sprang to mind.

When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find

Peace of mind is waiting there

And the time will come when you see we're all one

And life flows on within you and without you

I was at the Mellinger Farm that day to interview Casey Hoy about the Ohio State Universities acoustical monitoring of agroecosystems project for the July Episode of the Grounded Hope podcast. I had left my house in the flat farmland on the eastern edge of Greene County with plenty of time to get up to Wooster where the farm is located, so that I could take what William Least Heat Moon calls the blue highways.

State Route 3 takes travelers north from Sunbury and winds between the picturesque small towns of Mt. Vernon near Denison University, through Loudonville on the edge of the Mohican State Forest, and into the rolling Amish farmlands surrounding Wooster.

I arrived at my destination an hour before my meeting with Casey and thought briefly about going into town to kill some time. But, in a stroke of luck, perhaps fate, I had that 200 year old farm all to myself and that wheat field was calling for me to come out and play.

Just days earlier I had returned from Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I spent time with a dying friend at the end of his life. I had heard that Beatles song right before I left for the very first time and the words resonated with me throughout that journey.

We were talking about the space between us all

And the people who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion

Never glimpse the truth

Then it's far too late

When they pass away

We were talking about the love we all could share

When we find it, to try our best to hold it there with our love

With our love, we could save the world, if they only knew

When I was asked to help create a podcast for Agraria, the name Grounded Hope immediately came to mind. I had interviewed Laura Lengnick, the author of Resilient Agriculture and founder of the organization of the same name, a few months earlier at OEFFA’s 40th annual conference in Dayton for a radio series I had called County Lines on WYSO.

Lengnick was the keynote speaker at the conference, and in an incredibly vulnerable moment during her talk she shared this message with the audience.

"Grounded hope is the belief that in order to create the future that you desire you have to be a part of creating that. Turns out grounded hope is very much a community based thing. You get together with others, you agree on the desired future, and you start to head that way together. 

People ask me often, how can I do this work, and how can you be so positive with this work? And the truth is, I get into some pretty dark places every now and then. Some pretty dark places.

And, I didn’t have the word for what I do, and what we do as a community. I didn’t have a word for it. But now I do. Grounded Hope.”

That day Lengnick stressed that climate change isn’t a calling out, it’s a calling in. That has been my guidepost for the Grounded Hope podcast, named in honor of her belief.

In the July episode Amy Harper asked the people at Agraria to share some of their hopes for what the future will be like in 17 years when the Brood X cicadas emerge again. 

Ezra answered, 

“What I’m hoping is that in the future, soon, people will realize that climate change is a big deal, and people will actually start taking a stand in trying to change it. 

Sometimes, looking around it can be super negative, and it can be heartbreaking seeing what’s going on in the world. When I see littering it breaks my heart.

But, I believe in people and I have immense hope that people will come together and find a common solution.

Because, in the end, we’re all just trying to fight for happiness and a world we can be proud of.”

The July episode marks the 7th month of the Grounded Hope podcast. In every episode we strive to amplify those messages of hope.

It is an incredibly rewarding and life changing experience to be able to go out into the nooks and crannies of Ohio and hear intimate, first hand stories from the people, communities and organizations who are the boots on the ground for the regenerative movement and then be able to share their passion with listeners.

Sometimes episodes don’t always go as planned, and it is often those unexpected stories that become my favorites.

We had originally planned for Kat Christen to talk about hedgerows for the July episode. Instead, she shared her passion for that awe which we all feel as humans when we connect with wild things, and that one simple way we can all do that is through creating wild areas in the spaces we tend: whether it's in our yards, playgrounds, churches, or community spaces. 

It was such a perfect ending to another fantastic episode of the Grounded Hope podcast. 

Try to realise it's all within yourself

No one else can make you change

And to see you're really only very small

And life flows on within you and without you

I’m Renee Wilde. From the highways to the hedgerows, we bring you grounded hope.

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Episode Description: Industrialized monoculture tends to treat insects as pests to be exterminated. What can we do to make them partners? For starters, listen. In this episode of Grounded Hope we learn about a unique Ohio State University research project that records the daily, seasonal and annual rhythms of farm life. We go into the woods at the Aullwood Audubon Center in Dayton to listen to the Brood X cicadas and learn how their periodical emergence will benefit the bluebird population and other wildlife this year. We ask people what they think the future will be like 17 years from now when Brood X emerges again in 2038. And we talk with Kat Christen, the Farm Education Manager at Agraria, to find out how the simple act of not mowing your lawn can increase the biodiversity of wildlife, both in your community, and on the planet.

"Grounded Hope" is available on Spotify, Google Podcast, RadioPublic, and more!

Please visit the Grounded Hope podcast website www.GroundedHope.org to learn more about the podcast, listen to the episodes, find resources for educators, and become a sponsor.

The Grounded Hope podcast pairs Podcast Director Renee Wilde with the team at the Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice to produce a series of audio products that collectively introduce the people of Ohio to the past, present, and future of Ohio agriculture. 

This podcast has been made possible by support from the Agraria Center for Regenerative Practice and the Ohio Humanities.

Sponsorship opportunities are available! Click HERE to learn more.

Please contact GroundedHopePodcast@communitysolution.org with any feedback or support. We would love to hear from you!