My final appointment for the year, which was a privilege and an honor, was to visit with HRH Princess van Lippe-Biesterfeld of The Netherlands yesterday.
The purpose of the meeting was capture Princess Irene’s reactions and responses to Our Blue World water documentary film and explore how the messages align with her life’s work and especially around education and connection to nature. Princess Irene has done so much to help raise awareness of our connection to nature, and the key message ‘we are nature’, not separate from it. I was introduced to Princess Irene by environmental philosopher Matthijs Schouten, our wetland hero in Our Blue World.
Among Princess Irene’s notable accomplishments are establishing, NatureWise, a course taught at University of Wageningen. Creating the Bergplaas Nature Reserve in South Africa, a 50,000 ha nature reserve that is now being given its own legal personhood rights as part of a wider move to create rights for nature and protect wild places for future generations. And curating and launching the ‘We Are Nature’ art exhibition which attracted and moved, over 80,000 visitors this year. https://lnkd.in/eX4RdR53
She is truly displaying a desire to be a Cathedral Thinker and Good Ancestor.
https://www.bergplaas.com/
We are extremely grateful for Princess Irene’s support in amplifying the messages and raising awareness of Our Blue World to help it connect with as many people as possible.
Princess Irene created a beautiful inspiring book, which I have drawn great personal comfort from this week, entitled: ‘Science, Soul and the Spirit of Nature: Leading Thinkers on the Restoration of Man and Creation’. It includes an introduction and Epilogue that bookend a series of 12 interviews she had with leading thinkers including Jane Goodall, Rupert Sheldrake, Masaru Emoto and Matthijs Schouten.
In the Epilogue, she wrote: ‘To me, love is first clarity. I regard love as the life or light that shines within all species, that forms the connections among all life, which is bound to the Primal Source. Our feeling of separation, evokes fear – but the separation is an illusion, we are not in fact divided or alone. All who have chosen love of the Earth, have transformed fear into love for life itself. Let us open our senses and that deep inner knowledge we call intuition. We can change the course of the ship, from one that leads to separateness to one that sails towards the oneness of all life”
I found the message resonated with me and at this time of year, as we end one cycle of life and enter the darkest days of mid-winter, (at least in this hemisphere).
There will be time enough for action, motion and dynamic energy as we take another spin around the sun. But for now, its time to slow down, for reflection and to spend time with our family and friends.
Special thanks to Amber Smeele for her support in facilitating this interaction.
