Back to Earth: What's in a name?

Have you ever thought about our name - Back to Earth?

Intuitively, I think, we all know what it means. It's a reminder that, although we never really leave it, we can become so immersed in worlds of our making - the built environments of our cities and suburbs, the digital worlds of our work and school and entertainment - that it sometimes requires real intention to remember that we are all, always, still here, and utterly dependent on the earth.

We have to endeavor, in these modern lives of ours, to remember that we are part of a great living system, rather than the managers and functionaries of an inert pile of resources.

The return engenders the memory, and the remembering is a return of sorts. In this sense, the name is like a call to action: “Where must we go? Back to earth!”

And there is another meaning, even more literal, that has to do with bodies, and what it means to remember. It has to do with other ways of knowing besides the thoughts we think and the ideas we promulgate. It has to do with our spines, our skins, and our nervous systems.

Back to Earth - as in - put your back on the earth!

As in, you cannot touch the earth with your mind alone, as a concept, and receive the benefit and healing of your most authentic connection.

As in - babies develop a secure attachment to their parents through skin to skin contact. No words of love or affirmation can replace the direct communication that we receive through touch - you are safe, you are loved, you belong.  

And so it is with the earth as well - that a secure attachment bond is made through the touch of the green things, our bodies on the mountains, our backs to the earth.