In 2014 I met an amazing woman, Rev. Dr. LoraKim Joyner, who changed my life and is changing so many others as well. LoraKim is an avian wildlife veterinarian and parrot conservationist, as well as a Unitarian Universalist minister, who works with local people in Latin America to save their remaining endangered wild parrots.
LoraKim doesn’t only work on the physical aspects of wildlife conservation, but is also wonderfully gifted at the important human aspects of this work. She understands deeply that to save wild parrots, as well as the rest of nature that supports human life on Earth, we need to better understand ourselves and other people as well.
To this end, LoraKim developed a program called the Nurture Nature Program through our nonprofit organization, One Earth Conservation or One Earth for short (we are Co-Directors of the organization). One Earth engages people, communities and organizations in a unique manner that inspires them to contribute to their own well-being and the well-being of life on Earth. We achieve this by encouraging them to support and/or conduct parrot conservation in Latin America and to nurture themselves in nature.
Earlier this year, One Earth Conservation published a book, “Nurturing Discussions and Practices: Nurture Nature, Yourself and Your Relationships,” based on the Nurture Nature Program. We are delighted that the Foundation for Family and Community Healing has invited us to contribute guest blogs to its website that explore many of the concepts and activities introduced in this book. This fall, we are focusing particularly on the importance of beauty (that is physical, inner and other types of beauty) in the world and how it can help all of us be resilient and better human beings. I hope you will join us on our journey.