Feeling Lost? It's Time To Find Your Looking Bear

Have you ever experienced that sense of deep satisfaction when your way forward becomes clear? The sense that who you are and who you want to be are fully aligned? And have you experienced that sense of integrity and clarity in the pursuit of social and environmental justice?

If you have, you likely know two things: 1) it’s a special, rare, and fleeting moment, and 2) life feels so purposeful and hopeful in those moments that you become consumed by possibility.

For those who desire and work to create dignity and wellbeing for all people, these are the experiences that ground us, inspire our creativity, and steady our resolve that the struggle is worth it. They are a bulwark against the loneliness and resignation that lap at the doors of our hearts and minds.

There is a reason that seasoned souls of the work for social and environmental justice speak in terms of struggle, commitment, and journey. Working for the common good is a long bending of a moral arc, measured in light years rather than days. And those who travel these distances must learn to see time and space with both the patience of a pregnancy and the urgency of a birth.

To many, it feels as though you are pushing through the thorny vines of a dark undergrowth, assuring those following that you’re certain a clearing is just ahead, if only to keep their feet moving. Others feel more like a boat adrift in an angry sea – rudderless and impotent – and desperate to find their way.

Our ancestors and elders who have travelled along the journey to justice and wholeness have much wisdom to offer those who would listen. They are way-finders and trailblazers, and their stories make up the constellations of our dark skies. They have left great bears in our skies – carrying lessons for action and reflection.

Among them, Ursa Minor – Latin for little bear – helps locate the constant star (Polaris) by which so many travelers have navigated. Also known as the North Star, the constant star is the pivot of this important constellation. This little bear has been looked to by a great diversity of peoples to guide them on their difficult journeys. Our ancestors looked to this bear to show them their way, and counseled their children to do the same.

But the story of our ancestors’ and elders’ journeys, like all great stories, is layered. An intersection of wisdoms, experiences, practices, joys and pains – our looking bears point to what is ancient and knowable. Finding our looking bears is an essential part of each of our journeys to wholeness and wellbeing.

Looking Bear Leadership is not the constant star; but hopefully a powerful companion on the search of individuals and groups looking to find their center – their North Star.

Finding our Looking Bear is essential to sustaining our pursuit of social and environmental justice. The process grounds us in our wisdom traditions, provokes reflection and action, and insists upon the telling and hearing of stories passed on by our journeying companions.

Looking Bear Leadership facilitates these processes in order to usher in the transformation of our communities to places and spaces where dignity is upheld and wellbeing ensured. In so doing, we create moments of clarity, purpose, hope, and potency. Come, find your Looking Bear with us, and let us journey together.

Join our email list today and keep up to date on upcoming programs!