Artist and podcaster Elisa Rathje shares stories of resilience from her small farm. She discusses life as art, community sufficiency, inner wisdom, and ancient patterns of regeneration. Topics include embracing traditional skills, permaculture, finding joy amidst grief, and navigating island life.
Crafting small narratives soothes nerves and reshapes desires for grand experiences.
Documenting traditional skills and sustainable approaches fosters resilience in daily life.
Consulting inner mentors guides decisions aligned with ancient patterns of knowledge.
Deep dives
Exploring Small and Gentle Stories from the Living World
Focusing on the power of small and gentle stories from nature, the podcast delves into the significance of storytelling that connects with emotional and sensory elements. It highlights how crafting even tiny tales from everyday interactions contribute to soothing nervous systems amidst the chaos of social media. By embracing these smaller narratives, individuals can find entertainment and meaning in ordinary moments, reshaping desires for grand experiences and lowering aspirations in life.
Documenting Slow and Simple Resilience Practices on Apple Turnover Farm
Alyssa Rathjee, the guest on the episode, shares her experiences from Apple Turnover, a small farm on Salt Spring Island. Through words, films, and art, she captures the essence of slow and simple living practices focused on resilience. The one-and-a-half-acre heritage orchard embodies a blend of food, animals, herbs, and sustainable logic, emphasizing the importance of documenting traditional skills and sustainable approaches.
Embracing Learning Through Art and Traditional Skills
Discussing her background in art and skills acquisition, Alyssa shares her journey of self-teaching various traditional practices while immersing herself in sustainable methods. By blending art and a love for learning, she explores how traditional skills intertwine with sustainability, leading her to document these practices through her writings and films. The integration of art, learning, and sustainable practices forms the core of her work and daily life.
Cultivating Connection with Inner Mentors and Ancestral Wisdom
Alyssa discusses the concept of inner mentors, drawing wisdom from ancestral voices to guide daily actions and decisions. Reflecting on the role of an inner grandmother figure, she emphasizes the importance of seeking advice from this inner wisdom that offers practical and emotional guidance. This practice of consulting inner mentors helps in navigating life's challenges and making decisions aligned with ancient patterns of knowledge and regeneration.
Navigating Financial Realities in Pursuit of Resilient Living
Amidst discussions on economics and financial security, Alyssa shares the complexities of balancing traditional living practices with modern financial demands. She emphasizes the challenges of property ownership and affordability in today's real estate market, highlighting the importance of community collaboration and shared resources for achieving sustainable living. Reflecting on the fragility of financial security, she underscores the necessity of collective efforts and frugality in building resilient communities.
Finding Joy in Dance, Sustainability, and Collaborative Communities
Alyssa expresses her current source of joy in dance, particularly swing dancing, where she explores leading and following, symbolizing collaboration and shared initiative. She highlights the benefits of dancing as a means to connect with others and engage in joyful, physical movement. Finding joy in collaboration, nature, and community endeavors, Alyssa emphasizes the importance of seeking happiness in shared experiences and sustainable practices for building resilient communities.
Elisa Rathje lives on a small farm, on a small island, telling microscopic stories of resilience.
She's an artist, writer, filmmaker, podcaster, unschooler, grower, permaculturalist, goatherd and goose mistress whose work has fed me, and so many others, for years.
From Appleturnover Farm on Salt Spring Island (in the Strait of Georgia between mainland British Columbia, Vancouver Island and Canada), Elisa documents slow, simple approaches to skilling up and rooting down, normalising the pursuit of tiny joys.
This conversation roams between life as art, the illusion of security, community sufficiency, how to call on your inner grandma, decolonising the mind and becoming a propagator of small, ancient patterns of regeneration.
I hope you find much to savour in this sweet, soulful audio morsel. Check out + support Elisa's work!
