The Earth Caretaker Way with special guest Tim Corcoran

What is your Earth Archetype?  Take the Quiz!
https://quiz.eartharchetypes.com/

“You have to meet my friend, Tim!”  

“Cool.  Who’s Tim?”

A week later, I was on the road to find out...

This is my start of a beautiful friendship with Tim Corocoran and relationship with the land he cares for in Northern California.  There at Headwaters Outdoor School, Tim has taught nature awareness, wilderness skills, and earth philosophy for 30 or so years.  

As he ages into elder status and witnesses the changes in climate, Tim decided the time had come to put all of his teachings into one book:  “The Earth Caretaker Way:  Reclaiming Our Life Purpose by Walking Backwards into the Future and Remembering What We Already Know.”

Join us in conversation as we talk about relationships as varied as water, ancestors, and co-authors to reciprocal actions like climbing trees, opening senses, and filming Climate of AWE.  

Tim always surprises me.  I bet you’ll be surprised too!

Get the Book:  https://www.earthcaretakerway.org/book
Check out the School:  https://hwos.com/

---

To discover how the Earth Archetypes came to be. Check it out right here.

And if you liked this episode, listen to Episode 3 next:  “Technologies of Belonging and Connection with special guest Laurence Cole”

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
That large part of the book is about remembering what we already know from our ancestors who

(00:06):
lived close with the earth before modern technology.
We tended, tended when we came into the modern world through all of those teachings out,
all of those connections out.
And being an Earth Caretaker is reclaiming that.
One of the first ways we do that is build our relationship back up with the earth.

(00:28):
So that's intimate and personal so that we can feel what the earth feels and so that
we want to go to work for her.
The second part, the actually taking on being an earth caretaker, that's a gift that
everyone, no matter what your politics, your religion, anything you are, everyone can wake
up every day and do good for the planet.

(00:49):
Whether it's how we shop, whether it's creating a wildlife garden, whether it's feeding
birds, whether it's voting to save land, whether it's volunteering, you know, I can go on
it on.
But we can dedicate our lives to caring for the earth as earth caretakers and it doesn't
detract from any other aspect of our life and only makes it better.

(01:13):
Welcome to the Earth Mates Podcast.
Together we explore how to find your path from climate anxiety to community action.
By asking, who are you?
Because just like any relationship, that matters.
So get ready to be raw and real, but also playful and silly with me, Chief Relationship

(01:39):
Officer Amber Peoples, as we discover what's possible through the lens of the five earth
archetypes.
Curiosity and subscription buttons highly encouraged.
Welcome friends.
Today we are recording this session with the grass outside my window.

(02:04):
It is cool.
It is green and it is dry, which is unusual for wintertime here in Oregon.
The moon is at a thin crescent.
It's waxing.
It's only four days old after the new moon.
Whatever you are, whatever you are listening to this, what is it that's around you right
now?
Can you tune into it for just a count of five?

(02:26):
I'm going to count silently in my head while you tune in.
Thank you.
Well now I'm delighted to introduce you to our special guest Tim Corcoran.
We met about a year ago thanks to our mutual friend Ryan Hunter.

(02:49):
Ryan as a teenager was an apprentice at Tim's outdoor school near Mount Chasta and a fellow
marketing colleague of mine for about two years.
In fact when I first launched my website for earth relationship, Ryan reached out to me
that day saying I just had to meet Tim.
I was like cool, who's Tim?

(03:10):
A week later Ryan and I rode trip down to meet him in the land that are stewards.
I even have the shirts today to prove how much I've fallen in love with head waters outdoor
school and I'm excited to introduce you all to Tim and to continue the conversation between
him and I.
So welcome Tim.
I'm curious what your version of that story is when we first met and how we first connected.

(03:32):
Well, I get a lot of people come and find our school and hear about me.
Ryan show up out of nowhere.
I really enjoyed the first meeting.
It was really awesome.
Your enthusiasm.
I could tell immediately your connection to the land and this land is an amazing place and

(03:53):
I one of the things I love to do is watch and without saying too much people's reactions.
And I could tell if the land grabbed you in only the way land can and here we are.
Hence you know.
So there's something to be said about that just taking the time to let the land do that and

(04:15):
that's it's done that so many people have come to this land even just for a visit is change
their lives and not even considering teaching in a school or saying any even any words just
being here something happens and.
And I think when you and I have talked about that it had a lot to do with what you've

(04:37):
been named the land headwaters the the proliferation of water on on the land that you steward is so
incredible to experience and to drink and to be a part of do you want to share anything
more about what that water means or feels like to you.
About six miles above us is three lakes that are that are filled with spring water and the

(05:01):
creek comes out of there and it flows down through our land in three different layers.
So three different springs streams so it's you really feels like we have three creeks you
know and then there's countless brings and what's amazing about this and the hence the name
headwaters out to our school new beginnings is this creek is one of the handwaters of the

(05:23):
clamoth river of the giant river of northern California that flows all the way to the Pacific
Ocean and is filled with salmon and you know it's it's an amazing river and we are the
one of the headwaters of that the water also here is so clean and so many people today worry
about water rightfully so here we still could drink right out of our creek and we have springs

(05:49):
where I've actually had water experts hydrologist test the age of the water as it's coming
out from the center from down in the earth the spring water as as old as five thousand
years old when you drink it and this one hydrologist told me that the water is as good as any water

(06:10):
you drink anywhere on the planet earth so I consider it quite an honor to be the the earth caretaker
of this land and and be in this water and I just to wrap up this I every day if I can every
day and I'm committed to it I'm jumping in the creek and getting covered with the water and
even now it's getting colder and a little more testing but man it just it's life force fills me up.

(06:35):
I love that not only do you take it in by drinking it but also by by immersing in it and being being
a part of it in that way having that kind of relationship with it and that actually brings me to
a term that you used that I think is really important to you the earth caretaker who in fact it's
the name of a book that you have the earth caretakers way and I want to dive into that in particular

(07:02):
there's a sentence that really stood out to me nature is the most honest relationship we will ever have
what does that mean to you? Well what I mean by that is any human relationships we have any
business relationships any other types of relationships whether it's with something or an individual

(07:25):
there's always more to it there's somebody's trying to get something somebody's trying to figure
out something you know you're with nature it's one of those pure relationships are the earth the trees
the water the animals they're not trying to get anything from us and they're really and and it's
so it's just you're able to just immerse yourself in the natural world if you're open to it is about

(07:49):
as pure as you could get that I know of in life it's there's just nothing on the sides nothing coming in
trying to detract so it allows you to kind of be in the moment and and it's in that moment that you
feel that sacredness of the land it comes into you and like Brent says getting in water water is life

(08:10):
I mean if you look at the earth from space it's water right if you what we can't live without water
for more than a few days you know water is everything and so to be able to immerse in it get into it
and even underwater drink the water open your mouth and drink it and make it a part of you
that that is the stuff of life and it's the purest of relationship can be there's just nothing

(08:37):
on the sides happening it's just you are the water I guess that's the best way I could put it
you are the water and the water is you it's oneness and it's in that connection that we feel
that love for the earth come up in us where we want to be protectors and caretakers and
and work with it and often that feeling happens at a subliminal level we don't even know it

(08:59):
an intellectual level yet but we feel it and then that intellectual level pops in and you know
we we go forever with it it's just an amazing opening I love what you shared that reminded me of kind
of the two ends of the spectrum of earth relationships because within earth relationship there are

(09:21):
five different types and on either end one I refer to as an embodied experience of oneness and you
really describe that with being one with the water as you're in it and drinking it and being with it
and it's it's an embodied experience that's almost impossible to translate to words and then you
said intellect comes in and that gets us to the other side where it's more about confirming

(09:47):
observations and the the strategies to do that and confirm it like you said with you know testing
the age of the water and and other strategies like that and so that's one of the things that I think
you and I really connect on is that there is this the spectrum of being in relationship with the earth
that's all honorable and all valuable absolutely it's that it's that oneness that opens the door

(10:15):
to so many other things like it's when you have that relationship then you start to realize
everything is alive and it's and it's and it lives it it's own unique way and you I think one of the
most important things in that oneness is if you can practice being non-judgmental have no judgments
just be present with thing and let them come to you then it goes to a higher deeper or meaningful

(10:42):
level and I think that's really huge and we often the thing that keeps us from nature is we are
judgmental we're gonna get too cold it's gonna get we're gonna get dirty you know there's gonna be
bugs we're gonna get lost all that keeps us from opening up and so if we build our relationship up
and just stay in the present in the moment so much teaching so much some bleminal connection happens

(11:07):
that we don't even know at the moment but it shows up in our life and how we live
and it's it's like yeah it's like it's like it's like the earth is saying I've been waiting for you
where have you been welcome home oh I love that and what's what I'm hearing you getting closer and

(11:30):
closer to is actually this other quote that I pulled from the earth care takers way which is
once your connection with nature is intimate there is no going back you will only go further and
forward and your life will profoundly change forever you will know the earth as your friend
teacher and partner in life you will also find the earth as a healer take time to talk internally

(11:56):
or outwardly through all of your senses to every tree plant insected animal in your spot the blessings
that can come out of this are profound and so I'm loving um I that that piece of I think the key word
in all of that is the what that word intimate and that's really what you're describing with all of
these spirit experiences what's what's something that you can share that perhaps has happened to you

(12:21):
today or recently where it really demonstrates that idea of what happens when you have an intimate
relationship with the earth well today it's interesting right now one of the things I do here is
there's there's our wild land which is many acres and then we have the buildings we build for the

(12:43):
school and the kind of the infrastructure where we live and around that I've done what's called force
gardening and it's where I planted probably over 300 trees maybe more a fruit trees alone and now it's
been like 25 years or so maybe I'm almost 30 for some of them so a lot of the environment is now

(13:04):
become its own environment where I'm not having to care take it as much the trees have grown up so big
that mean huge and so what the most amazing thing is every morning I get up I walk out of my home
and I look at these trees that I planted this little tiny foot tall three foot tall trees
and they're now seven or 80 feet tall and now they're also in the middle of fall

(13:29):
and the leaves are all changing color and blowing off the trees and every day I see them transform
and change and I love it's I look up in the trees I see the different songbirds and the blue
jays and the doves all that I feed as part of the earth gardening they're up in the trees and so
every morning I get greeted by my birds by my trees that I planted changing I hear the water in the

(13:55):
background and it I could go on and on it's everything's first the rock walls I see all the the
toads going into them that I I say from the local pond when they were getting roared by cars on the
side of the pond you know so I could go on and on but it's all personal but in fact recently
where we just got a bear visited us for about a two weeks in a row eight all my birdfeaters

(14:21):
and every apple off our trees and finally I think I've gotten them to move on
and but we've had we just had this great time though just looking at all his tracks he's left his
droppings his fur on the plants the apples he's eating trying to negotiate with him to not hang out
so I can you know have don't have to worry about things as much so it's all personal let's

(14:46):
say wake up in the morning I come out the door and it's all they're all my friends and I feel like
they feel that for me too on another level not the same it's a human level but if you don't judge
it's not one is not better than the other it's just wonderful and so every day I get to wake up to
that so that's about as personal as it gets I'd like to dig a little bit deeper into this book because I

(15:10):
know it's really personal for you and really important for you and so I would like to hear why
you decided to write the book this book it's called the Earth Caretaker Way it's been a it's been a
vision of mine for many many years and I've been slowly over over about 10 years writing this book

(15:31):
actually on the big island of Hawaii I was out watching a sunset and this vision came to write
this book and that the human beings when we're at our best we are all Earth caretakers if we choose
to be it's it's in us and it's it's in us we can't deny it it comes from our ancestors who live with

(15:53):
the Earth for 30 40 50 60 thousand years they lived intimately with the Earth they are our our
brethren they are our blend is their blood right so at large part of the book is about remembering
what we already know from our ancestors who live close with the Earth before modern technology

(16:15):
we tended tended when we came into the modern world through all of those teachings out all of those
connections out and being an Earth caretaker is reclaiming that one of the first ways we do that
is build our relationship back up with the Earth so that's intimate and personal so that we can

(16:36):
feel with the Earth feels and so that we want to go to work for the second part the actually taking
on being an Earth caretaker that's a gift that everyone no matter what your politics your religion
anything you are everyone can wake up every day and do good for the planet whether it's how we shop
whether it's creating a wildlife garden whether it's feeding birds whether it's voting to save land

(17:01):
whether it's volunteering you know I could go on it on but we can dedicate our lives to caring for
the Earth as Earth caretakers and it doesn't detract from any other aspect of our life it only makes it
better yeah I think that that is a really interesting dilemma that we as humans have is how do we bring

(17:25):
these these stories and these practices from from a more ancient time that is in our bones it is
in our blood while also navigating this modern world and one of the things that I keep thinking and as
I hear you talk about how you relate to the nature that is around you is thinking of it almost like

(17:50):
that that person that perhaps you just want to hear from and so I'm hearing a similar thing with
you about how perhaps through your school you're encouraging people to form that relationship is
is putting out those those pins so to speak to figure out what is that what is that relationship and

(18:14):
that connection feel like is it an internal thing I guess there's also an external because you're
using all of your senses but I think where this this question kind of lands is like what is what is
the Earth caretakers way mean to you so the Earth caretaker way to me it means it's reclaiming

(18:35):
basically our birthright to be children of the earth I know that sounds kind of funny but it's
really true we are children of the earth the earth if there's if there's ever a true mother
besides the ones in birth thus it's our she gives us everything to live and every other being on
the earth to live and the earth the earth is a living being unto herself so in reclaiming that

(18:59):
birthright it's reclaiming those relationships and in that process we remember what we already know
from our ancestors is that we can go out into the nature and be a part of it we we don't have to feel
like we don't belong or like it's not safe it's not okay it's our home and we can go into it and be

(19:24):
in our home enjoy our home live in our home whether we're living off the land eating wild plants
hunting and fishing whether we're just enjoying a walk in the woods whether we're gardening and
farming with the earth all of it it's our home and everything gets better what we know
know that and you were mentioning the senses if we start to one of the great gifts we have for

(19:48):
connecting to the earth is our five senses and as we start to work with them if I back up a little
in the modern world we tend to shed our senses down a lot because there's so much coming at us
you know we don't want to smell diesel fuel we don't want to hear horns honking we don't want to hear
you know things like that so we we shut down our senses but imagine for a minute what our ancestors

(20:12):
must have been like when they lived every day in the woods didn't have all the modern things to
get in the way they were way more heightened than our senses are today so one of the things we do when
you go into the woods and we teach in the school and it's in the book is how to bring your senses
alive again to that incredible place so and then the whole world becomes like a highlight real it's

(20:38):
you hear better you see better you smell better you taste better you feel better every sense becomes
more more vivid and powerful and then that that makes you want to get involved board like
instead of just looking at a tree you want to go up and smell it you want to go up and touch it you
want to eat an apple from it you know you you start to feel the call from the living things of the

(21:04):
earth calling you into their world and you're more willing to go and then hey well I like to say
the magic happens there's a couple things I heard in there that that home piece I really love that
you bring that up because one of the things I think we either don't know or forget very quickly
is the term eco eco whether that's ecology or economics they all have that same route which

(21:31):
literally translates I believe in Greek to home I didn't know that yeah right and it's I find that
really fascinating and that's actually why one entire earth relationship of the five really
focuses on who are the type of people and what is that brain wave and sense of belonging that happens

(21:55):
when you're really in that place of viewing nature as home viewing the world as home and um and that
sense of uh you mentioned safety which I think is really interesting because I've been able to observe
now some people that maybe they were eighth graders maybe they were 40 year olds but I've seen some
spectrum now of people arriving on the land and when that the where they're going to stay for the

(22:22):
the time that they're there is introduced to them which are these amazing structures that have like
an open access I guess you could say to the land to the air there's some that immediately drop into
that and feel really safe in that and actually really cozy and others that they look at that door

(22:42):
and they're like what's gonna come get me in the middle of the night and there's this like tension
and fear and I find that dichotomy really fascinating and interesting about about that way of how do we
find that sense of safety when we're in nature um and is that inherent cannot be developed and I'm

(23:05):
curious with all the different students that you worked with over the years those that are struggling
to find that sense of safety what what words of wisdom or stories or experiences do you help them have
so that they can begin to develop that well there is I usually like to try to push people

(23:25):
past you know past their edges places they think they want to quit and so one great teacher for that
in nature is trees and we all love trees I mean I don't think I've ever met a human being I often
think about one of the things that all humans have in common what's commonality was I don't know
if you ever I've never met anybody do the love trees everybody loves trees so trees are a great

(23:50):
gift for that and so I often have people climb trees and we have one tree particular loves to
be climbed here and it's about 120 feet tall and some people will go to the very top and as they climb
the tree it's it's like a ladder it's a Douglas fir tree it's fairly safe because it's like it's
like a ladder the branches are closed and you can hold on and you get up near the top you know maybe

(24:14):
a hundred feet and you look out to the east and you see Mount Shasta it's an amazing view of the
mountain from the tree all that time you're doing that you're releasing a lot of your fear because
many people have fear of heights or being uncomfortable it's another huge one for people
so you get tree sap on you you get bark on you you know you get branches on you so it pushes people

(24:39):
past those edges the other thing I find is a great teacher for helping people get really close
to nature and push past their fears is going off trail going off trail through the brush through
the woods through the battles through the thicker brush the places that you look at and you go no I

(25:00):
don't think I would do that do it and then the other one is going barefoot barefooting it puts you
past a lot of your fears because the first thing the first thing you have is getting your feet hurt
right so you have to walk carefully which means you're being careful with the earth your gentle
wither as you're walking you learn to place your feet in certain ways so you don't get hurt they

(25:25):
toughen up through time the earth is coming up through your feet into your body your feeling or
your massaging or she's massaging you you know you're looking if you walk barefoot you tend to
start to move past your fear of things like insects and things because you'll you'll start to notice
things more and you'll start to notice how you affect the world where you put your feet down

(25:49):
so instead of being fearful of some beetle you see walking on the ground another thing that's
another thing that scares a lot of people is insects instead of being so fearful of that beetle you
could have gently want to step around it not hurt it not crush you because it has a right to life too
and so that opens up whole new doorways to go deeper and so getting kind of a short long short of this

(26:14):
is getting out of your comfort zone pushing those edges slowly sometimes fast sometimes
and what you'd mention in the start of this question sleeping out in the shelters another incredible
gift that I try to have people do is not only sleep in the earth shelters which are great
but to sleep out under the stars yes it makes you feel vulnerable yes a bear could come up and

(26:40):
sniff you in the middle of the night more likely a pack rat would though you know not a bear
birds could come and check you out in the morning you know I could tell you this great
look story to kind of wrap this answer up I had this woman come here years ago she was a world-renowned
psychic and she had this tremendous fear of aliens coming together and she was set out my woods for

(27:02):
four days and four nights no food just water alone it was what we call a vision quest she was
seeking answers for her life from nature and spirit in nature and she had this tremendous fear about
these aliens now whether you believe that or not it doesn't matter we live in Mount Shasta and it's
like a big deal and it was real to her it's not for me to judge so the last night a four night she

(27:27):
sit down there and I mean exhausted no food no water she's inter sleeping bag under the stars
she hears a sound her head is down in the bag and another sound then another sound then another sound
all around her she's like sure the aliens have come and she finally gets the guts up the bravery to
look out she's surrounded by 14 cows and they've broken through my neighbor spent and they all

(27:53):
went to her and surrounded her so they were aliens in a way you know I mean they were not natural to
the woods but they were very peaceful and friendly and it was such a great teaching for her it changed
her life she went on to have this incredible career and so getting out of that comfort cell pushing
those edges and big deal big deal yeah I think I think that that that that seems to be a recurring theme of

(28:19):
the you know so much of the ways that we've distanced ourselves from nature is in this effort to be
comfortable and reimagining what does comfort look like if it's more in connection I think is is a
really interesting and important question and and one of the other things that to go back to the book

(28:40):
for a moment is is an interesting aspect that I know I experienced when I read your book was there
was almost a sense of discomfort there's so many stories within the book there's so many little
antidotes within the book that it really the book made more sense for me when you and I talked about
how it is this almost choose your own adventure style and I'm curious if you can share why that was

(29:06):
an important way for you to write this book the book is I kind of designed the book three different things
what one is it's I wanted to be a beautiful I love books and I love reading and I know
that the art of reading is passing away with a lot of people but I love being able to hold a book
it becomes a very I guess spiritual thing become the book itself becomes like a living being

(29:31):
and you know anybody here who's listening they've ever had a book they just absolutely love
if you just love you love it when it gets worn on the edges and ages get a little torn you might
have a note written in there it becomes alive with you from you reading it that's really special
so the book and designing the book I wanted it to be a beautiful kind almost like art piece we have

(29:54):
beautiful drawings in there that a number of the people who are helping me with the book
are doing the put in there so that'll be in there and so it's designed that you can open it up to
any page and get something inspirational you could read that page and it might awaken something
in you or ignite a fire and you to go out and the woods or do something for the earth it could

(30:15):
also be be looked at as a text like a textbook and you could read it through it all the way through
and learn how to build your relationship with the earth and be an earth caretaker but then of course
you've got to put the book down and go out to nature and practice that's a really important part
and then the last one is is it's the book not only would it be a reference book and one you can open

(30:41):
up but it's the kind of a book that can call to you like it could just be sitting there and you'll
look at it you'll just be calling to go over and open it up pick it up and look go wow that spoke to me
and I I remember all and a lot of my life as a teacher sometimes I'll have beautiful poetry book or
beautiful book like that and I'll often look for a message for the day and I'll just close my eyes

(31:05):
and open it up and see what I get I've done that a lot in my life and it's just amazing what comes
and I want this book to be able to be like that you know to be be able to get that message for
the day so it's an art book it's a instantaneously open up get a message it's a book a book you can

(31:26):
look up things in and a book you can read through and through so it's got kind of all of that and
I hope it'll have the medicine of you take it in the woods and it's got the mud on it the dirt the
leaves and the animals of chew the edges that would that would make me very happy I love that visual

(31:46):
yeah thank you thank you for that that those layers like I hear as you kind of point out three distinct
layers and even a fourth there at the end with with the that just like you talked about climbing in
that tree and getting a branch on you and getting maybe a little scratched or sap and you you're
actually really excited to have these books have a similar experience out in the world and so

(32:08):
I absolutely love that and I actually want to note that you are you are the main author of the book but
you actually have two other authors that are really important to consider in this as well and I know
one of them is Julie who works and stewards the land with you for a long time I know the two of you
have quite the story and I've grabbed a clip that Julie wrote that I'd love to share and then

(32:32):
have you just kind of talk about that collaboration and perhaps what what Julie wrote here which is
speak with the spirits and get to know the individuals listen to their stories acknowledge them
have reverence find out where they are from connect with them personally get to know them personally

(32:55):
open up a conscious relationship with them and there will be no reason to fear them they have a lot
to share curious to hear once again like this this story and why you felt it was important to include
Julie's voice in it as well well Julie Julie came to the headwaters gosh probably 20 years ago now

(33:18):
around that and you know she her whole life changed she was a swim coach in the Bay Area work with kids
you know big-time swim coach and she came here on to for a class and we actually
half the class was here on the land and waters landed so and then we also took her it was our nature

(33:39):
awareness class and it was it's called nature awareness class and we were doing in the marble mountain
wilderness the other half of the town so that's a true wilderness area roadless place not far from here
thousands of acres of land and she went into there and her life changed I mean the land grabter

(34:00):
the teachings grabter but really I like to say the teachings of the school they're very important they
open the door with the land grabter and she couldn't look back I'm getting chills as I say right now
she couldn't look back and literally it was a time when the school was in transition the person
it was caretaking for me and a person that was cooking for the school they were both leaving and

(34:23):
she just quit her job down there I invited her to come and do it she didn't know how to cook
she was going to be our main cook she didn't know any of this stuff she moved into a year and
took on helping me run the school and so she just built her life here and every day out running our
dogs out on the land and so when it came time to do the book I knew she had editing skills and so she

(34:49):
started editing my work and cleaning it up and such because sometimes I write really really
rapidly and fast and needs a lot of work and and then she just got inspired to start writing herself
and I thought it was beautiful so I said yeah let's get your writings in there and she was talking
in that quote you had about the spirits of the earth is when you build your senses when you take more time

(35:13):
slow down and you go in the woods and you just be there the layers of life start to show up and not
all layers are seen with the eye or felt with the physical body they're countless other layers of
life in nature is there is an all life every and most people believe that one way or another if you

(35:36):
really get honest about it so much about the unseen with the eyes part of the world in nature we
feel it we feel the presence of other beings and so that's what she was talking about it in that quote
but you have to slow down be open and one of the keys to that I find is having your heart open

(35:58):
it's vital the heart is one of the keys trusting your gut your intuitive feeling we call it in this
work intervision when you get a feeling about something not doubting it not questioning it but letting
it come forth going with it and not always having to understand what something is or why something is

(36:20):
there being okay which is feeling something knowing something's there and letting it be and again
that comes back to dropping judgment dropping judgment dropping fear and being as present as possible
and then really the layers of life in nature come out when we realize that everything else has a

(36:41):
right to light is just I kind of try to put it this way everything out there is just trying to live
like we are they're just trying to feed themselves breathe be safe get through their day we're all
in it together wonderful yeah what I what I love about kind of your extended answer there is
I think again the the meaning is perhaps like a layer within that and that might be a good way for

(37:07):
people to understand as they dive into your book is to understand that every story you're telling
has layers to it and and the reader gets to gets to kind of interpret that and so one of the things
that I I interpreted when I when I heard your story here is that your emphasis on observation

(37:28):
and one of the things that was beautiful about your story about how Julie became a co-author was that
it was what sounds like kind of a series of observations that you had you wrote this book you
had observed that Julie was a good editor so you asked and she said yes so great and then Julie was
like huh I have I actually have something interesting to say here and you observed that and you took

(37:52):
that in and was like yeah actually that is a really important voice to have and so I'm hearing
the series of observations that led to Julie becoming a co-author that once again reflects
how I'm interpreting what you're what you're sharing around how to also build a relationship with
the earth in these series of observations you kind of went away uh-oh there you are

(38:21):
I'm back one of the things that I love about him is sometimes I'm not sure if it's something like a
technology glitch or if he's just really taking it and in listening which I think proves my point
even more because I was talking about how you really observe and take that in and so in that moment I
wasn't sure as like is he just really listening and figuring it out and observing and so I kind of

(38:43):
loved that happened in that moment I think it's perfect I'm not the greatest technology person it
makes my head spin what I do want to do is pull out a section that I believe was written from the
earth care keeper's voice and then have you just talk about either this particular section that I
bring out or this more personal relationship that you have with the earth keeper and why you

(39:08):
felt it was important to have that voice as well in the book so this little section is actually as a
title it the title is steps count and the language is to walk anywhere in nature is to walk on some
beans home to walk anywhere in nature is a chance to practice kindness look where you step every step

(39:36):
you take can make a difference to somebody's life make your steps kind steps steps toward a kinder world
so whatever you want to share about that Tim from the from what I believe with how the book was
written it was from the earth keeper's voice first of all I gotta say that's profound saying

(39:59):
that really hit me and the earth the earth keeper is I thought about not putting I'll start by saying
I thought about not putting anything about the earth keeper in the book because I think I think
part of me thought you know human beings we tend to have a difficult time with anything we don't

(40:23):
know directly or it's right in the front of us so when you start talking about spirits or spirituality or
beings that you can't see or you feel it's really hard for a lot of human beings to make the
leap that there's possible something that something could be truthful with that that could be real
even though in all aspects of our lives we experience that kind of thing we just don't really

(40:48):
acknowledge it much most daily in daily life but I really believe in truth this book comes from the heart
the deepest part of me it's a lot of it's about my my it's my legacy so I thought I'm not holding
anything back I just gonna put it out there and the right people are gonna get it the right time

(41:08):
that's I don't I'm okay with that and so I wanted to share about this incredible experience and
when I first came to this land I've been looking for a long time I knew since I was a kid that I was I was
destined to have a piece of land that I would caretake live on and have like a homestead on
and I didn't know what in my early years I was gonna have a school that came later too

(41:33):
and I was having a hard time finding land I had this realtor a really good friend with me
and I had a wolf dog named Joseph who I loved I named him after Chief Joseph of the Ness fierce tribe
because he could appear disappear at will and I'm always looking for a sign and when I find something
I'm very superstitious and so I find this land that the realtor I'm driving in a truck with him and he

(41:58):
goes he's got a call this place came up for sale and I was kind of frustrated because we hadn't found
anything so we drive down this really rough dirt road we walk out on the land with my wolf dog the
realtor who I really liked he became a good friend in a he became like a basketball buddy in my we play
basketball all the time and we connected with the land and I had a couple of really good friends so I

(42:19):
trust I walk out on the land I immediately was chasing because I heard the water and the water
called me and that was already a sign that I needed I was also at the time a falconer and I had a
beautiful red tailed hawk I it was injured that I cared for for years and I was looking at the creek

(42:39):
when we approached it and coming downstream floating towards me was the center tail feather of a red
tail hawk only one on the whole bird I picked that up out of the creek never saw the bird but it was
another sign but yes this is the place and I felt my wolf dog was running around loving the land my

(43:00):
friends were loving it were getting in the water and all of a sudden I feel this presence and I
state I feel and I'm getting chills when I say it and I looked up in the street above me and I saw
this being there like makes me want to cry and I didn't discount it and there he was looking at me

(43:21):
and it was all through feeling at all knowing you said get the land and then the rest will become clear
I looked at the realtor I leave about the land that afternoon and then it started to unfold and this I
call him the earth keeper and he's been my spiritual friend on this land forever now when I walk he's

(43:45):
with me he looks out after me he's like a protector but he's more than anything he's a protector of this land
and he told me that there are spiritual earth keepers all over the world looking after land
and that one of my jobs is a human being was to do the same in the physical and it's one of the gifts

(44:06):
that all people have within them but that some people really rise to that occasion and you know take
it to great feats you know like think about the creation of the national park system you know that
was something you know somebody had a vision and they made it happen but it's and so I guess to bring
us full circle more than anything he's my friend my aspirational friend and often I'll go in the woods

(44:31):
I recommend this to everyone take a beautiful notebook that becomes yours right do drawings right
stories things in it and he'll often give me things to write and that's what I trans I put into the book
things that he told me to write and it's one of the greatest relationships of my life and

(44:51):
if people have trouble believing that kind of thing in this way of teaching the nature way
I like to say there are no limits there are no limits which means anything is possible
and the more you open up the more you get to participate in this incredible earth to live on
and all the gifts she has for us and I look at the earth keeper as a gift to me and not just to me

(45:18):
but it's very personal from thank you for sharing such a tender story with all of us and
and I think that and you know another piece of that is is how the way that you shared that and
and spoken throughout is you're really open with the moments where something really tender touches you

(45:41):
you're also moment you know open with the moments where something anger is you and you're also
open with the moments where something makes you question and just your willingness to be to be
open with that variety of of experiences that that are part of your your life and your world is
is really a gift for all of us to be able to be a part of so thank you for that

(46:03):
you want to
so with that I think that'll actually lead us into a bit of a change in the conversation
we are working together on some aspects of the book and we're also working on an aspect of the film
project that I'm working on and I know that you and I have had several conversations around things

(46:23):
over this past year and just recently you know we actually got to be on the land with a very small
crew and do some some beginning-level work on the project as you think about inviting such a
I guess you could say almost modern project onto the land how does how do you how do you make that
choice or how do you tune into saying yeah this this actually feels in alignment with with this

(46:52):
larger message that I want to share even as you imagine like 35 people swirling around with
cameras and sound gear and boom mics and things like that
but remember where school so we have many months or we have up to 80 people here sometimes
you know so I'm used to people being on the land and yeah you know it I know this land so

(47:15):
intimate we're like like right now there's nobody on the land so it's the land on the off-season
we call the off-season from November through March the land gets a chance to recover from all the
feet walking around everybody breaking branches and this and that but I also realize this land is
a teacher it wants people here it wants to ignite a firing people to go out and work for the year

(47:39):
and I know that I know the land itself wants that it's like I said I think it's a local
power spot from Mount Shasta so it it's nice this burning fire in people who out and fight for the
year so people here making a film for the earth you you're good people you're doing the right thing
I also so I'm I'm all into it and I'm no issue with technology I mean technology is like anything

(48:06):
else you know I it can be good or it can be horrible I mean what we it's the human brain right
we created the nuclear bomb right we can destroy ourselves that's technology going pretty bad
but technology can also be used for the good and in fact moving forward into the future and
caring for our planet in global warming we're not going to do it without technology technology is

(48:31):
going to be a huge part of caring for our earth in the future so we have to learn to build a
relationship with it and going forward and you know one thing that really kind of taught me about
about this was I used to have this guy would come over and work on our computers and his name was
Kevin and he was a computer whisperer he would I would watch him and I and I love to watch people like

(48:57):
I think I could have been an anthropologist I love human observation and I would watch him work
with the computers and he would go into him he would feel him he would feel they're living I don't
know how to put it in the works they were like a lot living beings to him he would like grok them you know
and it was it really taught me a lot to watch him he was like a whisperer for the you know

(49:22):
computer whisperer for the and it was really a good teaching for me and and the other part of technology
is technology can be really bad if you overuse it like cell phones for an example I think they're
really hurting our children a lot keeping them away from nature but if you use cell phones as a tool
and you take them out and put them away then they're an incredible wonderful thing you know

(49:45):
they take beautiful photographs of the earth so it's not it's clear-cut it's not black and white you know
it's there's a lot of shades of gray and I'm happy to have the brew here it I revel in seeing everybody
making a film and being happy to join it and and then I it's incredibly exciting to think about like
I'm thinking about my book coming out and changing the world it's incredible to think about that

(50:10):
filming birth to the world and and doing its part to change the world for the better too which I mean
connected us more deeply to the earth and going out and making a difference time I'm good with it
you know once in a while we got a I will probably talk to your film crew but the 30 of them and
they walk carefully don't smash that beetle don't crush those ants you know be gentle and I think

(50:36):
they'll they'll respond well and it'll be good and and probably everybody on your film crew if they spend
30 days here they're gonna be touched by their plan I imagine when they leave they're gonna be different
people they might laugh at that but I would be willing to bet everything on it you too
I I'm actually hoping for that myself as I think about the casting process for both the people in front

(51:05):
of the camera and behind the camera it's it's it's maybe the sound person who's never used a
composting toilet before and after 30 days of using that they figure out how to incorporate in that
into their life or the cast members that are working on a project together there's something about
a walk that they go on that totally inspires a leap forward in that project and even even to

(51:30):
another sense like in in my dream world this group of us becomes becomes this community that we can
all rely on at any point in the future because we've had this experience together that is
truly special and unique and a big part of that is because of the land itself and and navigating

(51:54):
that land together and so I love that that's a that's a similar knowledge or hope or intuition that
rests with you because it's it's a big one for me so that makes me absolutely really delighted and
it actually leads me to the to mirroring the end of this conversation something that really touched

(52:19):
me was I had just finished the work sample for climate of awe I had gone through the editing process
and to be honest the editing process was pretty brutal on me my like my emotional state in the editing
process was pretty gnarly I think of all the many different shares I've gotten a lot of really great

(52:40):
feedback that will help the story which is fantastic and I think the sharing that you and I had was the
one that helped the wound that kind of had developed during that editing process which is and I don't
know if you remember it or not but it was this moment where you had watched it and and you wanted

(53:02):
me to know that I wasn't alone you wanted to know that you saw the visionary element in the film
even through the the rough patches and the parts that you know now I've learned how to do it better
next time but you saw that visionary quality and you know that sometimes that visionary element
can feel really unseen and alone and it really really touched me I just want to express my my

(53:28):
gratitude for that moment because it was one that I really needed and I think it says a lot to
you as a person that you know you can sense into that moment and I think that your book helps
give moments of like that for people too as they're reading the book is having those moments where
there's something that will be felt really seen and touched within them and and so I don't know if

(53:53):
there's a response on your side from that but I know that I wanted to express that that gratitude
in that sense of connection I my only thing I would say is it's all coming from the heart and it's
it's the heart of the earth that come through it's that and we all we all I realize when you're a

(54:14):
visionary person that I don't mean when I say that visionary person is any better than anybody else
we all have our gifts but what often when you're a visionary person it there's two challenges one is
to take it from the visionary part and whatever you're envisioning and actually make it so make it real
that's a huge challenge there's so many visionary people that never get beyond the vision

(54:40):
and then realizing it when you're a visionary person you do feel alone a lot you feel often like
you're the only one that knows this or sees this or feels this and the truth is that's not true
but there is a part in that that probably is true and you need to learn to to be able to do it

(55:02):
yourself to hold the space for yourself but also realize when you get the chance you're not alone and I
wanted to let you know that and that we need to we need the strength of each other to go forward
there's just some challenging times and going forward and we need the strength of our fellow human

(55:23):
animal beings as well as nature. Thank you so much so with all these questions that I've asked I have
one last question which is of all these different topics that we've covered and worlds that we've
danced around what is something you wished I would have asked that you would like the opportunity

(55:45):
to share before we exit this podcast. Man I'm not sure let me think I'm
I wish you did that I'm not it's not coming clear but um I wish you did ask what what is this background
behind me. Yes excellent please. That can read a whole another story that could go on for another

(56:12):
five jet. Can you give us the two-minute version? Yeah you're seeing some of my photographs this is
I'm sitting in my art gallery my photographic gallery and my library two of the things that
have guided me so much in my life is books I've been a reader since day one and I can remember

(56:36):
so I'm in my library and I even have the books in this library from when I was 10 11 12 years old
that changed my life I remember one of them was was about the great awk it was about the life of the
bird called the great awk which was a bird that lived in the north Atlantic it was a flightless bird
pretty good size about a three-feet tall I mean we're completely wiped out by humans

(57:02):
and they literally remember the last ship captain that he killed the last mother and father and
crushed the egg of that bird and the entire species and I read that when I was about the 11 I think
and it got me on the path of fighting for the earth it changed my life and then the other thing that

(57:24):
so much took me deep in the nature was photography and I'm looking just over this way to the left a little
and I'm seeing this 35 millimeter camera on my father gamey when I was 12 and we took a trip around the
United States I went with my mentor guiding Bo Almroth and his son who is my best friend
we went to 35 states backpacking wilderness travel cities wildlife you name exploring the country

(57:51):
we finished the trip with my right of passage the ceremony that brought me into manhood where I climbed
up Mount Shasta so it was this full circle trip and I photographed that whole trip
hence I've been able to do one of the things I love so much show my love of nature through my photography

(58:14):
and now I've had a gallery for 20 years here in Mount Shasta and every one of those pictures
it was a I would call it a sacred moment in nature and when I took that photograph it was in me for
life and I've I've often said I'm a seeker of sacred moments in nature and my photography is one way I

(58:36):
express my love and you don't have to be a photographer but it's it's going out on those highlight moments
the sunsetting the sun rising the breaking storm where the nature is the most powerful
and she can come into you and get and ignite a fire in you to be an earth caretaker and that's just

(58:57):
part of my story I wanted to share and how that all happened and that can happen for anybody with
anything to become an earth caretaker in those different ways that you get ignited that we do in nature
and I still love photography I love that yes I've I've had the delight to revel in and walking by

(59:20):
and seeing the rotating pictures in your gallery as they've changed over the last year
and and I love what you said there about that about that ignition what is it in you that
that gets excited to connect with the earth because just like in human human relationships there's
got to be a draw there's got to be an excitement and so part of that is being honest about who you are

(59:43):
and and what it is that that inspires you and drives you and so that that that artistry that you
described there it is is a beautiful testament to an example of you know trying something and
see seen what happens within you so thank you Tim thank you everyone out there go check out

(01:00:04):
Tim's book the earth caretakers way you can find it on Amazon and you can also find it on the website
earth caretakers way and I also look forward to when the movie climate of awe is out so that you can
get more of a feel of what it's like to live and love with the land that that is head waters out

(01:00:25):
to our school until next time hey earthmate how did that episode resonate did it stretch you inspire
you or perhaps urqu you I'm here for it so please reach out besides the socials we have a community
to practice with on our website eartharchetypes.com where more earth archetypes can guide your path

(01:00:50):
and become dear friends a great place to start is the quiz to discover your type oh and on your way
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