Earthkeeping is the most important work we are being called
to awaken to at this time in our global history.
~ Eileen Pardini

Summer 2010 | Fremont Parks & Recreation E-Newsletter
Becoming More Connected and Intimate

I am a lover of the Earth and it has become my mission to inspire others to develop a more intimate, quality relationship with the Earth and others, which I believe is key to our planet’s healing and the creation of a sustainable society. Relationships, intimacy, compassionate communication, mindfulness, sustainability, whole earth thinking, ancestral reverence, and wild creativity all play a part in the work that I do. I call it earthkeeping.

                     -Eileen Pardini, Earthkeeper

The Dreamers of San Francisco series:
Eileen Pardini is earth keeping
Friday, April 16, 2010 | examiner.com | View the full article online.

It is not often you meet a goddess. But if you are so blessed your world view will be forever changed, forever imbued with beauty, curiosity and a propensity to live life authentically and mindfully. Eileen Pardini is just that rare being whose sole (and soul) purpose is to love, serve and protect the earth and all who reside on it. This is not an easy path but for one like Eileen, who has dedicated her life to the task, there was never a choice but rather a civic responsibility as a global citizen. “I believe that we all need to become earthkeepers, that it is our sacred duty for as long as we are allowed to be here. The health of the Earth mirrors the health of our relationships, and thus the quality of our relationships is key to the future of our sacred planet.”

And there is certainly no rest for the weary. After completing her graduate degree in Consciousness Studies from John F. Kennedy University, Eileen decided to launch a website promoting this work centered around Earth sustainability, interpersonal communication, conflict resolution, Earth intimacy, and collage as art therapy. She calls it Earthkeeping. “With respect to current projects, I am coordinating a community effort to fold one thousand origami paper cranes to send to the United Nations on International World Peace Day this year in September. At monthly folding circles we engage in the mindful practice of origami while communing with other peace-loving individuals. It is also an effort combined with collecting donations for the Alameda County Community Food Bank.” Eileen is also hosting an Earth Day event providing an opportunity for community to publicly express gratitude for the Earth. Her dream is that this sort of honoring will take place regularly all over the planet, not just on Earth Day.

With so much active vision, you could imagine Eileen’s dreams are as vivid and magical as her waking life. And you’d be right. Eileen explains “Dreams play a very important role in my life. I record my dreams in a special journal and am always intrigued by what shows up each night. I know they contain hidden messages that want to be acknowledged. I have had some incredible dreams that continue to haunt long after they have occurred. Just this week I had a mysterious dream involving a beautiful Easter cactus, which come to fund out, symbolizes rebirth. I have had a dream where I was actually surfing in moving mud. In another, I am rescuing giant frogs immobile on their backs in mud.” However it was probably this particular disturbing dream that reflects her concern for social issues and the need for the sacred feminine. “I was dancing in a courtyard with several other women. We are all holding flowers as we dance and surrounded by men dressed in military uniforms holding machine guns pointed at us. I sense that we are hostages. I escape to the back of the courtyard where I am trying to submerge a flag in a body of water. I next find myself running through a forest to escape captors. It feels like a war scene and very terrifying. I love the process of sharing dreams.”
For all Eileen gives of herself, she certainly is blessed living here in the San Francisco Bay Area with her two beautiful daughters and wonderful husband and partner of over 27 years, Ron Pardini. Eileen loves being a mother and enjoys learning and being inspired by her children. “Our life is filled with exotic fruits and vegetables from the ten farmers’ markets that Ron founded in the Bay Area. All of us work for Urban Village Farmers’ Market Association. It is a family affair.” Her love for this area is deeply reflected in how she lives “I have lived here since I was about three years old. I love this special place with every fiber of my being. It has much to do with shaping who I have become and my core values. All the major transformative events of my life have occurred here. I like to think that the essence of California is a part of my essence and vice versa.”

Spoken like a true Earth Goddess.

Eileen Pardini, MA holds monthly SoulCollage® workshops, an intuitive and creative practice for honoring one’s story, dreams, soul. SoulCollage® is a practice where one becomes more intimate with oneself, and which increases one’s compassion for all fellow beings that we share this planet with. She also offers quarterly Naikan retreats where individuals can spend a day reflecting on their relationships with others and the Earth. Naikan is a gratitude practice similar to yoga, meditation or prayer. The cultivation of gratitude is one of the central components of earthkeeping. Private mediation sessions, earth-centered team building retreats, and other earth intimacy practices, are also available. To learn more about Earthkeeping and other current projects please visit her website at http://www.eileenpardini.com

As dreams are the healing songs
from the wilderness
of our unconscious—
So wild animals, wild plants, wild landscapes
are the healing dreams
from the deep singing mind
of the Earth.
                                          -Dale Pendell