Beginning each interview with prayer, Stan Rushworth and Dahr Jamail have nurtured a collection of stories, insights, and hope from the perspective of Indigenous narrators as we all confront the realities of climate change and other human-based damage to our Earth. During a conversation with Susan Eirich, the authors of We Are the Middle of Forever shared their personal experiences during the making of the book.
Susan: The wholeness of the book feels like it’s put together from a place of honor and love. It feels like a ceremony.
Stan: It’s about ceremony in the sense that it’s about prayer. The spirit of the compositions for each interview is based on love and respect. Respect is at the center of it all. In that light, every conversation in this book is a ceremony.
Dahr: I can’t think of a better way to describe it. That’s the essence: love for the earth, love for each other, and then honoring what each of these people talked about. It’s medicine.
Stan: It truly is medicine. For us, it’s been an educational process in the middle of this labor of love. The conversations we’ve had with each person, how they’re dealing with generations of trauma and still opening to positivity and belief that society can change, and then juxtaposed with the hard mechanics of dealing with publishing, marketing, promoting.
Dahr: As we’ve been working on this, I’ve felt changed. The power of these conversations has led to deep introspection. I want to live more closely with nature, and I’ll be traveling in the back country for several months now that our book is out. I avoid going into town.
Stan: That’s something we haven’t talked about, Dahr. How we’ve been moved, and how the stories keep popping up and reminding us as we go about our usual days.
Susan: The energy behind this book, the intent, the content—obviously you can feel the lovingness from both of you wanting to help make things different and better for all Life. Thank you.
