Eric Alan is an author, photographer, lyricist, radio broadcaster, and workshop leader. He will talk with us about his books, Grace and Tranquility and Wild Grace: Nature as a Spiritual Path, in which he encourages the re-integration of nature into daily life.

Many of us seek to overcome the conscious and unconscious distancing from the natural world that is so difficult to avoid in our times. This presentation by Judith Lowry of Larner Seeds and Arvind Kumar of the California Native Plant Society describe a way to become a part of the more-than-human world, through joining the great returning of habitat taking place these days on Planet Earth.

From deep in the redwood forests of Big Sur to the craggy, pink-sand beaches of Sardinia, italy, Richard Olsen has visited and documented a wide selection of the greatest handmade houses built in the last century—during and before and since the back-to-the-land movement. 

Kay Lindahl, author, Certified Listening Professional, and founder of The Listening Center, focuses on the power of sacred listening - the art of becoming a listening presence, someone who can truly hear what the other is saying.

At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother's death, her family scattered and her own marriage soon ended. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she impulsively decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail—from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State—and to do it alone.

Facing the current economy, many people are rethinking their ideas about shelter — seeking an alternative to high rents or a lifelong mortgage debt to a bank on an overpriced home. In Tiny Homes, Bolinas author Lloyd Kahn presents the tiny homes (less than 500 sq. ft.) that 150 builders have created — on land,  on wheels,  on the road,  on water, even  in the trees. There are also studios, saunas, garden sheds, and greenhouses.

Former San Quentin inmate and wildlife photographer, Don Moseman, and English-born writer Mary Reynolds Thompson, know something about the healing power of nature.

Robert N. Bellah is a renowned author, international speaker, and Elliott Professor of Sociology Emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley.