What Do We Value? ‒ Exclusive Interview With Amanda Feaver
Updated: May 25, 2023
Amanda Feaver lives nestled between the ocean and the mountains of the Pacific Northwest in the United States. She is a climate-aware psychotherapist. Her work focuses on regenerative relationships between humans and regenerative relationships between humans and the more-than-human world. She draws from the principles of Attachment theory, Deep Ecology, and Permaculture and is inspired by wisdom teachings across many traditions. Amanda believes that for people to expand into a full experience of living, we must collectively reawaken to our belonging within the community of all beings on this planet. Nothing makes her happier than healthy soil and deeply resilient ecosystems.
Amanda co-founded a daily text subscription service designed to help members attune and expand amidst their busy lives. You can find out more at cosmicyou.life.
Amanda Feaver, Therapist
For readers who don’t know you, who is Amanda Feaver?
I am a climate-informed therapist working at the intersection between psychology, ecology, and spirituality. My work with clients focuses on cycles of life and death, joy and grief, and how we can cultivate regenerative relationships with each other and the more-than-human world.
What’s something outside of work that you immerse yourself in?
I spend much of my free time cultivating a forest garden around my house. There’s something incredibly nourishing about being with the more-than-human world, noticing plants, noticing animals, touching the soil, learning from the wisdom of life; it keeps me present and full of gratitude.
What inspires you about your work?
Well, life inspires me. This planet and all the possibilities of engaging with life light me up inside. I find so much joy in regenerative systems; the principles and practices that make human relationships healthy are transferrable to our relationships with the more-than-human world. When we learn secure functioning from a foundation of curiosity and compassion, we can cultivate safety and collaboration wherever we are. This takes work, but everything is work, so why not do the work of developing healthy relationships and healthy systems?
What do you wish people would be more aware of?
Cycles of life and death. We are going to die. Relationships end, civilizations collapse, and these bodies will eventually stop working. We avoid thinking about this, but if we could embrace death, we could get clear on what’s important to us. We don’t have infinite time; we have limited time. And the more we realize this, the more we can choose to exchange our time for what we value. In a culture of endless distraction and anesthetizing overconsumption, it’s hard to figure out what we deeply value, and it’s even harder to say no to everything else. But time is our most precious commodity; we are trading it for something, and we can’t get it back once it's gone. Getting clear on our individual and collective values is imperative; transcendent values carry us through challenging times; they allow us to focus on more than just ourselves. How do love, compassion, courage, justice, belonging, collaboration, fidelity, truth, beauty, and goodness shape us? How does pursuing the wisdom of these things help us during this time of global ecological, social, and political change? The other part of the cycle is life. So just as relationships end, new ones begin; civilizations do collapse, but new civilizations emerge; everything ages and dies, but life is also always happening. If we can accept change as always present, we can loosen our grip; we can partner with the planet in her cycles of life and death and life. This a relational world; we are constantly invited to notice interconnectedness. When we step away from presence, we step away from the only thing that is: our relationship with life right now. It is now that we can be with. If you forget, let your breath remind you, let the beat of your heart remind you, let the trees and the wind and the birds remind you. Even in times of great challenge, we can cultivate an inner calm that allows us to persevere and create.
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