Robin Easton - Author of Naked In Eden

Today I'm talking with Robin Easton, author of Naked In Eden. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Robin Easton, author of Naked in Eden. How are you, Robin? I'm great and excited to be here with you, Mary. I'm excited to have you. You are such an interesting person to me.

00:30
So tell me about yourself. What do you do? Oh, wow. That I've been listening to your podcasts and how you ask people that. And just, I was asking, they're great podcasts. I'm loving them. But anyway, I asked myself, well, what do I do? And I kept coming back to this line in my first book when I'm 25 in the jungle. And I'm, what do I do? And then the answer came, I feel.

00:59
You know, what do you do for a living, Robin? I feel. And it sounds an odd answer, but from that is born my music, my writing, my communication with other species, you know, my love of the earth, you know, everything that I am and do. And right now I'm writing, I'm kind of finishing up two books.

01:29
that I hope to get out this year. One is about all the incredible interactions I've had with other species and how it's changed my life, what I've learned, and how my own intelligence and awareness has just expanded more than I ever could have imagined through experiencing the intelligence of other species.

01:57
and their emotions, their ability for compassion and love and tenderness and just so much. And then the other book is kind of a look, I suppose, looking at the world, a woman who lives so much of her life, wild in the wild and places when I went in decades ago were very wild, were virgin forests and remote. You had to winch and could take, I mean, it was an ordeal sometimes just to get in there.

02:27
And then coming back out into my culture again and seeing the world again through wild eyes, because I very much went wild. And then another project I wanted to just touch on, but is I'm buying a piece of land. I've owned land before, but they were always bigger pieces, probably nothing

02:56
a small like six acres anywhere up to like in Australia, almost up to 200 acres. And they were wild and I didn't really have to do anything. I could just kind of move in and enjoy being there. But the place I'm buying now is one acre. It's in a rural area like they're small acreages with the people are all kind of

03:23
micro homesteaders. They have gardens and chickens and some nice docks and whatever. And it's a wonderful community. Like kind of back in the pioneer times where even though we're all on the grid, you know, it still has that feel where your neighbors say if you need anything, let us know. We'll come help. And I decided to do this, you know, this project. And so I'm

03:52
buying this acre, my partner and I, and we're going to turn it into a pollinator conservancy. And someone might say, one acre? Yes. You know, and so it's the first time where I bought a piece of land where one half is lawn and the other half is kind of was made into this extended kind of drive that's gravel and hard and it has a couple fruit trees, a little mini

04:21
great vineyard and a couple of trees. And it's like, what can I give back here? What life was driven from this acre? And that just touches me to tears, Mary. You know, what birds, what butterflies, what bees, what bats, what insects that are starved for homes and don't have them? What families?

04:51
were driven from this property. And how can I give back? And someone could think, one acre, what are you giving? Oh, we all need to give back. Even if we just have a balcony that has plants on it, flowers, you know, in a city. Even if we just have a quarter acre and we decide to plant organic.

05:19
lavender, organic things so the bees don't get harmed. Every little bit helps. And so right now, I mean, I'm coming from someone who used a hand crank washing machine, logged water from creeks and went without electricity, computers, phones, TV, radios for several, like decades. So now I have power.

05:49
It's an interesting, I mean, it's like it's making me grow in a different way. In terms of thinking, what can I give back now? You know, I'm, I'll be 71 in December and it could seem a huge project, but I want to do it, you know, I think it's great that you're going to do it. I think it's fantastic. And I get your, I get your, um, I don't know, bafflement at.

06:18
at really going from no technology to using technology because we here have obviously the internet at my house and we have TV and we have our computers and we have all the things but my favorite thing is just being outside and watching the sunrise and watching my dog play and my kittens run around. And so it's like I'm using this technology.

06:47
to promote old-fashioned things to do. Oh Mary, that is so brilliant and so beautiful. Oh my word, I just find that so exciting. You really are using it and I wanna get people to your podcast. They are brilliant. All these people, the way you're bringing them out, like you're bringing me out, drawing me out. And like I said, mentioned to you at one point,

07:17
are keeping alive a vitally important grassroots lifestyle movement that is still in touch with the earth and in touch with, you know, other species and humanity. And it's so important, Mary, I can't even begin to tell you. And so maybe it's not just so much about TV and all that. It's like you said, the sunset, the what you

07:45
are aware of and are giving back. That's beautiful, Mary. What you said. Well, honestly, you grew up in Maine, right? Yeah, I know. Me too. Me too. In the Pine Barrens of Maine. Yeah, I love that. You're about 50, 55 minutes south of me.

08:15
I think so. I think we talked about this before, but yeah, I grew up in in Steve Falls, Maine. Yes. I actually looked you up on the map and, you know, looked at where I grew up in Norway, Maine. You were just below some way. Yes. Yes. Yeah. We talked about this before. Yes. And I feel like you can't grow up in in that area without having an appreciation for nature. I swear to you.

08:45
You know, going on Facebook has been so amazing for me, reconnecting with high school friends that I haven't seen or been in touch with obviously for decades because I was so far out in the wild that that wasn't my lifestyle. But I have loved it. And one of the things that we all kind of keep saying over the last few years I've been connecting with them is

09:13
We were so blessed to grow up where we did in those pine forests and the woods and the lakes and the streams. I agree, Mary. And the blueberries and the lady slippers. And yes, I know. And the jack and the pulpits and the blue-purple violets. Oh, yeah. The wind through the pine branches. Oh, yeah.

09:43
Yeah, you can't grow up in the woods or in farm country and not be in touch with nature. It's just how it is. Yeah, and we used to walk to school and through the huge maples down our street. And I mean, it was just, we were the only time actually we weren't submerged in nature because both my parents were in love with nature.

10:13
and got us out into it all the time, but it was when I was in school. And I actually grieved when I had to go to school. You know, I'd be just, if there was a window and I could see the tops of trees, that's where I was in the tops of those trees. I believe it. So for people who don't know your story, you

10:42
You keep mentioning that you ran wild basically, but can you narrow that down and sort of clue people into what you're talking about? Yeah, when I was 25, I married an Australian man. And he was, I went back to Australia and we originally thought, well, he was gonna live in Sydney, in the country, near his family or whatever. But it...

11:09
The family dynamics were such that that just wasn't going to happen. And he basically wanted to run. And I was up for any kind of adventure basically, because I, you know, I graduated and people say, well, what's going to be your major? What are you going to be? You know, what are you going to do with, what are you going to become? What do you, you know, I had no idea. So the first year out of school, I took off and traveled through Europe alone. And

11:37
And then I came back and eventually I did a whole assortment of other things, but I married this man, I ended up, he said, that's it, I'm leaving. And someone told us about this jungle, this rainforest way up on the East coast. You know? And so we, we left the city and we headed North and ended up in the Daintree rainforest, which then was.

12:04
virgin rainforest. I mean, there was hardly anybody out there. You had Devo Winch and, you know, four-wheel drive just to get out there. And you'd go through these creeks and you'd see where someone had tried to get out there in a car or even just a regular truck that wasn't four-wheel drive. And the creek had washed their vehicle. They'd ended up hydroplaning trying to get across. And you'd see their vehicle, you know, downstream.

12:33
there were like, you know, steep drops there where the, you know, the creeks would go to just drop off like a waterfall. And so they leave the doors open to their vehicles so the river can just, the stream can flow right through their vehicle so it won't wash it further downstream and over the edge and out of sight. And so, you know, back then it was just really wild country and we got out there and we ended up on the beach and way up in Queensland, Daintree.

13:02
rainforest. And we drove back then, you could drive along the beach and hardpack sand and we winched up this little mini cliff, and basically lived out of the back. We had a tarp and out of the back of this Toyota truck, four-wheel drive truck. And that was just

13:32
absolutely free. It was like for the first time in my life that one of the reasons I thought I wanted it, I realized I wanted to know who I was, separate from all the shoulds and supposed to's and this is how it is and you know right down to well being told well there's a god. Well I don't know that.

13:58
So I started stripping away and looking at everything I didn't know for sure in myself. What it came down to, Mary, was nothing, you know? And then I started from scratch. I was terrified at first because there's so many potentially dangerous or deadly creatures there and plants or things. And from there,

14:27
I, okay, Robin, this is still the earth that is connected to Maine. Again, back to our beautiful Maine. And you love that earth. And you love this. Yes, even though there is this snake, that snake, you know, the paralysis tick and this and this and this. Can you become that big that you could, you know, love this?

14:56
And back then there weren't many books to learn about things. I think I had one book about identifying snakes. And there might've been a very skimpy kind of vague book on plants, you know, of the rainforest. And so it was through observation and literally step by step. And my ex-husband, he was first snake he saw, he was terrified. And so he tended to avoid.

15:24
rainforest. So all my excursions were on my own, which was actually, at the time, I thought was, shouldn't be that way. But now, later I grew to realize it was the best thing that could have happened because I had to face myself, face life on a much deeper level. And one of the things I saw, and I'm still so aware of, like even on my acre here is

15:51
You know, I was angry, all these things that could hurt me. Well, you know, they should just get rid of them. And I thought, Robin, that's not you. You love the woods and love the earth. And I thought, wow, what an attitude. And I thought, and then I started to understand humanity. So many people that have as a species, we have that.

16:14
view of something we don't like is dangerous or potentially deadly, let's just kill it, let's cut it down, let's get rid of it, eradicate it. Instead of learning about it, understanding its habits, its needs, its territory, you know, is it diurnal, you know, does it come out at night or day, you know, is it arboreal, you know, in the trees, you know, what, you know, what, what is, what does it need, what does it eat?

16:44
And slowly bit by bit, I merged myself into that world. And the main thing I learned was, oh, Robin, you're going to have to be as aware as everything else here. Because you see everything eating everything all day long, something is getting eaten. And then it was, oh my word, all these little beings.

17:14
They have to be aware all the time. That is their state of being. And yet they still play, they still love, they still warm themselves in the comfort of the sun. You know, they have moments of bliss and all of that. And so I thought, can I become part of this? Be that aware? And that was probably one of the

17:42
greatest gifts I gave myself in facing my fear was merging into that. Go ahead. That's amazing. So, so my next question after you relating all of that is how is it being not in the wild and, and still being aware like that? Oh,

18:12
That is a loaded, amazing question. I love how insightful and juicy aware you are. It's so delicious. Well, you know, what's come out of all this? So out here, like before I moved here, the place I'm buying, we rented for like five years and now we're in the process of buying it. But before that, I lived on.

18:42
in a little casita kind of in the foothills outside Santa Fe on this little small kind of mountain. And almost daily I went out and I hiked and slowly this whole herd of deer adopted me. Oh, talk about an experience. It was tragic having to leave there. But anyway, those deer would actually come down.

19:08
Like the big buck, he'd come down and stand outside my office window in the casita and wait for me to come out. I'd walk out, he would start up the mountain and just kind of look back to see if I was following. I never fed them, I never touched them, but if I was on the mountain, they would seek me out and just stand around me. Or if I found them on the mountain, they would just let me stand with them. And

19:38
in that they taught me a deeper level of empathy. So I finally really understand, and I'm still understanding it Mary, is how empathic I am and why my life was sort of different and so painful and why I just wanted to spend every waking moment in the woods as a kid and even young adult and even still.

20:07
but I'm much better at it now. But that was the only place I could find that was things were peaceful, lined up. They aligned with who I was. I didn't have to like feel pain. I didn't have to feel chaos coming at me or weirdness or, you know, hear other people's thoughts that weren't being spoken even. They were just, you know, like I tend to see people

20:37
and the other species on a soul level. And I guess by that more kind of the things that the deeper things they're feeling but maybe aren't telling people or that they're things they're going through whatever. But now, so this empathy thing being in this culture, so I think I was born with this, always had it. But now I'm aware of it.

21:04
The deer taught me to be very aware of it. And now I'm aware, okay, yeah, it can be very overwhelming and painful. People have trouble understanding that I love my quiet time alone. Like during COVID, it was like, oh, I could feel the world slowing down. I could feel the, oh, the bliss in that for me, Mary.

21:34
It was just like, I didn't miss all that. It was like, I love this and love the time alone and writing and playing. I'm also was a concert pianist at one time. My life can't read a note of music, but I started dreaming it in the rain forest and came out, sat down and started playing the piano like someone who did eight years of lessons or something. I love playing the piano.

22:04
You know, I just, there was space. I could feel something in the world. I mean, yes, the, there was tragedy with it all. No doubt. You know, I lost five friends, five of my closest friends during that time. And yet there was a piece that I loved Mary. And so my challenge, I guess today. Yes. Is being in this world and having compassion for myself. I no longer.

22:33
beat up on myself because things are painful or I'm uncomfortable in situations that I feel so fully. And I don't so much now need confirmation from that, I just know it's real for me. And I've since met other people that have similar, they are the same. And I don't even really have def-

23:01
Defenses it's not like you have defenses against it, but you I Guess could choose to pull back you can choose you know, I make more conscious choices around what I do what I don't do and Give myself space To be who and what I am and I spend a lot of time in nature Yeah, that's what I was wondering because

23:30
There are lots of people that I have known who do not know how to feel their feelings, process their feelings and move on. And a lot of the people that I've known in my life have things they do, so don't have to feel their feelings, whether they gamble or they drink or they do drugs. They never actually get real.

23:55
with how they feel about something and they never process it because they stomp it down. And for me, that's not what I do. I have been feeling my feelings since I have had feelings. And if I'm supposed to cry, if that's what I feel like I'm supposed to do, that's what I do. And if I feel like I'm supposed to laugh like a maniac, that's what I do. But I don't ever stuff feelings because stuffing feelings will kill you.

24:22
Oh, Mary, I just love you. I just love what you said then. I love how honest you are about it and about the whole aspect of so many people aren't feeling our feelings. I feel one, my second book that kind of is, I suppose, kind of social commentary, you know, like looking through wild eyes at our culture, but an aspect of that is I feel that even our.

24:51
psychology, our medicine can like, you know, even some of our spirituality can like, still be advocating or fostering us to bypass how we really feel. You know, we have to manage, get to it, fix it, make it right. Do you know, we got to do something with this, you know, instead of allowing, you know, and I don't mean we take

25:19
everything we feel out on other people. We are doing that, I feel, because we don't acknowledge how we feel and allow ourselves to grieve or even feel the bad feelings, like anger or hate or those emotions that we all can have that could be aggressive or whatever. I think when we do...

25:46
deny those feelings, that's when we act them out. Because we feel what we feel. We can't stop. I mean, we can eventually learn to choose what we do with what we feel. But I'm the same way. If I cry, I cry. I mean, I can be giving a talk, a public talk. If I cry, I'll shamelessly cry, you know? But listen, I've had people thank me for that.

26:15
And it's been mainly women just, oh, yeah, I love this and that. But a couple of men saying thank you for the first time in 30, 40 years, whatever. I cried, you know, and I'm like, oh, word. I think to Mary another, I'm the same way as you. That that is exactly I ever since my, I could feel I felt. And, and hunger too. It is not the feeling.

26:44
that frightens me, it's the thought of not being able to feel who and what I really am. You know, that's like a death. Yes, numb is not a great way to be in your life. It's just not. No, it's not. Do you know, Mary, I also think there's another, if you look at a collective or the human species, I feel right now.

27:13
for some time, we've been suffering an empathy. We're in an empathy crisis where we, when I merge with other species and I feel their intelligence, I feel like, oh, they're like me, my word. Yeah, I mean, to have like another female species, a deer or a wallaby, whatever, come and sit beside me just to be with me.

27:43
while I watch her Fonz play or her Joey, the little Wallaby's Joy jump around. It's like my word. She's just a mother coming here to sit with me, to be with me, to share. Like we're like two women sitting on a park bench sharing our lives. And when you start to see that, you have empathy. Or when we allow ourselves to feel what the other person is feeling.

28:14
then it makes it much harder to hurt them or cause any form of harm or damage or destruction. It is an absence. Absolutely, yes. It's that absence of feeling that allows us to commit heinous crimes against our own species, other species, the earth.

28:41
Yep. Okay, so I really want to ask this question and I'm probably, I might regret it, but I'm going to ask it anyway. How do you feel about where the earth is at right now? Because I have four kids and my oldest is a girl, she's 35, my youngest is a boy and he's going to be 23 in December. I'm very concerned about the world that I have brought them into.

29:08
And I don't know if the world's still gonna be here. How old are your kids? I lost you. It cut out a minute. How old are your kids, Mary? My daughter's 35. She's the oldest. Okay. And then my next two sons are 33 and 27. And then my youngest son is 22. And so what I'm concerned about is that there may not actually be a world for them to be living in in the next 50 years.

29:41
What do you think?

29:44
You know, that is a loaded question, I think, for any of us. I mean, I, I, no, I, I chose not to have kids. I came from a large family of eight and I mean, eight people, my six kids. And at one point my mom was really ill and I had to take care of the three younger ones. And so when I left home and that was at a young age. And so when I left home, I was like, Oh,

30:14
I am never having kids. It wasn't until I was like in my 50s that it was like, oh, I would like to have a kid. You know, I have a child now. You know, I could really give them something. But anyway, you know, I have asked myself that I have close friends that have children anywhere from four and family members to, yeah, the ages of your children. And...

30:44
I would be worried too. I'd be lying if I didn't say that. And I would also say.

30:56
that I'm online a lot, probably like you, and I have thousands of people that are, like on Facebook or with my blog, they are the most astounding people that are doing amazing things, and they are loving and kind. And as we've grown altogether, I call them my soul friends. And I did kind of...

31:24
don't like to say my readers, my followers, that's even cheesier for me. But, so my soul friends, they are even kind to each other. And this whole alchemy starts happening. And you know, where we're all like loving and supporting each other. I mean, if someone could think, how can you have hundreds and thousands of people? Yeah, you can. You can.

31:53
the smallest piece of land I've ever owned. And it's like, no, number one, the earth will, I believe, will take care of itself. It'll destroy us before we destroy it. But I do feel, Mary, that there is this whole movement underneath that is happening, but it does not get the press to use a, you know.

32:24
a crappy word, but this other does. But it is strong and it is there. And so many of these people are fighting for one cause or another. And we can't, none of us can do it all. But what I try to encourage is we each only have to do some part, do a part. Whether we're fostering

32:49
hope and love and faith in people or we're teaching people how to organic garden or we're you know teaching them better self-esteem or how to embrace all of themselves or we're teaching them how to grow fruit trees or or how to turn you know how to protect a forest like i did environmental work for a while you know and fought to protect certain areas and

33:18
There are just so many things that we all can do. Like this is why I cannot stress enough. The work you are doing is vital. And so we have to support people like you, people like me, people like all these people I've been talking about, my soul friends on the internet that are just incredible. And we have to reach out and connect in those ways like

33:47
on a grassroots level. I think the change at this point is going to have to come from within ourselves and within this movement, this grassroots movement. And keep in mind that unfortunately the press, the media, they give the biggest billing to the down and dirtiest

34:17
to the greatness that is happening. You know, my instinct is I want to say no, your kids will be fine. You know, and all you or I can do for our kids or each other is say find something you love and some goodness and put it into the world. You don't have to do it all, but just find even one thing.

34:47
and live it. Trust your gut, trust your heart and go for it. I mean, I'm 71 and people will say to me, you know, I get up every morning and I jog and people say, oh, you can't do that. You're 71. Well, I do, you know, and I work out and I am so much better off. I am training so that I can lift, dig trees for holes. I can lift sheets of plywood. I can do this conservancy, this pollinator conservancy.

35:18
and other things. Get out and speak and share my writings and my blog and teach and turn my garage into a learning center. You know, go and do the construction myself, you know, and turn it into a learning center. But to find our passion and do that, because it is so easy to get caught up in the message. We're going down. There's no hope, you know. And yes,

35:47
There is no doubt, call it whatever word you want, but evil forces in the world that are trying to dominate. But there is also so much goodness that is fighting for your kids, fighting for you, for me, and for the children and the generations to come. I really believe that. Well,

36:11
I really love your answer and I try really hard not to get too philosophical or too political on the podcast because it tends to get real weird real quick. But looking at things right now in the world, I have been a little anxious about what's coming down the pike and I thought who better to ask than the most lovely person I have ever had the joy of talking to other than Robin Easton because Robin will have an answer that will probably make me feel better.

36:43
just this what you and I are doing today. I mean you have inspired me so much and your podcast. I cannot wait to share you on Facebook, my blog. I mean the work you are doing, Mary, is, I mean not only is it just world class, it's excellent, but it is so important and so vital right now and I know about coming down the pike in that.

37:12
And so I say to myself and would say to my kids, look, I can either waste my thoughts and my physical or emotional spiritual energy. I know what's coming down the pike. I can just know you're going over there. Yep. And now I'm here. And what can I do to help? How can I help? How can I be the best me? How can I? What do I love doing that I could give the world?

37:42
Yeah, because otherwise I'm contributing to what's coming down the pipe. If that's all I focus on. Yeah, I'm not giving the world. Yep. Exactly. Oh, Mary. That's part of the reason I wanted to do the podcast. It's part of the reason I started this because I was like, people want to know about

38:09
growing things and growing animals and nature and making food and making things. And I was like, I do too. I want to know. So I was like, I'm going to start a podcast and ask all my questions of anyone who will answer them. It'll be so much fun and people will learn. That's why. Mary, absolutely. In fact, you've just reminded me of something. I thought, okay, so I have this Gryre gel there. It's not huge. And I thought, no, that's ridiculous.

38:39
keeping a car in that? No, no. And so I'll get a little carport or build one and, you know, myself and, how about I'm gonna insulate and do something in this garage where even if I just teach people how to eat healthy, or write anything, teach anything, Robin, it doesn't matter, talk to them, present the possibility and show them how you commune with other species without feeding them, without touching them.

39:08
so you don't rob their wildness. You know, that those species are actually capable of loving us without feeding them, without touching them. You know, or teach writing, teach music, teach anything that brings life. You know, that inspires life. And if we all just did that and stop saying to ourselves, oh, I couldn't do that, I'm not, like me. Mary, when I say,

39:37
What do you do for a living? I feel everything I've ever done, I had no training. Absolutely none. And when I went to perform music, people said, well, how can you do that? You haven't even had any lessons. Well, I've got music coming out. I'm playing the piano. That's like a no brainer. 100 years from now, who's gonna care whether some woman sat down and made a fool of herself at a concert?

40:05
two months out of the rainforest and I was doing a concert. And it was like, it was, it went incredibly well. You know, I, and I just talked with people and played music when it came out. And we have to stop thinking we have to be always trained or we have to be perfect. No, just start living. Just start living. Now more than ever.

40:35
You know, we can't tell ourselves all the negative messages. They aren't even ours. You know, Mary, to the point, long before there were university schools, human beings were creating music. I mean, chimpanzees were banging on hollow logs to, you know, let other communities of chimpanzees warn them there is, I mean, you know, I mean, we've been creating music, dancing, forms of art, writing for millennia.

41:05
You know, we got to dare to be new and fresh and brave and bold, you know? Yeah, we need to stop living in boxes. Oh, wow. Yeah.

41:21
That's what I think. We need to stop living in boxes.

41:26
I agree. And that's one thing I realized in the rainforest. Oh my word. I'm so boxed in. I don't even know who I am anymore. You know? Okay. What are, what are the boxes? What are the walls? What are the things that I've been hemmed in here?

41:44
And it takes courage because we can end up thinking we have no right. You know, we have no right to be that alive, that bold. Well, these times are demanding it. You know, so I say be bold.

42:00
Yep, I agree too. Robin, we've been talking for like more than 40 minutes. I'm going to let you go because I try to keep these to half an hour. I know. But I really appreciate you coming to talk with me. This was really fun. Oh, it was great for me, Mary. You're such an inspiration. I'm so honored and just so touched. Thank you. You have a great rest of the afternoon, okay?

42:30
Okay, you too. All right, bye. Bye.