Stories of the Oath

Welcome to the Oath blog! Explore stories by the Oath team, guest authors, and members of the Troublemaker community!

Courtney Williams Courtney Williams

A Pen As Mighty As The Steward: How Words Shape Our World

We tend to think of language as something we apply after experiencing reality, but words not only bring depth and detail to our understanding, they can pre-condition our perspectives and steer our attention, in a way shaping our reality. 

The difference between “there’s a bird!” and “there’s a cedar waxwing!” shows us the power of names. It paints a clear picture creating a more vivid memory. This level of detail offers a new opportunity for deeper connection. If you know the names of birds, plants, cloud types, and native grasses the land becomes more legible and relatable.

Like all things, even words change over time. Their meaning, relevance, and utility can transform, fade, or regain purpose as culture, technology, and focus shift across languages. What happens when a word disappears?

In the same way that milkweed is precious to the monarch, as a home and a hearty meal, patterns within our vocabulary hold vital significance to our ideas and understanding of the world. A concept can easily go extinct if our perspectives, histories, and attention cease to make space for the words that define it.

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Resources, Stories, Oathology Courtney Williams Resources, Stories, Oathology Courtney Williams

Cultivating Joy: The Science of Gardening and Stewardship

In this next chapter of Oathology, we shift from reflection to direct action: showing how engaging with nature can heal the mind, body, and build community. We will dive deep into the science behind joy and human kindness, and how this ties into the healing and beneficial connection to our eco-community (plants, animals, etc). In centering this goodness we can then explore some nuance of decolonized ecological practices.

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Resources, Stories, Oathology Courtney Williams Resources, Stories, Oathology Courtney Williams

The Wild Art of Belonging

The year-long series continues as we drop into the inspiring world of Queer Ecology. We will explore the vibrant world of identity, fluidity, and community in the natural world through a queer ecological lens. 

This isn’t necessarily just for queer-identifiying LGBTQIA2S+ folks, but for any readers who feel their unique experience is often oppressed through colonial structures and societal pressures. We will celebrate symbiosis and companionship in nature as a mirror for human identity and expression. 

In a world that demands certainty in the forms of definable borders, binary choices, fixed identities, nature offers a radical alternative. Queerness is not an exception, but rather and essential life-giving force of nature. 

At its core, queerness offers a radical framework for showing up authentically, supporting others in the ways we do best, and cultivating spaces of discovery, joy, and mutual growth.

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Oathology, Resources Courtney Williams Oathology, Resources Courtney Williams

Oathology: Bring Us Back to Nature, Rooting into Connection

This piece invites readers to not only reflect on their place in nature, but also consider how active stewardship and engagement with the land can foster deeper joy and connection. 

Readers can explore the process of rooting into their connection to the planet, the cosmos, and their own inner world. This is introductory ethnoecology of the self and your local ecosystem.

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Oathmeal, Resources Jose Gonzalez Oathmeal, Resources Jose Gonzalez

The OATHmeal: Being a Responsible Fire Tender

There was a time when coconut water was the hot new thing, both in terms of hype but also in terms of it being added to many other things. And in some ways it still is, though I think mushrooms have taken that place (as I take sip of my mushroom coffee.) 

Thus the title of today’s Oathmeal and how Decolonizing was showing up all over the place and on many things, like Decolonizing Your Syllabus to Decolonizing Your Diet. 

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Oathmeal, Resources Jose Gonzalez Oathmeal, Resources Jose Gonzalez

The OATHmeal: Decolonizing, not the New Coconut Water

There was a time when coconut water was the hot new thing, both in terms of hype but also in terms of it being added to many other things. And in some ways it still is, though I think mushrooms have taken that place (as I take sip of my mushroom coffee.) 

Thus the title of today’s Oathmeal and how Decolonizing was showing up all over the place and on many things, like Decolonizing Your Syllabus to Decolonizing Your Diet. 

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