Episode 80
Kathy Karn - For the Grace of Elephants & What They Can Teach Us About LOVE
June 23rd, 2021
49 mins 31 secs
Your Host
Tags
About this Episode
I met Kathy Karn through Seth Godin's digital writing program and we “virtually” fell in love. I became fascinated with her experience with Elephants and moved by her tender and compassionate heart.
Kathy is a visual storyteller, a photographer and conservationist. After 30 plus years as a trauma therapist, she instinctively sought images that reflected resilience, beauty and wholeness, she's primarily a wildlife photographer, although international travel images and people compose half of her image archives, including the iconic animals of east Africa, particularly elephants who have profoundly impacted her work.
Fueled with spirit she's attracted to the wisdom of indigenous cultures. She loves wandering off the beaten path and her camera allows her to focus on specific gestures, connection, or implied story. When she travels to make pictures, she pushes through her natural shyness seeking more. Differences and barriers melt away and curiosity and wonder reign.
She hopes her images are a reminder that there is goodness and beauty in the world. She believes people and nature are inextricably linked. She's horrified by the degradation of the environment and the threat to our planet. Photography is a way of seeing. Which can teach and inspire people to care. When we care, we're more inclined to protect.
If her stories and images inspire readers to take steps towards making the world a better place.
She believes if we take care of nature, Nature will take care of us. When we save wild places, we save ourselves.
When she’s not traveling, she's at home with her husband in London, Ontario, Canada, or on the shores of the Georgian bay, the sixth great lake. She's grateful for family and friends. They are the wind beneath her wings. Creativity is an essential daily practice and there is much to celebrate in her life.
- We all have a unique perspective to offer the world. When we don’t judge our contribution or compare it, we realize it’s relevant and important, and our own life's work can stand on its own.
- The divine choreography that led Kathy to the front lines of animal wildlife and led her to effortlessly find elephants who were often challenging for others to locate and experience.
- Why photography is her medium for fostering compassion and connection.
- Why animals have so much to teach us about our own humanity and the interconnectedness of life.
- Kathy shares how she gives herself permission to travel and pursue her passion while her husband supports her in doing this from his home base.
- How investing in “funding” your soul work gives you the biggest return on investment.
- Hear about “A room of One’s Own” a metaphor for traveling solo into new territories to be with your own wonder up close and personal.
- How conservation and climate change is a part of Kathy’s ongoing work.
- How she came to meet and love Big Tusker Tim and what elephants have taught her about grief and love and connection.
- Kathy shares about the loss of her own mother and how she came into the realization of her own grief.
- Why the loss of the Matriarch is such a profound event and rite of passage both for humans and elephants.
- Hear about the moment of Revelation that Kathy experiences as the veil between the animal world and the human world lifts and she catches a glimpse of what it means to honor and witness these profound moments of our lives through animal medicine.