Meet Rachel Zetah Becker | Artist & Death Doula

We had the good fortune of connecting with Rachel Zetah Becker and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, how do you define success?
For me, success is the ability to enjoy and learn from what is available to me in the present moment. Success is also remembering to trust — in myself, my body, my loved ones, and in greater mysterious forces. Success is resting. Celebrating, and honoring. Success is being able to give and receive generously. Success is sharing food, music, stories, and laughter together. Success is sharing and living from what is true. Success is relaxing into time.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I tend to think a lot about the psycho-spiritual and ecological conditions of our society, and my art practice is a way for me to explore my curiosities, experiences and observations in a physical way. I get a lot of satisfaction from making things. I think the human creation of “trash” is fascinating and I often end up centering it in my work, offering an opportunity for others to relate to these discarded fragments in new contexts.

I started out doing graphic design after college, and ended up living and working at Drala Mountain Center (north of Fort Collins) for a year & a half. While living there I was learning a lot about intentional community, religious ritual, and meditation, while simultaneously processing a lot of grief and anger in the wake of sexual assault. As someone who had grown up in a non-religious household, I became really interested in the concept of “sacred space” and had the idea to start an art project called Church of Earth — an experiment in starting my own religion, focused on healing our human relationships with the Earth, with each other, and with our own bodies.

Church of Earth bloomed into a series of community art shows, workshops, zines, re-purposed clothing projects, artworks, along with a monthly newsletter (Earthling News!), and a brief podcast experiment (Altared States).

I’ve learned so much from this project and all the people that became involved with it. By the time the pandemic began, I was burnt out. I went into hibernation in a lot of ways and re-evaluated many of my beliefs and approaches to social & environmental activism.

After doing a 2-year study in Interfaith Ministry, I became drawn to End of Life care, and am now starting a business as a Death Doula. Making space to work with death and dying has been a relief for me. As someone who is familiar with experiences of grief, loss, anxiety, and also healing and renewal, I hope to empower others to access tools, resources, and support for navigating what can be very disorienting and profound transitions. Within that I intend to be part of the movement towards honest, healthy cultural relationships to death and grief that are buoyed and fortified by joy, creativity, and belonging.

Ultimately in my work, through its many forms, I hope to support others in facing what’s been avoided, honoring our pain, celebrating our joy, and building deep, meaningful relationships with Earth’s wild and essential processes of transformation.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I love to be outside so regardless of the time of year I’d take friends out to explore and enjoy the seasons. I live on the Western Slope — if my best friends were visiting me here in the spring or summer, I would love to take them on a bike ride up to the reservoir for a day of swimming and exploring in the sun, or hang out somewhere along the Colorado River. Later we could grab some delicious baked goods at Breadrock Bakery in Rifle, followed by 2 for 1 martinis at Miner’s Claim in Silt. 🙂 In the winter I would take them snowboarding at Sunlight Mountain and underground for a steam at the Vapor Caves.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Thank you Takeo for helping me grow, get stronger, and take responsibility for myself in ways I couldn’t have predicted. Thank you to my friends for the laughter and counsel and dancing on this wild adventure. Thank you to my family and the mountains, water, sun, trees, and countless other beings and elemental forces that make my life possible and constantly renew my spirit.

Website: www.rachelzbecker.com , www.churchofearth.us

Instagram: @rachelzbecker , @church.of.earth

Other: Subscribe to my seasonal newsletter, Earthling News! https://us16.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=90f85448a67b1c6b0dd6c8247&id=19d2c2d843

Image Credits
Ellie Steward, Rachel Zetah Becker