A beginning

Hello, dear reader,

Well, here I find myself starting something new — which is, as ever a continuation of that which has come before it; a new chapter, perhaps. Emerging in unknown ways like a cell in a mycelial network, as an expression of hope; an intention, an offering, a prayer.

A time of planetary crisis

One can be in little doubt that we are living in a time of profound and critical planetary change; a time in which many of the vital systems that surround us, and of which we are a part, are deteriorating and destabilising with immense speed and non-linearity.

Month on month, we experience greater evidence of a breakdown in our global climate system: rising average temperatures, an increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, melting of our glaciers and sea ice, intensifying ocean acidification, alongside clear indications that some of the Earth’s most vital, large-scale climate-stabilising weather systems, including the North Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation, are slowing down with early indications of collapse.

Alongside these changes, we see precipitous biodiversity loss, extensive ecological degradation, growing food and water insecurity, escalating geopolitical instability and violence, rising debt and market volatility, increased population displacement, widening economic inequalities, heightened rates of chronic illnesses, alongside growing incidence of depression, addiction, hopelessness and even suicide.

A new word, “polycrisis,” has entered the English language as an attempt to describe this suite of deeply interconnected stresses—ecological, social, cultural, economic and political, which are unfolding synergistically across our planet; each reflective of the ways in which we, as industrialised Humanity, have lost connection with that which is most essential for us to survive, and thrive.

A clear and robust volume of science underscores that which indigenous communities have been naming for centuries; that if we do not radically change the ways that we are living and relating to ourselves, to one another, and to the natural world, life on our precious planet will be impacted in unfathomable and irreversible ways. Indeed, many eminent scientists and researchers already perceive our ecological, social, cultural, economic, and political systems to be in a process of widespread, if staggered, collapse.

“This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” — Chief Seattle, 1854

Coming into relationship with this reality

It can feel overwhelming and isolating to come to terms with this reality, particularly when there seems to be so little acknowledgement of its truth or existential importance from the majority of our mainstream media, politicians or business leaders. Instead, the “powers that be” appear to be in some sort of feverish race to the bottom - chasing economic returns and new oil fields, ravaging the Earth’s natural systems as if they were not our very lifeblood, and engaging in the most heart-wrenching of violence.

Just as the planet is facing instability at a macro-level, so are a multitude of our own lives feeling unstable in many different ways. In response, it is easy to feel shut down by despair or hopelessness, to retreat into numbness or denial, or to find refuge in the hope that someone else will come up with the “solutions”. I know that I have felt each of these responses in myself, many a time. Yet I also see that in each of these responses, I am locating any agency, or capacity for change, outside of me, and disconnecting myself from the whole of which I am an intrinsic part. 

Over the last 20 years, as I have studied and worked on this nexus of challenges in many different ways, I have found myself circling back, again and again, to the question of where transformative change really comes from? This question has taken me to farmer’s fields, remote villages, board rooms, slums, red light districts, royal palaces, government offices, university lecture halls, retreat centres, and to temples and shrines of every faith.

I have found myself in personal crisis more than once, reconstellating in the process as I find that so many of the fragmentations and fractures I perceive outside of myself exist within me. That my inner and outer realities are intimately connected, and affect one another in every moment. That I am a part of the very systems that I wish to see change; that all of us are. I have increasingly come to believe that here exists great potential for healing, transformation and evolution.

“What we are doing to the forests of the world is but a mirror reflection of what we are doing to ourselves and to one another.” – Mahatma Gandhi

From Emergency to Emergence

Collapse and emergence are intimately connected. While on the surface there appear to be crushingly few signs of real change in response to our planetary crisis, there are a multitude of initiatives, innovations, healing processes and insights, emerging across the world and constellating like shimmering stars across an inky black sky. Individuals, communities and new forms of organisations who, like the imaginal cells within a caterpillar’s metamorphosing body, are birthing new possibilities and ways of being in relation to ourselves, each other and the Earth. In doing so, they are reviving and reweaving the sacred thread that connects Humanity, Humus, and Humility.

With this space, my hope is to explore these potentialities while staying grounded in our present day reality; to highlight inner and outer journeys, stories and projects that can inspire hope; and to explore ways for each of us to become greater participants in this emergent process. It is also to share the perspectives of “way finders” — those who are offering more expansive, supportive ways of relating to what is unfolding. It is to create space for the possibility that we are not living in a tomb, but in a womb.

If you are reading this, I am so happy you are here, and I look forward to exploring these questions, relationships, and possibilities with you in service of a healthy, resilient and whole humanity and planet.

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References

https://www.ipcc.ch

https://www.unep.org/facts-about-nature-crisis

https://climate.copernicus.eu/record-warm-november-consolidates-2023-warmest-year

https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/extreme-weather/

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adk1189

https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/what-is-the-sixth-mass-extinction-and-what-can-we-do-about-it#:~:text=What%27s%20causing%20the%20sixth%20mass,energy%20use%2C%20and%20climate%20change.

https://www.unwater.org/publications/un-world-water-development-report-2020

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/04/water-world-run-out-planet-hotter-looming-crisis/ 

https://www.reuters.com/business/global-debt-hits-new-record-high-313-trillion-iif-2024-02-21/

https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/global-balance-sheet-2022-enter-volatility

https://publications.iom.int/books/world-migration-report-2022

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rising-inequality-a-major-issue-of-our-time/

https://www.health.com/depression-rates-higher-than-ever-things-to-change-7501286

https://www.kff.org/mental-health/issue-brief/a-look-at-the-latest-suicide-data-and-change-over-the-last-decade/

https://cascadeinstitute.org/polycrisis/

https://www.postcarbon.org/publications/welcome-to-the-great-unraveling/

https://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdfhttps://www.lifeworth.com/deepadaptation.pdf

https://jembendell.com/2023/04/08/breaking-together-a-freedom-loving-response-to-collapse/