Since that walk I’ve become aware of the disquiet of so many who say the way we live in today’s world is no longer working, the system has exceeded its limits and is past its use-by date. When I think of the plight of so many creatures disappearing from the world and communities living under stress, or the pollution of our oceans, fresh water disappearing, soils turning to desert and our atmosphere heating up, I agree. But, I can’t agree that the situation is hopeless and we have to keep going down this destructive path. Neither do I agree the world is a depressing place.
Life is amazing and precious. It fills me with the spirit of action, of refusing to slip quietly into oblivion or worse, consign our kids and their kids to a harsh future. No, my love of this tiny blue dot we inhabit in a fathomless, tumultuous universe is too great to sit quietly while we wreck it. I recognise my smallness and laugh at myself all too often to have any sense of great power, but I know I must speak out. I will keep sharing stories and encouraging people to stand up for a better world, one where all life, human and other than human can flourish. I know all change happens in an instant. I learned that on my walk and I know that the ripples of change that each of us contribute into our net of relationships can bring change in far more momentous ways than we can ever imagine.
I hope you’ll buy my book and join The Rescope Project which I have helped found to support people to regenerate the systems and stories we live by. The Rescope Project is a registered charitable organisation and all profits from book sales will be dedicated to furthering its work
Once our walk finished, I had to set out on a second journey to understand what had happened to me. Two organisations were largely instrumental in providing the answers:
The first, Resurgence, is an internationally renowned magazine and Debby and I have become life members. You can read their Vision statement here
The second, Schumacher College, is the educational institution where Debby and I enrolled to gain scientific and philosophical insights to contextualise the physical experience we’d had.
As their website says: “All of our courses are deeply grounded in an ecological and holistic worldview which, once experienced, will completely transform the way you live and work in the world.” Visit their website here