As the saying goes, 'If we do what we've always done, we'll get what we've always got'. So how can we do it differently?
It may be that pressing on relentlessly with more and more doing will be adding to the problem rather than birthing the solution. In which case, how we can open up to deeper sources of choosing and acting, a broader repertoire of knowing perhaps? It's about giving attention not just to the outward expression of who we are and how we can fix our broken world, but also to the inner dimension of ourselves and all our relations, as we learn to be together, at times without an agenda, and grope our way towards what Jen calls the Radical Reunion of All Life.
It seems increasingly clear to me, and to many I speak with, and the commentators I listen to, that our current institutions and systems are not adequate to the task of bringing about an inner and outer transformation that is fair for both people and planet, and far-reaching enough to meet the multiple crises on our doorstep. If the traditional hierarchies are no longer fit for purpose, that means it's down to us, at the grassroots, to find ways to come together to co-create a more beautiful world, and to step into our true power.
By noticing the abundance that's already here, pausing when taking action, listening deeply to our empathic heart that leads us into life and more life... are these some of the ways we can re-organise, restore, and recalibrate in order to step up to this evolutionary moment? Perhaps these new formations will be more like organisms than organisations, as we take our cue from the regenerative and infinitely wise cycles of nature.
The big question then is – how will we do it? How will we join together? As we shed the structures and the habits that no longer serve us or our planet, we are stepping largely into unmapped territory. Fortunately there are pioneering individuals and groups (including many of you reading this) who have been applying their hearts and minds to some of these very questions, tilling the soil for new ways to germinate and grow.
Our intention here is to curate some of these emerging social technologies, paving the way for genuine empathy, justice, and right relationship. It's about calling forth the cultural creative in us all or, to borrow a phrase from Mary Oliver's famous poem Wild Geese, inviting the soft animal of your body – and of each and every body – to truly love what it loves.
Join us in Re-Imagining Power Together, as we call on our highest wisdom. Part training, part collective inquiry, the aim is to address the question of how we can rise to the challenges of our times, finding, not only a way of doing it differently, but also simply being together in new, more loving, and more connected ways.
We'd love to hear your thoughts – please comment below.
With thanks to Shona and Jen for help with putting this piece together.