Greetings!
This notice is about noticing. Why? Because I feel as if I’ve been put on notice. And I have noticed that I’m not the only one. It’s coming up in all kinds of places.
For example, in Charles Massey’s recent book, Call of the Reed Warbler, he notes an “emergent mindset,” one that works in service of life rather than trying to control it. This mindset has been slow to catch on in Western culture yet it is on the increase, something he explores through great storytelling in his book.
I noticed that it is hard to pin down the ideas behind this mindset because it’s not fully here yet. That’s the tricky thing about emergence – its not-yet-hereness – something I mused about on the blog (in Loving Emergency) a couple years back. On reflection, I notice that even my awareness of emergence is emergent. When I wrote that post, my emphasis was on the need to love emergence versus not loving it or even dreading it, although it can feel scary. When I reread the post now, I wonder if my (not quite emerged) emphasis was on the emergence of loving as an idea in and of itself. As in, an emergent way of looking out for one another may be in order and that is a kind of love. So “Loving” in the post’s title becomes an adjective, not a verb. Something to notice, perhaps.
I am calling a lot into question. I still believe there is great potential in all we do. I am not despairing (at least, not all the time). But I am noticing things and letting them influence my thinking rather than clinging to what I thought before. I am letting go of ideas I have spent a lot of time with if they don’t hold up anymore. And I am looking closely at the world around me, taking note. Sometimes this reveals delightful things, such as in this little YouTube vignette of a downy woodpecker and a few other characters noticed on an evening walk in Montréal.
Another example of what I’m noticing are the provocative calls from Integrity Architect Dr. Christine McDougall who posts stunning (visually, and viscerally) sunrises and accompanying ideas most days, here and here. Spending a few minutes each day reading her reflections often confirms emergent steps on my own path.
And the writing of Jem Bendell, in particular his essay Deep Adaptation which was withheld from its intended journal because it was deemed too likely to dishearten readers, has caused this sustainability professional to stand up and take notice. I first read it almost a year ago and have reread it several times and also discussed it at length with many colleagues since then. This thinking challenges me to be truthful about the likelihood of societal – as we currently understand “society” anyway – collapse in the face of run away climate change, and to then recognize what we can relinquish and restore.
That last paragraph (not to mention the linked essay) may feel a little overwhelming or abrasive, but I have noticed that it feels better to take in new information and consider the options than to tuck it aside and speed along in the wrong direction. Bendell notes in the essay that taking stock of the full breadth of the data:
“has not led to apathy or depression. Instead, in a supportive environment, where we have enjoyed community with each other, celebrating ancestors and enjoying nature before, then looking at this information and a possible framing for it, something positive emerges.”
I can relate to this feeling. It’s a difficult read, to be sure, but I felt empowered by the truth of it. I am having a slow reaction, but a positive one nonetheless.
Next month I will be speaking at a conference in São Paulo – Conexão Carbono Zero –exploring business innovation and climate change. I notice that I am feeling nervous about my presentation with these emergent ideas in my mind and a renewed inclination to speak difficult truths. I have been on the edge of this before and have typically submitted to my deeply held cultural norm of not upsetting apple carts. Yet this is a chance to cultivate a new cultural norm, one that perhaps appreciates apples beyond the cart.
Curiously, some of my inspirations for such new norms are less than half my age, comprising the likes of Greta Thunberg and the climate strikers. Where I have in the past been quick to dismiss youthful stridency (to the degree of gently heckling podcasters promoting the youth activists), I’m now adapting my approach.
I guess you might say that I noticed that I received a notice. And I’m taking notes.
Yours in connectedness,
Lorraine
