Regenerative Consciousness
Dancing ecstaticly across the country showed me that I could grow beyond what I even imagined to be possible for me. From shyly moving my shoulders back and fourth in the corner to embracing my social contact dance passion surrounded by friends in my fullest infinitely creative expression, I bloomed. In the reflection of my transformation, my capacity to learn and the joy of that development process is demonstrated to me every time I dance. Awareness of this capacity to grow and the joy contained in it is what I call regenerative consciousness.
Dear readers, each of you have experienced this kind of growth, though your awareness of it may vary. With this article, I intend to bring a vision of your personal, and our global, regeneration to crystalline clarity. Thereby, spreading regenerative awareness. I will be using consciousness and awareness interchangeably as their distinctions are subtle.
Personal regeneration can be found in the ways our bodies heal, so many of my friends have healed their injuries through yoga and physical therapy. So many colleagues and fellow students have expanded their capacity to understand advanced concepts in all areas to such a degree that they have become pivotal contributors in their fields. In the simple things too, getting better at a sport, or becoming more social. In all these ways we grow. This growth occurs naturally, and supports our life’s intricate wonder. Bringing this possibility of growth to the forefront of your mind instills courage to try new things and confidence to execute on those things you truly do know.
Ecology too can heal & grow with great speeds, and many are, thanks to the beautiful work of people all over the globe. However Integrating this truth is difficult, as it stands in opposition to many of the stories our culture implicitly communicates.
In the Prophet by Kahlil Gibran it is written “I have heard many of you, as if speaking in your sleep say the man who carves godliness in marble is nobler than he who plows the soil.” In these lines, Gibran not only brings to light the folly of hierarchy, but also eloquently describes how we carry belief stories that we don’t articulate in conscious thought. The unconscious stories regarding our global ecology are pervasive. Below are some expressions of those stories I have experienced and held to be true to some degree
“The Earth’s resources are meant for us, we will devour them and as technology continues to develop we will continue to find better ways to allocate those resources”
“The planet is rapidly deteriorating and all that we can do it is enjoy the ride”
“Humans couldn’t possibly have an impact on the global climate”
“We are destroying what was built by millions of years of evolution, species extinction and biodiversity loss signal the approaching bell tolls of life on earth”
“Corporations are systematically destroying all of the earth’s beauty, human’s naturally greedy and warmonger nature will continue ravage the planet”
In contrast, the ecological perspective from this frame of regenerative awareness carries the story of
“The global ecology has been profoundly shaped by human influence, and our capacity for destruction is only matched by our capacity for regeneration. Through creating a cooperative ecosystem that includes humanity, we can restore weather patterns and personally experience an inconceivably abundant world.”
This change is achievable in localities in less than 10 years, the speed of the transition in awareness that supports people in making the local change to the landscapes they influence is yet to be seen. Personally I am optimistic, as I dismantled my internal story of humanity’s starbound progress in ignorance of the ecological and social atrocities, to now embody-ing this regenerative consciousness in my daily life and work. As more and more people transition to the mindset of generosity and hope the possibilities abound as far as the eye can see, from oceanic horizon to ivy draped skyscrapers.
To close I invite you to imagine a dusty dry hillside transforming into a healthy flowing landscape, growing more nutritious diverse food than the people tending it need, and distributing it to beautiful shops and chefs that promote health in the lives of all those who frequent their establishments. In this way as empowered people we can take our money out of the linear systems that condense power at the top to regenerative ecosystems that uplift the land and empower the full healthy expression of every being along the supply chain. This project describes a realized example
As Rebuild The Ground develops, specific demonstrations of the regeneration I am submitting to you to be possible will be described, and the mechanisms of it’s action will be brought into the foreground.