Systemically
Finding Right Balance
Systemically
Can we learn anything from finding right balance within ourselves, and interpersonally that can help us think systemically?
DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
This we know...
We are the earth, through the plants and animals that nourish us.
We are the rains and the oceans that flow through our veins.
We are the breath of the forests of the land, and the plants of the sea.
We are human animals, related to all other life as descendants of the firstborn cell.
We share with these kin a common history, written in our genes.
We share a common present, filled with uncertainty.
And we share a common future, as yet untold.
We humans are but one of thirty million species weaving the thin layer of life enveloping the world.
The stability of communities of living things depends upon this diversity.
Linked in that web, we are interconnected — using, cleansing, sharing and replenishing the fundamental elements of life.
Our home, planet Earth, is finite; all life shares its resources and the energy from the sun, and therefore has limits to growth.
For the first time, we have touched those limits.
When we compromise the air, the water, the soil and the variety of life, we steal from the endless future to serve the fleeting present.
David Suzuki Foundation
Out of Balance “Systemically”
When we look at society today, unfortunately we see HOW out of balance we have become.
Why is authoritarianism, misogyny, violence so predominant?
Why are greed and exploitation so out of control?
In this representation, I seek to express how stunted certain areas are societally (fairness, caring, compassion, connection, generosity, collaboration, wellbeing of the community).
And how overly “extended” the forces have become of power and greed, sadism and cruelty, Narcissism and psychopathy, moral disengagement and dehumanization of others.
You’ll notice that there is no longer a connection with nature, nor with spirit.
What Went Wrong?
My premise is that we as humans were originally in an intimate “I-Thou” relationship with Mother Earth. It is my belief that we work best in this orientation. Our nervous system seems calmest and most centered and grounded when we are in “sync” with Nature. There is a humility when we are in touch with the awe we feel watching the sky at dawn or sunset. There is a humility we have access to when we watch the power of the ocean. There is a part of our intuition that was most alive when we aligned with the seasons, and with the natural “order” of things, before we began to impose our will.
It is my belief that when we ruptured out of “right balance” with Mother Earth, that we further deteriorated from there, becoming out of “right balance” with everything else (e.g. other humans, and other species).
What has inspired me to create this website has been the drive to understand what went wrong and why, and then to move to exploring what we need to do to solve the problem.
I am certainly not the first to “parse” the question in this way. Thich Nhat Hahn, in his book Love Letter to the Earth, 2013, addresses this exact issue.
Page 27,
“We can all see that Mother Earth is a great bodhisattva. When we see her in this way, with all her many virtues, we will walk more gently on her and treat all her children more gently. We will want to protect her and not harm her or any of the myriad forms of life she has given birth to. We will stop wreaking destruction and violence on Mother Earth. We will resolve the question of what we mistakenly call ‘the environmental problem.’ The Earth is not just the environment. The Earth is us.”
Page 28,
“We can’t wait any longer to restore our relationship with the Earth because right now the Earth and everyone on Earth is in real danger. When a society is overcome by greed and pride, there is violence and unnecessary devastation. When we perpetrate violence toward our own and other species, we are being violent toward ourselves at the same time. When we know how to protect all beings, we will be protecting ourselves. A spiritual revolution is needed if we’re going to confront the environmental challenges that face us.”
Pages 28-29,
“We’re no longer in touch with ourselves, our family, our ancestors, the Earth, or the wonders of life around us. We have become alienated and feel lonely. This alienation is a kind of illness that has become an epidemic. So many of us feel empty inside and are searching for something to fill the vacuum. We try to fill the void by taking pills or intoxicants or by consuming things. Yet our addiction to consumerism, to buying and consuming things we don’t need, is causing so much stress, so much suffering, both to ourselves and to the Earth. Our craving for fame, wealth, and power is insatiable, and this puts a heavy strain on our own bodies and on the planet.”
FRAMEWORK
Outcomes & Consequences
Separation From Mother Earth
- Climate Crisis
- Depleting Natural Resources
- Pollution & Toxic Environment
- Destruction
Separation From One Another
- “Power over” dynamics
- “Othering”
- Patriarchy
- Colonialism
- Racism
- Misogyny
- Xenophobia
- Classism & Economic Imbalance
- Capitalism & Greed
- Over-reliance on Technology vs Personal Connection
Separation From Other Species
- Endangered Species
- Exploitative Food Production Methods
- Destroying Habitats
- Other types of Animal Cruelty
Problems & Solutions
For a deeper understanding of how we’ve come to think about these concepts, we’ve organized a simple outline which provides a “roadmap” of some of the “Problems” and “Solutions” to restoring right balance.
These topics will each be discussed and explored under their separate categories, reached by clicking on the appropriate link. References under each will be given, and forums for further discussion created. I hope to have other articles and books, videos and films, Ted talks and podcasts included under each topic, and discussions and reviews of those articles and books added by others wrestling with these issues.
DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE
This we resolve...
All this that we know and believe must now become the foundation of the way we live.
At this turning point in our relationship with Earth, we work for an evolution: from dominance to partnership; from fragmentation to connection; from insecurity, to interdependence.
David Suzuki Foundation
ResEARCH & Resources
Explore our Library
We have been immersed in a deep inquiry for almost two decades. We have lovingly curated a living library of books, articles, videos, podcasts, blogs, websites, white papers, and more. Our hope and intention is that any one visiting this site is able to deepen their inquiry into these important questions, and easily connect to the landscape of thought leaders, research, and conversations happening around the world…
“It seems (to me) that we have done a lot of harm thus far, to the planet, to the resources that were held in Mother Earth, to other species, and if we do not MAJORLY turn our beliefs and our behaviors around, life as we have known it will be over.”
FROM THE BLOG
Relevant Posts
Explore more resources and information about Finding Right Balance interpersonally…
True Human: Reimagining Ourselves at the End of Our World
In this book, Samantha Sweetwater weaves philosophy, indigenous wisdom, ecological insight, psychedelic vision, and body-based practices to help you meet chaos and disruption as doorways to your deepest healing, fulfillment, and purpose.
30. “Beyond Trump: The failures that led to the Capitol riots”
An examination of the factors surrounding the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, looking beyond the actions of Donald Trump to consider the roles of political allies, news and social media, law enforcement, and longer-standing forms of extremism and racial division. The piece presents several perspectives on how these overlapping factors contributed to the events and what they might mean for American democracy.
28. “News” as propaganda
An examination of the close relationship between Fox News and the Trump White House, and the ways media, political power, and business interests can become deeply intertwined. Drawing on Jane Mayer’s reporting, the piece explores the movement of personnel between Fox and the administration, the influence of media narratives on political discourse, and the challenges this creates for the independence of journalism.
27a. Age of Aquarius, Summary
A summary of the astrological concept of the Age of Aquarius, tracing the symbolic themes associated with successive astrological ages from Leo through Pisces and into Aquarius. The piece explores ideas of individual consciousness, freedom, technology, collaboration, humanitarianism, and the movement from hierarchical systems toward networks and collective participation.
26. The Descent to Soul
A reflection on the relationship between human maturation, the natural world, and the deeper dimensions of the psyche. Bill Plotkin explores the “Descent to Soul” as a journey of inner transformation that can help people discover their unique place within the web of life, while also considering how individual development is connected to the ecological and cultural challenges facing humanity.
25. Tending the Wild, Charles Eisenstein
A reflection on Indigenous relationships with land and the ways California Native communities intentionally tended and shaped ecosystems over generations. Drawing on Kat Anderson’s Tending the Wild, Charles Eisenstein explores a different understanding of stewardship, one based not on leaving nature untouched, but on developing intimate, reciprocal relationships with the living world and learning how to participate in its regeneration.
24. Global Challenges Are Directing Us Toward a Unity of Purpose
An exploration of how global crises, social division, and collective uncertainty can become catalysts for greater cooperation and unity. The authors consider the movement from separation and hierarchy toward wholeness, ethical responsibility, deeper listening, and a shared sense of purpose across differences.
23. Dismantling the Patriarchy Within
Anne Baring and Faranak Mirjalili explore how patriarchal patterns can be carried not only through social structures but also within the individual psyche. Drawing on Jungian psychology, dreams, the feminine and masculine principles, and the recovery of instinct and creativity, they consider how inner transformation may contribute to changing wider patterns of domination and disconnection. The conversation also connects these themes with relationships to the natural world, animal life, and the ecological challenges of our time.
13. How and Why Did We First Lose “Right Balance” with Mother Earth?
A reflection on how humanity may have lost its intimate relationship with the Earth and with one another. Drawing on Indigenous teachings, Goddess cultures, and Marija Gimbutas’s interpretation of prehistoric Europe, the piece considers the relationship between connection, reciprocity, patriarchy, exploitation, and our growing separation from the natural world. It ultimately asks what we can learn from older ways of relating to Earth and each other as we face today’s climate crisis.
22l. Indigenous Ways of Working with Sacred Medicine
A panel discussion exploring Indigenous approaches to sacred medicine, healing, spirituality, and psychology. Leslie Gray, Kevon Simpson, Belinda Eriacho, and Kelly Yi discuss Indigenous worldviews, traditional healing practices, sacred plant medicines, cultural context, and the importance of bringing these perspectives into contemporary approaches to healing with respect and cultural awareness.
22k. Kat Anderson – Tending the Wild
A reflection on Indigenous relationships with land, community, and the living world, drawing on M. Kat Anderson’s Tending the Wild. The book documents how California Native communities actively tended landscapes through practices such as harvesting, sowing, pruning, and controlled burning, challenging the idea of untouched wilderness and offering a different understanding of stewardship and reciprocity.
22j. Chumash Story on “The People of the Heart”
A Chumash story about the “People of the Mind” and the “People of the Heart,” offering a powerful reflection on humanity’s relationship with the Earth. The story calls on us to awaken the wisdom, spirit, and compassion within our hearts so that we can help restore balance and protect the living world.
22g. Turtle Island: A Message from White Eagle During the Corona Crisis
This message from White Eagle, attributed to a Hopi Indigenous perspective, reflects on the COVID-19 crisis as a time of uncertainty, reflection, and transformation. It invites us to care for ourselves and others, reconnect with spiritual practice and community, and draw on Indigenous traditions of resilience, ritual, art, joy, and connection to move through difficult times with greater clarity and purpose.
22f. The Wisdom of Our Ancestors
David Korten draws on wisdom traditions from Africa, the Andes, Asia, and other cultures to explore a worldview grounded in interdependence, community, and care for the Earth. Through principles such as ubuntu and buen vivir, he examines how our ideas about purpose, power, economics, community, and education might shift toward greater wellbeing for people and the living world.
22d. An Interview with Francis Weller: Initiation, Trauma and Ritual
In this conversation, Francis Weller and Alnoor Ladha explore the relationship between trauma, initiation, ritual, and community. Weller reflects on how traditional and Indigenous cultures have used communal practices to hold grief and major life transitions, contrasting these with the isolation and individualism of modern culture. The dialogue considers belonging, soul, sacred relationship, and the need to restore community, ritual, and reciprocity in times of profound change.
22b. Indigenous to Life
Daniel Christian Wahl explores the wisdom held in Indigenous and Earth-based traditions and what it can teach us about living in reciprocal relationship with the living world. Drawing on Indigenous knowledge and contemporary science, he considers regeneration, interdependence, and the shift from seeing ourselves as masters of nature to understanding ourselves as participants in the wider community of life.
22a. Finding Wisdom in Science and Indigenous Knowledge
In this article, David Suzuki reflects on the strengths and limitations of scientific knowledge and the importance of placing scientific discoveries within a broader understanding of our relationship with the living world. He contrasts science’s emphasis on observation and objectivity with Indigenous knowledge, which draws on generations of experience, place-based understanding, reciprocity, gratitude, and responsibility. Suzuki argues that bringing these ways of knowing together can offer a fuller understanding of our place within nature.
22. Remembering and Honoring Indigenous Practices
Drawing from an interview with Francis Weller and Alnoor Ladha, this reflection explores what Indigenous and traditional cultures can teach us about restoring community, ritual, belonging, and connection with the natural world. It considers the wounds created by isolation, individualism, extraction, and separation, and asks what we might reclaim through communal healing, reciprocity, sacred relationship, and a deeper sense of our interconnected place within the living world.
In the Absence of the Ordinary – Francis Weller
In In the Absence of the Ordinary, Francis Weller reflects on living through a time of uncertainty, upheaval, and profound transition. Across 17 essays, he explores grief, soul, belonging, and our relationship with the natural world, inviting readers to cultivate new ways of being, relating, and caring for one another and the living Earth.
Learning to See in the Dark Amid Catastrophe: An Interview With Deep Ecologist Joanna Macy
In this interview with Dahr Jamail, Joanna Macy discusses how facing the reality of ecological and social crises can become a pathway toward deeper awareness, connection, and action. She reflects on the Work That Reconnects, the “Great Unraveling” and “Great Turning,” and the importance of moving through grief, fear, and uncertainty together rather than turning against one another.
One World in Dialogue
One World in Dialogue was created in 2015 by Elizabeth Debold with her partner Thomas Steininger as part of emerge bewusstseinskultur e.V., a German nonprofit educational association. The idea behind OWiD is simple: to develop a living global network of change-makers and activists committed to deep dialogue in order to create new approaches and collaborations that support change.
Resonance Path Institute – Spring Chen & Joe Shirley
Resonance Path Institute explores personal and collective transformation during a time of climate change, ecological disruption, and social upheaval. Its work focuses on developing new ways of seeing, being, and knowing while cultivating a deeper sense of wholeness and connection between body, mind, soul, and the wider Earth community.
Center for Humans and Nature
The Center for Humans and Nature seeks to dismantle cultural structures built on racism, White supremacy, and the exploitation of Black people, Indigenous people, and People of Color. Within the tangle of racism, inequality, violence, environmental degradation, toxic individualism, and unethical economics, we celebrate and affirm life-sustaining processes and relationships.
Memenomics – Spiral Dynamics
Memenomics explores Spiral Dynamics, systems thinking, integral theory, and models of social and institutional change. The site examines how developmental stages, governance, technology, geopolitics, and changing social systems interact, with a focus on understanding complex societal challenges and transformation.
Astrobutterfly – “Age of Aquarius: The Next Chapter”
As long as the ego is separate from the soul, we won’t have freedom and progress (Aquarius’ higher manifestation) but instead will have division and will continue to attempt to use machines (weapons, robots, or the internet) to justify one side of the story – either “the ego” or “the soul”.
However, sooner or later, at the end of this ‘cosmic battle’, when we’ll reconcile the YING and the YANG, and we will eventually find a “new Renaissance” – or the triumph of Aquarius’ highest values: humanitarianism, knowledge, reason, innovation, and people who work towards a greater goal.
Loraine Van Tuyl – The Sacred Healing Well
The Sacred Healing Well explores personal and collective transformation through spirituality, consciousness, and the integration of seemingly opposing aspects of the self. Loraine Van Tuyl’s work envisions a shift away from hierarchical, top-down systems toward more egalitarian and collaborative ways of relating and living.
Roots of Resilience | Action Tree
Energy, climate, collapse, resilience… Now what?
More than 200 ways to get moving.
Everyone can find a way to act, in their own way. What’s your next step?
Deep Times Journal
Deep Times is a journal offering articles, art, and poetry rooted in the Work That Reconnects, which emphasizes interdependence within ecosystems and societies. It aims to foster life-sustaining, equitable cultures through inspiration drawn from reconnecting with ancestors and future generations, a concept termed “Deep Time” by Joanna Macy.
A Century of suffrage
This New York Times article marks the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment and examines the long struggle for women’s voting rights in the United States. It highlights how Native American, Chinese American, and African American women continued to face barriers to voting after 1920, connecting the history of suffrage to the continuing struggle over voting access and political participation.
Full Transcript of Michelle Obama’s D.N.C. Speech
This New York Times article provides the full transcript of Michelle Obama’s keynote speech from the first night of the 2020 Democratic National Convention. In the speech, Obama reflects on American democracy, presidential leadership, injustice, civic participation, and the responsibilities of voters and leaders.
Michael Meade, Mosaic Voices
Join Michael Meade as he brings to life key themes from his new book The Heart of Transformation. Drawing from the realms of nature, depth psychology and mythology, Meade shows how transformation is the way of the world, the mystery at the heart of each person and possibly the only way out of the troubled times in which we live.
Wisdom of Trauma, Gabor Maté
In The Wisdom of Trauma, we travel alongside physician, bestselling author and Order of Canada recipient Dr. Gabor Maté to explore why our western society is facing such epidemics. This is a journey with a man who has dedicated his life to understanding the connection between illness, addiction, trauma and society.
Anna Breytenbach: Interspecies Communication
Anna Breytenbach explores humanity’s relationship with the living world and the possibility of communicating with other species. Drawing on her work with wildlife and conservation, she shares stories and perspectives on deepening our connection with animals and natural environments, while reflecting on Indigenous approaches to nature awareness.
Ancestral legacy of nature’s connections | Teresa Ryan
Teresa Ryan draws on her Tsimshian heritage and her work in fisheries science and natural resource conservation to explore Indigenous approaches to living with natural systems. She shares how ancestral knowledge of cyclical resource production and environmental variability can inform more sustainable approaches to managing fisheries and natural resources today.
How trees talk to each other | Suzanne Simard (TEDSummit)
Suzanne Simard shares her research on the “Wood Wide Web,” revealing how underground fungal networks connect trees and facilitate the exchange of carbon, water, nutrients, and chemical signals. She explains the important role of older “Mother Trees” in supporting younger seedlings and sustaining the health and resilience of forest communities.
Why do Trees Talk to Each Other?
Walk into any forest, and beneath your feet is an elaborate social network that helps make life on Earth possible. It’s called the “Wood Wide Web”, a massive and intricate network of fungi that exchange water, nutrients, and chemical signals with the plants they’re living in a symbiotic relationship with. This network of fungi is essential to the health and function of forests and to controlling climate change itself. You’re about to look at fungi in a whole new way!
The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men by Robert Jensen
Does a socially just society require a radical feminist overhaul of dominant patriarchal structures? Dr. Robert Jensen is a professor of journalism at The University of Texas, Austin. He is the author of many books, and he writes opinions and analytics on foreign policy, politics, and race for popular media. His work has appeared in papers and magazines across the United States.
Once You Know – The Essential Climate Movie
An intimate journey across the abyss of a world at the edge of climate-induced collapse.
VOICE OF THE GODDESS: Awakening the Voice of the Goddess in Humanity
Shannon Port explores the possibility of bringing the Voice of the Goddess and the wisdom of the Divine Feminine back into the mainstream narrative. Drawing on intuition, inner knowing, humanity, and the Earth, she invites us to consider how the Goddess might be understood as a presence within all of us—and what it might mean to listen to that voice at this moment in human history.
16b. How Do We Change Our Energies?
What does it take to change the way we experience ourselves, one another, and the world around us? Drawing from the work of Dr. Joe Dispenza, MaryCarol R. Hunter and colleagues, Humanity’s Team, and Indra Adnan, this reflection explores consciousness, nervous-system regulation, connection with nature, collaboration, and the possibility of personal and collective transformation.
14. Healing Our Rupture with Mother Earth
Drawing from Thich Nhat Hanh’s The World We Have and Love Letter to the Earth, this reflection explores the deep rupture between human beings and the Earth and how that separation has contributed to climate crisis, consumerism, alienation, and violence. It considers Thich Nhat Hanh’s invitation to restore our relationship with the Earth through mindfulness, love, collective awakening, and a renewed recognition that we are not separate from the living world – we are part of it.
13b. The Psychological Roots of the Climate Crisis
Sally Weintrobe explores the psychological and cultural forces underlying the climate crisis, focusing on the tension between a caring and an uncaring imagination. She examines how exceptionalism, entitlement, neoliberalism, consumerism, denial, and “uncare” shape our relationship with one another and the living world. The book also asks what it would take to cultivate a more caring imagination capable of facing difficult truths and creating a sustainable future.
13a. Regarding Goddess Cultures
Archeologist Marija Gimbutas posits the idea of a Western society before patriarchy, a ‘Goddess Culture’ based on excavations of goddess sculptures unearthed in 1973-1974. As the aesthetic nature of these excavations differed from the works of the Bronze Age, she believed that this culture was distinct from the known Indo-European culture and called this subsect of Southeastern European Neolithic culture ‘Old Europe’ (Murdock 11).
Spiral Journey
Spiral Journey offers international programs and facilitator development in the Work That Reconnects, supporting people in responding to the interconnected crises of climate disruption, systemic racism, oppression, war, and species extinction.
The Great Turning By Joanna Macy
Joanna Macy describes the “Great Turning” as the transition from an Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining civilization. She identifies three interconnected pathways for change: slowing ecological destruction, understanding and transforming the economic and political structures causing it, and creating new life-sustaining social and economic alternatives. The article frames the ecological crisis not simply as an environmental problem, but as a systemic transformation already underway.
David and Greta in Conversation: The Planetary Crisis | Wildscreen Festival 2020
The world’s greatest wildlife naturalist, David Attenborough, who’s still going so strong with himself even at 94 years of age, and the 17-year-old, Greta Thunberg who’s inspired an entire generation to join her movement against the climate crisis.
Nature Is Speaking – Shailene Woodley is Forest
Joan Chen, Lee Pace, Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Ian Somerhalder is Coral Reef
Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Robert Redford is The Redwood
Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Lupita Nyong’o is Flower
Joan Chen, Lee Pace, Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking: Joan Chen is Sky
Joan Chen, Lee Pace, Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Edward Norton is The Soil
Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Penelope Cruz is Water
Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Reese Witherspoon is Home
Reese Witherspoon, Liam Neeson, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford, Ian Somerhalder and Lupita Nyong’o all join forces to give nature a voice.
Nature Is Speaking – Harrison Ford is The Ocean
Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Edward Norton, Penélope Cruz, Robert Redford and Ian Somerhalder all join forces to give nature a voice.
Jane Goodall – Mother Earth, April 22, 2017
Jane Goodall reflects on humanity’s relationship with the natural world, inviting us to recognize Earth not as a resource to exploit but as a living community to which we belong. Blending scientific insight with compassion and hope, she calls for a renewed sense of responsibility, interconnectedness, and care for all life.
Joanna Macy at Bioneers, November 12, 2021
Joanna Macy in her usual stellar form as she navigates the realm of true inspiration and aliveness, between being hopeless, and hopeful.
This is a clip from the Bioneers conference, further edited and produced by the wonderful team at Facing Future.
Deep Adaptation
Jem Bendell, co-editing with Rupert Read, brings together scholars, activists, and practitioners to explore how individuals and communities might respond to the realities of climate disruption and potential societal collapse. Grounded in the Deep Adaptation framework, the contributors examine grief, resilience, justice, and collective dialogue as foundations for navigating an uncertain future.
The Ascent of Humanity
The Ascent of Humanity is about the history and future of civilization from a unique perspective: the evolution of the human sense of self. This book describes how all the expressions of our civilization—its miraculous technology as well as the pillage of earth, culture, goodness, and beauty—arise from our identity, our way of being, “the discrete and separate self”. The gathering crises of our age demonstrate that this way of being is on the verge of collapse. And this collapse is setting the stage for a revolution in human beingness whose stirrings we already begin to feel.
The More Beautiful World Our Heart Know is Possible
By Charles Eisenstein.
In a time of social and ecological crisis, what can we as individuals do to make the world a better place? This inspirational and thought-provoking book serves as an empowering antidote to the cynicism, frustration, paralysis, and overwhelm so many of us are feeling, replacing it with a grounding reminder of what’s true: we are all connected, and our small, personal choices bear unsuspected transformational power.
How Can I Get Through to You?: Closing the Intimacy Gap Between Men and Women
By Terrance Real
Taking a close-up look at gender roles and conditioning, the best-selling author of I Don’t Want to Talk About It explores the current status of intimate relations between men and women and introduces five Core Relationship Skills that couples can use to develop true intimacy. 100,000 first printing.
Our Moment of Choice: Evolutionary Visions and Hope for the Future
Edited by Robert Atkinson, Kurl Johnson and Deborah Moldow, this collection brings together forty-two thought leaders who explore humanity’s response to today’s intertwined ecological, social, and economic crises. United by a vision of conscious evolution, the contributors examine how inner transformation, collective purpose, and a growing awareness of our interconnectedness can help shape a more just, peaceful, and life-affirming future.
The Story of Our Time: From Duality to Interconnectedness to Oneness
Robert Atkinson traces humanity’s evolving story from separation and duality toward interconnectedness and oneness, drawing on the shared wisdom of the world’s spiritual traditions. He presents conscious evolution as an unfolding process that invites both personal transformation and collective participation in creating a more compassionate, unified, and life-affirming future.
The New Jim Crow
Michelle Alexander argues that mass incarceration has become a new system of racial control in the United States, replacing overt segregation with policies that disproportionately target Black communities while maintaining the appearance of racial neutrality. Drawing on legal history and criminal justice research, she reveals how discrimination persists through institutions that deny millions full citizenship and equal rights.
The Strange Career of Jim Crow
C. Vann Woodward examines the origins of the Jim Crow system, showing that racial segregation in the American South was not an enduring historical tradition but a relatively recent legal and political invention. His influential account reveals how laws and institutions created and sustained racial inequality, reshaping understandings of race, democracy, and justice in the United States.
Birth of a White Nation
Jacqueline Battalora traces the historical invention of “white people” as a legal and social category, revealing how race was constructed to establish and preserve systems of power and privilege. Drawing on colonial law and history, she examines the enduring legacy of whiteness and offers a framework for understanding—and dismantling—the structures that continue to shape racial inequality today.
Being the Change: Discoveries from a Yearlong Living Laboratory
Terry Patten, Siobhan McClory, and Kristin Nauth document a year-long global experiment in collective transformation, sharing the practices, insights, and challenges of people learning to “be the change” together. Through action inquiry and intentional cultural evolution, they explore how inner development, authentic relationships, and collaborative action can help catalyze the profound societal changes our times demand.
A New Republic of the Heart: An Ethos for Revolutionaries
Recasting current problems as emergent opportunities, Terry Patten offers creative responses, practices, and conscious conversations for tackling the profound inner and outer work we must do to build an integral future. In practical and personal terms, he discusses how we can all become active agents of a transformation of human civilization and why that is necessary to our continued survival. Patten’s narrative focuses on two aspects of existence–our dynamic but fractured and threatened world, and our underlying wholeness and unity. Only by honoring both of these realities simultaneously can we make sustainable changes in ourselves, our communities, our body politic, and our planetary life-support system.
Beyond unsustainable leadership: critical social theory for sustainable leadership
Bendell, J., Sutherland, N. and Little, R. (2017)
Drawing on critical social theory, this paper challenges conventional ideas of leadership and argues that meaningful responses to sustainability require a broader understanding of power, collective action, and social change. It lays the conceptual foundations for rethinking leadership as a shared and systemic practice rather than the work of exceptional individuals.
Democracy Demands a Richer Britain
Drawing on research into political participation and income inequality, Jem Bendell and Matthew Lopatin argue that economic disparity is eroding democratic life. They call for a broader public conversation about reshaping the economy so that prosperity, participation, and political stability are shared more equitably across society.
The Collapse of Ideology and the End of Escape
Reflecting on the deeper implications of climate-driven societal collapse, Jem Bendell examines the beliefs that shape modern culture—from certainty and control to progress and exceptionalism. He argues that meeting an uncertain future requires not only systemic change, but an inner willingness to question the assumptions that have long governed how we live, hope, and make meaning.
The study on collapse they thought you should not read – yet
Jem Bendell introduces the concept of Deep Adaptation, arguing that the prospect of climate-driven societal disruption calls not only for practical responses but for profound emotional and cultural reflection. Rather than encouraging despair, he invites an honest engagement with uncertainty, loss, and the possibilities for compassion, resilience, and meaningful action.
Ten ways to confront the climate crisis without losing hope
Rebecca Solnit argues that despair is neither inevitable nor useful in the face of the climate crisis. Drawing on examples of social movements, political change, and collective action, she reframes hope as an active practice—one that recognizes the power of ordinary people to challenge entrenched interests and help shape a more just and sustainable future.
The World We Have
Thich Nhat Hanh reflects on the environmental crisis as a consequence of collective unconsciousness, urging a way of living rooted in mindfulness, compassion, and reverence for the Earth. Rather than seeking endless consumption, he invites us to awaken to our interdependence and embrace a vision of well-being grounded in simplicity, love, and shared responsibility.
Why a California oil workers union is getting behind clean energy
Challenging the assumption that organized labor and climate action are inherently at odds, this article examines a proposal for creating hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs while supporting workers through the transition away from fossil fuels. It highlights the importance of pairing ambitious climate policy with economic security and a just transition for affected communities.
Using Traditional Ecological Knowledge as a Framework
Article reviewed and suggested by Tulika Monhan
This overview introduces Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) as an evolving body of wisdom developed through generations of close relationship with the natural world. It explores how Indigenous knowledge has informed modern biology while offering enduring insights into biodiversity, conservation, and the interconnectedness of life.
Finding wisdom in science and Indigenous knowledge
Reflecting on a lifetime in scientific research, David Suzuki explores both the strengths and limitations of science as a way of understanding the world. He argues that scientific inquiry is most meaningful when held alongside Indigenous knowledge, humility, and a deeper appreciation of the interconnectedness of life.
Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers
Mary Carol R. Hunter, Brenda W. Gillespie, Sophie Yu-Pu Chen.
This study investigates how time spent in natural settings affects physiological markers of stress in everyday life. Measuring changes in salivary cortisol and alpha-amylase, the research provides evidence that even brief, regular experiences of nature can promote restoration and support physical and emotional well-being.
Tending the Wild
Drawing on Kat Anderson’s Tending the Wild, Charles Eisenstein challenges the enduring myth of untouched wilderness, revealing how Indigenous peoples actively cultivated and enriched the landscapes they inhabited. He invites a reconsideration of humanity’s role in nature—not as separate from the living world, but as participants capable of leaving a healing rather than destructive trace.
Beyond just Trump: The failures that led to the Capitol riots
Mike Bebernes, 2021,
Bringing together a range of perspectives, this article examines the political, cultural, and institutional failures that culminated in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. It considers the roles of extremist ideologies, media ecosystems, democratic erosion, and the enduring influence of white supremacy in shaping the events of that day.
Fallacies and Pitfalls in Psychology: Ethics, Critical Thinking & Language: Using Words to Deceive
Drawing on examples from psychotherapy, business, and public life, Kenneth S. Pope, Ph.D., and Melba J.T. Vasquez, Ph.D., examine how language can obscure ethical responsibility, conceal harm, and shape perception. The article invites readers to recognize the subtle ways words can distort accountability and interfere with critical thinking.
The Making of the Fox News White house
Fox News has always been partisan. But has it become propaganda?
Jane Mayer examines the increasingly intertwined relationship between the White House and Fox News during the Trump administration, exploring how media influence, political messaging, and institutional access reshaped public discourse. The article considers the implications of this convergence for democratic accountability and the exercise of power.
‘Alt-right’: why the Guardian decided not to ban use of the term
Examining the debate over the term “alt-right,” this article considers how language can shape public understanding of extremist movements. It explores the implications of naming, media responsibility, and the ways in which white supremacist ideologies are represented, challenged, or inadvertently legitimized in public discourse.
Men nearly caused human extinction 7,000 years ago, new theory states
Jamie Seidel, 2018
Revisiting the Neolithic Y chromosome bottleneck, this article explores the hypothesis that widespread conflict among male kin groups dramatically reduced male genetic diversity thousands of years ago. It considers how emerging patterns of violence, competition, and social organization may have shaped the development of early human societies.
The End of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism for Men
The End of Patriarchy asks one key question: what do we need to create stable and decent human communities that can thrive in a sustainable relationship with the larger living world? Robert Jensen’s answer is feminism and a critique of patriarchy. He calls for a radical feminist challenge to institutionalized male dominance; an uncompromising rejection of men’s assertion of a right to control women’s sexuality; and a demand for an end to the violence and coercion that are at the heart of all systems of domination and subordination. The End of Patriarchy makes a powerful argument that a socially just society requires no less than a radical feminist overhaul of the dominant patriarchal structures.
Change the Story, Change the Future: A Living Economy for a Living Earth
David C. Korten
Our current story is about Sacred Money and Markets. Money, it tells us, is the measure of all worth and the source of all happiness. The market is omniscient. Earth is simply a source of raw materials. Inequality and environmental destruction are unfortunate but unavoidable. Although many recognize this story promotes bad ethics, bad science, and bad economics, it will remain our guiding story until replaced by a more compelling story that aligns with our deepest understanding of the universe and our relationship to it.
Love Letter to the Earth
Thict Nhat Hanh, 2013
While many experts point to the enormous complexity in addressing issues ranging from the destruction of ecosystems to the loss of millions of species, Thich Nhat Hanh identifies one key issue as having the potential to create a tipping point. He believes that we need to move beyond the concept of the “environment,” as it leads people to experience themselves and Earth as two separate entities and to see the planet only in terms of what it can do for them.
Here, Thich Nhat Hanh points to the lack of meaning and connection in peoples’ lives as being the cause of our addiction to consumerism. He deems it vital that we recognize and respond to the stress we are putting on the Earth if civilization is to survive. Rejecting the conventional economic approach, Thich Nhat Hanh shows that mindfulness and a spiritual revolution are needed to protect nature and limit climate change.
Indigenous Community: Rekindling the Teachings of the Seventh Fire
In his book, Indigenous Community, Dr. Cajete takes up the question: What kind of ways of teaching and learning do Indigenous peoples need to revitalize, maintain, and sustain Indigenous Community in the 21st century and beyond? He considers:
• the changes in the nature of Indigenous community that have occurred because of colonization;
• the present state of Indigenous community;
• how to create an educational context for renewing and revitalizing Indigenous community;
• case studies of how community-based educational planning has brought community renewal;
• the role of community-based research for renewal and sustainability; and more.
The Politics of Waking Up: Power & Possibility In The Fractal Age
By Indra Adnan
Everyone thinks they know what it means to be “woke”, whether they’re proudly declaring it, or angrily attacking it.
But writer, political entrepreneur and psychosocial therapist Indra Adnan has written a comprehensive and necessary account of “waking up” – to the realities of the climate crisis, social breakdown, and personal agency – which implicates us all. In the internet era, no-one escapes the global revolution of learning, connecting and mobilising and its entangled consequences.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Learning from Indigenous Practices for Environmental Sustainability (New Directions in Sustainability and Society)
Melissa K. Nelson and Daniel Shilling (Editors)
This book examines the importance of Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and how it can provide models for a time-tested form of sustainability needed in the world today. The essays, written by a team of scholars from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, explore TEK through compelling cases of environmental sustainability from multiple tribal and geographic locations in North America and beyond. Addressing the philosophical issues concerning indigenous and ecological knowledge production and maintenance, they focus on how environmental values and ethics are applied to the uses of land.Grounded in an understanding of the profound relationship between biological and cultural diversity, this book defines, interrogates, and problematizes, the many definitions of traditional ecological knowledge and sustainability. It includes a holistic and broad disciplinary approach to sustainability, including language, art, and ceremony, as critical ways to maintain healthy human-environment relations.
Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future
Melissa K. Nelson (Editor), 2008
For millennia the world’s indigenous peoples have acted as guardians of the web of life for the next seven generations. They’ve successfully managed complex reciprocal relationships between biological and cultural diversity. Awareness of indigenous knowledge is reemerging at the eleventh hour to help avert global ecological and social collapse. Indigenous cultural wisdom shows us how to live in peace–with the earth and one another.
Original Instructions evokes the rich indigenous storytelling tradition in this collection of presentations gathered from the annual Bioneers conference. It depicts how the world’s native leaders and scholars are safeguarding the original instructions, reminding us about gratitude, kinship, and a reverence for community and creation. Included are more than 20 contemporary indigenous leaders–such as Chief Oren Lyons, John Mohawk, Winona LaDuke, and John Trudell. These beautiful, wise voices remind us where hope lies.
Tending the Wild
By M. KAT ANDERSON
A complex look at California Native ecological practices as a model for environmental sustainability and conservation.
John Muir was an early proponent of a view we still hold today—that much of California was pristine, untouched wilderness before the arrival of Europeans. But as this groundbreaking book demonstrates, what Muir was really seeing when he admired the grand vistas of Yosemite and the gold and purple flowers carpeting the Central Valley were the fertile gardens of the Sierra Miwok and Valley Yokuts Indians, modified and made productive by centuries of harvesting, tilling, sowing, pruning, and burning. Marvelously detailed and beautifully written, Tending the Wild is an unparalleled examination of Native American knowledge and uses of California’s natural resources that reshapes our understanding of native cultures and shows how we might begin to use their knowledge in our own conservation efforts.
Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy
By Jem Bendell
This paper is not the venue for a detailed examination of all the latest climate science. However, I reviewed the scientific literature from the past few years and where there was still large uncertainty then sought the latest data from research institutes. In this section I summarize the findings to establish the premise that it is time we consider the implications of it being too late to avert a global environmental catastrophe in the lifetimes of people alive today.
It is a truism that we do not know what the future will be. But we can see trends. We do not know if the power of human ingenuity will help sufficiently to change the environmental trajectory we are on. Unfortunately, the recent years of innovation, investment and patenting indicate how human ingenuity has increasingly been channeled into consumerism and financial engineering. We might pray for time. But the evidence before us suggests that we are set for disruptive and probably uncontrollable levels of climate change, bringing starvation, destruction, migration, disease and war (Servigne and Stevens, 2020).
Ancient code: How Trees Talk to one another
Today, scientists are confirming that forests act like one big superorganism. Below the ground, fungal highways connect the trees. Through this highway, the oldest trees nurture their young. What’s more, the trees communicate and cooperate with other species. Thus, they may help each other, contrasting with the idea of selfish competition.
Global Challenges Are Directing Us Toward a Unity of Purpose
Kurt Johnson, Elena Mustakova, Robert Atkinson, 2021
Living by a consciousness of wholeness prioritizes the whole, engenders a response based on harmony and cooperation, and places a unity of purpose above all else. At the same time, a consciousness of wholeness acknowledges our diversity of views, appearances, and contributions to the whole as our sustaining strength.
This consciousness calls for a complete shift in how we relate to reality. Seeing beyond the illusion of separation allows us to focus on the one reality which is already a unified whole. Anything currently dividing us is also a catalyst for uniting us. We saw this last summer when the streets filled with people calling for racial justice and deep systemic change. A convergence of forces is building like never before. As we join hands across differences, we seek to heal a great divide in the human family.
Social Evolution in Summary with Context
Miki Kashtan, 2019
The underlying principle of patriarchy, as I understand it, is separation and control. The separation is from self, other, life, and nature. The fundamental structures we have created over these millennia are based on dominance and submission, and the worldview we have inherited justifies them as necessary to overcome both our basic nature and “Nature”, seen as separate from us.
We pride self-control and frown on “emotionality”; we operate, organizationally, in command and control forms; we have been treating nature as a thing to exploit, use, subdue, and, most recently, convert to commodities for sale.
Dismantling the Patriarchy Within
Anne Baring and Faranak Mirjalili, 2021
We sat down to speak about the feminine psyche, both individually and collectively, and we also sat down to discuss the challenges that we are facing in this time. If we are to survive as a human species, and most importantly as a whole earth species, we need to come into a better understanding and balance between the feminine and masculine principles. Both these principles need to be equally honored, respected and lived.
But what does this really mean when patriarchy has reigned for more than 4,000 years. How do we know what our feminine qualities are and what does it even mean to be a woman in a time of global climate catastrophe? Are we doing enough as women to stand up against tyrannical political leaders? Is it enough to stand up in protest and even to say no to that which we no longer accept? Are we doing enough to dismantle patriarchy through our outer actions?
Barcelona’s Experiment in Radical Democracy
By Masha Gessen, 2018, (In the online New Yorker, 8/6/18)
The municipalist agenda is intentionally broad; it’s based, as Pin puts it, on common goals rather than differences.
As the name makes clear, Barcelona en Comú is focused on the commons. Colau speaks of the importance of public space often and articulately. “Public space is the place, par excellence, for democracy: this space that belongs to all of us,” she told me. “Therefore, this is also the space of the most vulnerable people, which is what democratic systems should prioritize: the people who have fewer opportunities. If you have little private space, you have more public space and public services—libraries, beaches, parks. It is the space to meet with others, but also it’s a space where you can be who you want to be—this is the space for freedom.
And, therefore, it is a space where you can build up the city with others. So, from that point of view, the more public space there is, and the better its quality, the better the quality of the democracy.”
Declaration of Interdependence
By David Suzuki, 1992.
The Declaration of Interdependence, written in 1992, for the UN Earth Summit, powerfully expresses the intimate undeniable connections amongst humans and the earth itself, undeniable connections between humans and other species, and passionately appeals to humans to honor this interdependence, to move beyond our greed and arrogance.
The final lines state: “At this turning point in our relationship with Earth, we work for an evolution: from dominance to partnership; from fragmentation to connection.” As humans, we still have not heeded that call. We still have not sufficiently changed in our ways, but his powerful words deserve repeating.