Most sustainability books I’ve read go something like this:
- here’s what’s gone horribly wrong in the world
- and here are more disasters that will ensue if we don’t change
- so here’s how we’re supposed to be operating instead… let me (the author) tell you what that is.
I don’t have any intent to follow this approach. Yes, I agree there are many things are going horribly wrong from many perspectives. Yes, I think more disastrous things are likely to happen if we don’t change. But I have no clue, personally, how to fix it all (it would be hubris if I did). It’s taken me a long while (too long, perhaps) to acknowledge it, but I’m not an expert coming in with the plan to save us all. None of us can be.
The natural systems we’re part of — and have never fully controlled, despite our efforts — and the systems humanity has collectively created (such as the economy) are too complex, too interconnected, too unpredictable for us to act in tops-down, hierarchical approaches, maintaining ours illusion of control. The age of experts has reached its limits; we now need to figure out how to reshape things collectively.
There’s a part of me (and maybe this is part of you, too), that is freaked out by the idea that there aren’t clear answers and experts to lead us to solutions. I’ve been both the expert attempting to lead and the recipient receiving guidance. And it feels so very safe it feels to have a plan, solutions, and a unwavering point of view.
This is what I’m telling that freaked-out part of myself right now:
I long for something beyond just “fixing things” and stopping the bad things from happening. I deeply desire a different kind of life, for myself, and all of us, and our children. A life of deep connection and meaning. A life we all deserve; a life that I no longer think is crazy to try to create.
This won’t happen by sticking to the old ways. I know that in my bones. The old approach just isn’t big enough to hold the expansiveness of what I desire. So I’m going to go ahead and dream and move forward. I know I’ll continue to be scared, that part of me that craves answers and certainty. But I’ll go forward anyway, through the fear.