On Friday evening, 9/16, Joanna presented her vision of The Great Turning. On Saturday, 9/17, she lead us in her workshop, The Work that Reconnects.
I left the workshop on Saturday afternoon with an ardent desire to participate fully in the Great Turning. I'm convinced that the continued prosperity of humanity is contingent upon changing human culture such that a respect for Nature is preeminent.
During a dialogue with our descendents on Saturday afternoon (using the power of moral imagination), I became acutely aware of the fact that every year we delay a turning from irresponsible consumerism to a lifestyle that respects Nature result in further impoverishment of the lives of our descendents. This has been established by numerical simulation at MIT, see the book, Beyond the Limits by Donella Meadows et al.. For example, if we continue to exploit high grade copper ore for wiring and HVAC for MacMansion vacation homes without rigorous policies for recycling for much longer, the Earth's high grade copper ore will be depleted and our ancestors will be forced to use low grade copper ore (e.g., our landfills) making copper much more costly. An even more striking limitation we are creating for them is the destruction of the natural world as our extravagance extinguishes many species of life per day - some of which would surely have been of substantial benefit to our descendents.
I will ardently seek future opportunities to contribute to the Great Turning. Please feel free to contact me if you think that I might be able to advise you on how you can also contribute.
John Mattox
Author's first update - 500 days later.
ReplyDeleteIn June of 2012, I participated in a "Work That Reconnects" 8 day "intensive" with Joanna at the Stone House in Mebane, NC. I resolved there to begin to live my life, to as great of an extent as possible, in the manner of the plausible ecozoic.
I now find myself dividing much of my discretionary time between the following "tracks":
NeoAboriginal - reawakening aboriginal sensibilities.
Ecozoic Pioneer - cultivation of a Human partnership with Nature (e.g., permaculture).
The Pickards Mountain Eco-Institute, in Chapel Hill, NC, provides a venue for both of these "tracks". I am currently a week-end resident volunteer there.