What gives you the courage to keep going? What do you do to remember the source of your care? How do you renew your commitment when you feel run down? When I reconnect to my lineage, and remember the long-line of mentors and teachers who inspire me, I find my center, once again. When I remember the initiations that I’ve endured, I find my commitment, once again. In this episode, I present the three stories of lineage, initiation & commitment: “Mogli” in the disney film, a book called CommonFire, an “Gather,” a documentary featuring Native American community leaders, who are reviving their communities through food sovereignty. What about you? What do words like “lineage” and “initiation” mean to you?

“What is a good man but a bad man’s teacher? What is a bad man but a good man’s job?” These provocative, yet clarifying questions from the courageous wisdom of Lao Tzu and his masterpiece, the Tao Te Ching, a classic work of leadership, has much to offer in the wake of the intensity of the election. Yes, this dark moment in American is shifting. And, yet, we must still address the very real fact that 70,000 million people chose to vote for a man who is openly racist, womanizing, etc.. There is work to be done. And, NOW is the time to dig deeper.

When I asked her how she wanted to be introduced, Carol Dana told me she is a mother and a grandmother - “that’s what really matters, not the credentials.” Carol is from the Penobscot tribe in Northern Maine. “The Wabanaki Confederacy (Wabenaki, translated to "People of the Dawn") are a First Nations confederation of four principal Eastern Algonquian tribes: the Miꞌkmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy and Penobscot.” In our conversation, she shares what her grandfather told her when she was young, about the coming of climate change, and what she has come to see, in her own life. She also shares the limits to our knowledge and need to listen to the guidance from the natural world.

While indigenous people make up less than 5% of the world’s population, they steward 80% of the Earth’s biodiversity. The connection between indigenous rights and climate justice is clear. Yet, generations of colonialism, conquest and exploitation leave our collective psyche scarred by shame and guilt for the unthinkable abuses of our ancestors and current policies that still attack native communities. This week’s episode opens a pathway of solidarity, healing and positive action in the face of all odds. We hear from Jake Singer, of a Navajo medicine man and spiritual leader, Lilah Akin, a Penobscot woman active at Nibezun Wabanaki Cultural Center, and Lehman Mann, a community leader for the Ramapo Nation. It is a recording of our Northeast Virtual Gathering in preparation for WALK for a Viable Future in solidarity with Indigenous People’s Day on October 12th, 2020.

It says in the I-Ching, “In a very real sense the progress of the world depends upon your thoughts as an individual now.” In moments when doubt enters your mind, and your body feels the lethargy of hopelessness, we need you to catch yourself. In these most turbulent of times, we need all hands on deck, which means that we need your unique contribution, your daily efforts and heartfelt strivings towards a viable future. Together, we are unity in motion. And yet, doubt about your capacity, impacts our capacity, collectively, to do what needs to be done for the children, and the generations to come. Therefore, it is essential to discipline your focus on the practical study of what is working, and follow those who are sharing intelligent solutions that actually work. You matter. You are making a difference. Thank you for who you are and what you do.

With the fires blazing on the West Coast of the United States and the political climate as polarized as ever, the world is looking more and more like biblical descriptions of apocalyptic times. And yet, life remains simple. The question always remains: how will you respond? Who will you be in the midst of the collapse and breakdown of our conventional human systems. As your children grow up and become more and more aware of the unthinkably insane world that they are inheriting, they will examine your life. What were you doing to make a way for them? What will you say when they ask you?

You are someone who is called to lead a life of commitment in a complex world. To make a difference takes courage, wisdom and an ever evolving state of conscious awareness. This state exists in the sweet spot between pursuing desire and being content. In this episode, you will reconnect with the power of gratitude as a fundamental, and ancient, leadership principle for excellence, precision and mastery. It is our human tendency to pursue our desires, on the one hand, while telling ourselves it's best to learn how to be content with what is, on the other hand. Gratitude is the answer, the nexus point, sweet spot and magic doorway that opens the alchemical place of being in flow: when you are able to allow your natural desires to burn bright, while being content with reality as it is, gratitude emerges. (Recorded September 2020)

Once upon a time there were three brickmasons. When asked what they were doing, the first said, “I’m laying brick,” the second replied, “I’m building a wall,” and the third declared, “I’m building a cathedral.” Which one are you? What are you doing when you go to work? When you take time to remember the deeper purpose of the work that you do, you connect to your guiding principles, commitments and values. You remember why you give it your all - why you play all out. It is from this deeper connection that you find the unending wellspring of courage, wisdom and inspiration that allows you to keep going, and bring your imagination and strategic intelligence to the task at hand.

Our world’s problems are complex. They can’t be “solved” with simple 1+1 kind of equations. Warm data, developed by Nora Bateston, founder of the International Bateson Institute, is a way to gather contextual information that studies the interdependent relationships, interactions, and interconnections between diverse sectors of our society. In other words, it allows us to affirm our intuitive understanding that whole-systems awareness is deeply valuable in responding intelligently to the convergent crises that we are facing. This inspiring approach brings together inspirational energy and practical, strategic thinking, to tune your thinking, seeing and sensing to your highest potential.

In this episode, we explore the connections between genocide, systemic racism and ecosystem destruction, and imagine a future where we each take more responsibility to uphold the protection, regeneration and the dignity of Life in our world. We reference the stories of three documentary films: (1) Watchers of the Sky, the story of Raphael Lemkin’s dedication to making genocide a crime in the international courts, (2) I Am Not Your Negro, about James Baldwin eloquent telling of Dr. MLK, Malcolm X, and Medgar Evers’ contributions to civil rights, and (3) Call of the Forest, featuring the author of The Global Forest, Diana Beresford-Kroeger.