I love the deep exploration of how battling the climate crisis is more than just a solar panel. It's about us as a collective as well, and looking at what got us here.
Thank you for this. Paul Hawken has such a gift for making the complex feel simple, reminding us that regeneration is not some distant, impossible task. It is woven into the very fabric of life.
So much of modern life has pulled us away from connection. From nature. From community. Even from ourselves. Regeneration is not just about healing the planet. It is about healing that separation. It is about remembering that we are not apart from the Earth, but a part of it.
Hawken’s perspective is both grounding and hopeful. This is not about fear or sacrifice. It is about opportunity. An invitation to participate in something greater than ourselves, to care for the land, to work with nature rather than against it, and in doing so, to rediscover meaning, belonging, and purpose.
Some of us may still be wondering what concrete actions the individual can take, as well as how to join a community of others who walk the talk about saving the planet. Since moving to the South Carolina lowcountry from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta, I have become much more sensitized to the fragility of the environment, and to how perfectly every living thing has evolved to assume a symbiotic role ... every living thing, that is, except humankind. We have a symbiotic role, all right, but we seem to have difficulty in assuming it. Personally, in order to get my hands dirty, I became involved in "citizen science" projects that generate data that can be used by "real" scientists and decision makers to solve real problems. This has satisfied my love for working in teams and my need to recognize that one person can make a BIG difference by cumulative SMALL actions. Such projects are not at all difficult to find. Check out SciStarter.org, for example, and click on the Find a Project tab, and you will be amazed at what is happening in your own neighborhood. If you seek connection and a feeling of making a positive difference, this is one excellent path to fulfillment, and to regeneration. Plus it's fun! Trust me.
I'm so glad, Jonathan! I hope that you find a project that excites you not too far from home. Best wishes! And if you ever feel that your contributions are too small to count, remember this story by Loren Eiseley:
An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.
"Young lady," he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die."
"But young lady, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves,
saying: "It made a difference for that one."
The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
I saw a news piece recently on a lab team trying to regenerate mice so as to bring back extinct mastodons. Two weeks in, you could see the changes in the mice already. Not kidding. So is this the Fountain of Extinct Youth? - Dwight Lee Wolter.
I love the deep exploration of how battling the climate crisis is more than just a solar panel. It's about us as a collective as well, and looking at what got us here.
Thank you for this. Paul Hawken has such a gift for making the complex feel simple, reminding us that regeneration is not some distant, impossible task. It is woven into the very fabric of life.
So much of modern life has pulled us away from connection. From nature. From community. Even from ourselves. Regeneration is not just about healing the planet. It is about healing that separation. It is about remembering that we are not apart from the Earth, but a part of it.
Hawken’s perspective is both grounding and hopeful. This is not about fear or sacrifice. It is about opportunity. An invitation to participate in something greater than ourselves, to care for the land, to work with nature rather than against it, and in doing so, to rediscover meaning, belonging, and purpose.
Thank you! 🙏
Some of us may still be wondering what concrete actions the individual can take, as well as how to join a community of others who walk the talk about saving the planet. Since moving to the South Carolina lowcountry from the hustle and bustle of Atlanta, I have become much more sensitized to the fragility of the environment, and to how perfectly every living thing has evolved to assume a symbiotic role ... every living thing, that is, except humankind. We have a symbiotic role, all right, but we seem to have difficulty in assuming it. Personally, in order to get my hands dirty, I became involved in "citizen science" projects that generate data that can be used by "real" scientists and decision makers to solve real problems. This has satisfied my love for working in teams and my need to recognize that one person can make a BIG difference by cumulative SMALL actions. Such projects are not at all difficult to find. Check out SciStarter.org, for example, and click on the Find a Project tab, and you will be amazed at what is happening in your own neighborhood. If you seek connection and a feeling of making a positive difference, this is one excellent path to fulfillment, and to regeneration. Plus it's fun! Trust me.
i'm really intrigued by SciStarter.org ... didn't realize that kind of thing existed. i'll check that out. thanks!~
I'm so glad, Jonathan! I hope that you find a project that excites you not too far from home. Best wishes! And if you ever feel that your contributions are too small to count, remember this story by Loren Eiseley:
An old man had a habit of early morning walks on the beach. One day, after a storm, he saw a human figure in the distance moving like a dancer. As he came closer he saw that it was a young woman and she was not dancing but was reaching down to the sand, picking up a starfish and very gently throwing them into the ocean.
"Young lady," he asked, "Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up, and the tide is going out, and if I do not throw them in they will die."
"But young lady, do you not realise that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it? You cannot possibly make a difference."
The young woman listened politely, paused and then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves,
saying: "It made a difference for that one."
The old man looked at the young woman inquisitively and thought about what she had done. Inspired, he joined her in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.
I saw a news piece recently on a lab team trying to regenerate mice so as to bring back extinct mastodons. Two weeks in, you could see the changes in the mice already. Not kidding. So is this the Fountain of Extinct Youth? - Dwight Lee Wolter.
I’m so glad I came across this! Thank you for sharing. 🌎🌿