The Truths Behind My Work
This page offers a deeper look at the beliefs and lived experience that guide my leadership, facilitation, and strategy practice.
We're on a Living Earth
​I believe the Earth is alive. Our mother is a vast, complex system of systems far beyond human comprehension. We are not her masters. We are her kin.
My work arises from knowing that humans can choose to live in balance with the rest of life on this planet, or we can threaten our own survival by ignoring the potency of reciprocity. When we remember our place in the greater family of beings, we step respectfully, creating new possibilities together as part of the delicate, living skin of our enormous, moving, molten world.
Remember Our Place
We Are Miniscule vs. Our Impact
Though humans and their livestock now account for over 96% of all mammal biomass on Earth, humans alone comprise just 0.01% of all biomass on the planet (Bar-On et al., 2018, PNAS; Our World in Data). Humanity is using nature 80% faster than Earth's ecosystems can regenerate, which is equivalent to using 1.8 Earths (Global Footprint Network, 2023). Despite our small share, the collective impact of our actions has been profound: reshaping ecosystems, altering climate systems, and threatening biodiversity at an unprecedented rate.
Humanity's Impatient Shift of Intent
Across our many histories on this planet, harm has been fueled by a shift in human intent when civilizations grow fast:
… away from reciprocity with nature, and toward extraction for imagined progress.
… away from work within existing natural solutions, and toward quick development of more quckly-conceived technologies.
That shift has bred dissatisfaction, amplified by harmful histories and escapist coping practices that isolate us from community, nature, and self.
Evolutionary studies suggest that our biological, bodily homes are deeply wired for connection. Studies confirm that social bonding and communal engagement are key predictors of happiness and survival (Harvard Study of Adult Development; Dunbar, 1993). In contrast, social isolation and excessive screen use correlate with heightened rates of depression, anxiety, and attention loss (Twenge et al., 2018).
You're Healthier When Connected
Tools Can Help … But If Misused They Harm
Technology, like fire, can be a tool of insight or a tool of addiction and destruction. I believe technology's highest use is to liberate time for meaningful engagement: with people, with places, and with self.
But as many Indigenous leaders around the world have warned, unchecked fascination with newly invented tools can lead to unraveling of our very identity as people. We must learn to resist the glow of screens. Instead, choose the brilliance of nature’s complexity. We must regain moderation.
Now for the Good News:
Nature Heals — and Teaches
Immersion in nature has been shown to
reduce blood pressure, lower cortisol levels, improve mood, and increase focus
(Li, 2010; Bratman et al., 2015).
​
The more we remember what nature gives us,
the more we may feel moved to give back
out of gratitude and love for our
collective Mother.
​
That is the root of right relations.
A Path of Right Relationship
These beliefs and values shape my efforts, my leadership, my partnerships, and my advocacy. I walk with deep respect for all of Earth's people's oldest surviving traditions and lifeways, and I believe that right relationships (among peoples, and between people and place) are the cornerstone of any sustainable future.
