written by Lynn Murphy I’m curious about habits, about what I do and why I do what I do even when I don’t want to! And why the habits that I don’t want seem to be ‘stickier’ than the supportive habits I’d prefer to be running my unconscious life. This interest has been tickled recently […]
Archive by Author
Book Digest: Social Change 2.0 by David Gershon
The middle part of this book is a brilliant, practical, inspiring primer on how to pilot and scale up transformative social change initiatives, from a man who has done this with several impressive pioneering projects. Like many American books, it’s twice as long as it needs to be, so I suggest you skip Parts 1 […]
Growing natural resilience: how can we learn from ecosystems
I talk about resilience a lot, and I hear very varied definitions of it from others. Some regard resilience as a hard, cold, mechanistic idea, whereas my first images are of a green, creative springiness: the growing through problems that we can see in sustainable ecosystems. This blog offers my views on how humans can […]
The Spirit of Persia
The Spirit of Iran: nomads, Sufis and more… October 13-28, 2015 organised by Alan Heeks If I had a bucket list a trip to Iran would be near the top. So in October 2015 I hope to make a 2-week customised tour of Iran with a congenial group of 10-14 people. This piece explains why […]
Retreat: THE SPIRITUAL ROOTS OF RESILIENCE – Nomadic Wisdom for our Changing Times
with Alan Heeks and Cordelia Prescott Allanton Peace Sanctuary, near Dumfries Friday 18th – Sunday 20th September 2015 The times in which we live are truly challenging, and they invite a response of courage and resilience from us all if we are to take positive steps into our own future. New role models and guidance from great […]
Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller
Peak oil is more real and alarming than you want to think! This 2009 book is by Jeff Rubin, who is apparently an independent authority on the oil industry. He was Chief Economist at CIBC World Markets (a North American investment bank), who is consulted by oil producers, ie he’s not a greenie or militant. […]
Pilgrim Without Map or Boots – New lifeskills for uncertain times
I aim to have a retreat time of 3 – 4 days every quarter: it’s a good way to rest, renew, and review my direction. This time, I’m doing a self-guided retreat at the Northumbria Community, a centre in rural mid-Northumberland, inspired by the Celtic Christian monasteries which once flourished in this area. A spiritual […]
Resilience insights from Fukushima, Japan
By Debbie Warrener I am blessed with strong connections with the wonderful country of Japan. I previously lived there for four years and speak reasonably fluent Japanese. It was therefore an enormous and humbling privilege to be asked to participate in a ‘Learning Journey’ to Fukushima this past November. A small group of us travelled […]
Too Old for This Kind of Thing?
Too Old for This Kind of Thing? – Learning from Africa: Courage and gratitude help. One reason I keep coming back to Africa is to reconnect with basic qualities which are still normal in much of society here, and much harder to find in Europe: real contact, eye-to-eye and heart-to-heart in meeting people, a more […]
Resilience: a Glasgow Conversation
Resilience: a Glasgow Conversation – The Centre for Human Ecology in Scotland has been a trailblazer in exploring human sustainability and resilience for many years, so I was pleased to be invited as co-lead for this evening in Glasgow for them recently. The discussion we sparked was lively, well informed and involved twenty of us. […]