About

A discussion about how we as individuals are all being influenced and influencing our surrounding by simply existing in it.   Tonight, I want to lead us in a conversation to help bring some words and awareness to how we are doing that.  For me I stumbled onto the idea of regenerative thinking through big macro ideas.  Authors, Wendel Berry who is a farmer , poet and social commentator wrote about it from an agragian perspective, then there is Daniel Christian Wahl Wahl who did his PhD on “Design for Human and Planetary Health: A Holistic/Integral Approach to Complexity and Sustainability” and obviously wrote about it from a planetary perspective, then authors like Richard Rohr or Thomas Merton both Monks speak about the emerging of one’s self almost in an agrarian way that comes out of the seed of one’s self and their surroundings.  So planetary, agrarian or introspection?  As this is a website is just you reading it in a way it is more intimate than a convention or meeting all and so I want to center the conversation on ourselves and how we can be regenerative and participate in communities in a regenerative way. 

OK… Before I kick off the first question, I want to show an image and give a definition.  First the definition…

• Regenerative: Tending to or characterized by regeneration
• Regeneration: [1] Middle English: from latin regneeratio from regenerare “create again” [2] The action of process of regenerating or being regenerated, in particular the formation of new animal or plant tissue.
• Regenerate: VERB – (of a living organism) regrow (new tissue) to replace lost or injured tissue  (a crab in the process of regenerating a claw)
  • (of an organ or tissue) regrow (new tissue) to replace lost or injured tissue (once destroyed, brain cells do not regenerate)
  • Bring into renewed existence; generate again. (the issue was regenerated last month)
  • Bring new and more vigorous life to (an area or institution), especially in economic terms; revive.  (regenerating the inner cities)
  • (especially in Christian use) give a new and higher spiritual nature to.
  • ADJECTIVE – reformed or reborn, especially in a spiritual or moral sense.

Now the image…

In this image it shows a progression from Conventional thinking to Green thinking to Sustainable Thinking to Restorative thinking to Regenerative Thinking

The take away from this is respect and humility that change, growth, the impact of any one person is bounded and that for the most long-standing impact to occur we must respect the surroundings that we find ourselves in.   Now we are going to take this idea an apply it to ourselves! 

Thomas Merton give a humbling but beautiful quote that says: “What can we gain by sailing to the moon if we are not able to cross the abyss that separates us from ourselves? This is the most important of all voyages of discovery, and without it, all the rest are not only useless, but disastrous.

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/thomas_merton_121047

Now continue on to three questions on your road to a regenerative self (question 1).