Good Energy

I recently read “ Active Hope ” by Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone. This book feels like the perfect companion on my journey. I read most of it in a little hut in the bush where I went to rest and recover from a hard winter before beginning this new job. I feel like the authors took me by the hand and led me gently into the familiar feelings of overwhelm and cynicism that seem to shroud topics like climate change and through to a more hopeful and inspired state. Joanna and Chris teach us to feel the despair and grief of the world without turning away or avoiding it. When we stop defending against the pain and feel it, it begins to soften us and becomes a powerful motivating force. The book encourages us to acknowledge the incredible gifts we receive every day, just by being alive on this planet. Gratitude builds connection and trust and it begins to feel easier to respond. They call this “the spiral of the work that reconnects”. Joanna and Chris frame our challenge in facing the enviro...

I’d like to introduce you to Tur Borren, the Chairman of Quatro Trust (and also my dear friend Mitzi’s Dad). Tur and I met years ago and hit it off immediately. I’ve always admired his questioning approach and his belief that people can solve the most difficult problems if they’re given the space and encouragement to focus. This is my drawing of Tur with two of his grandchildren who are some of his biggest inspirations. This whole project was Tur’s idea and I feel incredibly grateful to be in his team along with his sister Marceline and Mitzi who are acting as sounding boards and providing lots of knowledge, connections and encouragement. I’m going to let Tur introduce himself in his own words, by sharing an email he sent me earlier this week. In it he shares a key idea, which has inspired this project: Kia ora Loo. I am excited about your journey into communicating the interface between economics and climate change. Thank you for letting me join you. As you know I have been reading an...

Last night I had a dream that I was in a gym full of fancy exercise machines. All around me, fit-looking people were exercising in black face masks. The masks were designed to make it harder to breathe so they could get fitter faster. When I arrived, the gym staff had run out of proper masks so I was given a thick wool one that made it almost impossible to breathe. I tried to use a machine but couldn’t figure out how it worked. Everyone around me was gliding and pumping away and I just stood there feeling stupid and left out. Something about this dream resonated with this research into climate change and economics. I am going to link them somehow! I’ve been learning about a concept called “energy blindness” I was introduced to the concept through this video “ The great simplification ” and this podcast by Nate Hagens . Nate zooms out to give a quick history of life on earth - from the formation of the planet to the development of modern society. He points out that across the vastness o...