I don't know if there is a "most effective" way. I think different people will respond to different things. You will be slowed by skepticism, naysayers, and politics no matter what way you choose. Societal attitudes change at a glacier pace so it is often difficult to see the impact even if it's happening.
Thanks for devoting your time and intellect to this worthy topic, Julie. Yeah, when notions (or myths) of “sustainable development” or “ecosystem services” don’t work (and I believe they don’t), we’ve always got joy and wonder in nature. They’re still intrinsic to what it means to be human, and perhaps they’re the message.
Dear Julie, your essay on how to message the environment made me stop and think many times. I think storytelling is an old art form but I feel it is where we can inspire change and hope. It's where we can imagine alternative futures, and communities based on love and trust, joy and sustainability. A good short story will move you, get down into your bones. And if your heart is in it, your head will follow, then maybe your car!
Here's to more brilliant nature stories!
Thank you for including me in your list of nature writers here, I am deeply honoured.
So glad you’re here, Kate! Indeed, stories create worlds — first in our imaginations, then in reality. It’s not even cause and effect as that implies; the veil between them is thin. 💚😊
So many things to say about this posting - makes me think and wonder how do we come out the other side. How do we maintain our positive presentations so others might listen and learn. I don't have answers. I struggle every day, but all I know I can do is try.
But I tried (quickly) your exercise -
What if your senses are never awakened by nature's reliable action of reclaiming - for too many this is true because of proximity or inaccessibililty or economics. My responsibility is to share, to guide you through small bite-sized steps how to feel the breath of outdoors. This opportunity matters, because without the living of wildness, we as a species cease living.
Oooo, Stacy! Happy to see this. I’m sure “nature’s reliable action of reclaiming” has a certain meaning for you, but it may be less accessible to some. What’s a specific place, feeling or experience that evokes it?
What if the best, most effective message is not a story, but a tool? I'm thinking of Buckminster Fuller who said, "If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking." Such a tool might look like a decision-making process through which people anywhere & everywhere persuade themselves to choose the option (for meeting their physical needs) that extracts less from the biosphere and/or puts less pollution into the biosphere. Such a tool might look like an affirmative answer to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson's question, "What If We Get It Right?" because people everywhere have a tool to get it right.
I love this!! Bucky Fuller is a touchstone for me! He would’ve been on that timeline for sure. He understood that everything connects to everything else. He’s also delightfully quotable. This is my favorite: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete”
Thank you Julie. The tool I'm referring to is a new decision-making process for meeting human physical needs (called "regenerative decision-making") that makes the existing present-day decision-making process obsolete.
This makes me think of all the people regenerating commoning and commons practices around the world. I think that's part of why I'm so taken with the idea of reinvigorating the commons -- it brings together story, tool, and, crucially, practice. Something as simple as a shared garden teaches the new-old story at a level that maybe, in some, can reach the DNA, but at least the bones and breath.
Yes! Commons practices! You see this in the aftermath of disasters like Hurrricane Helene - neighbors stepping up to share their skills, whatever they are, to help each other and the community at large.
This was extremely useful, well-explained and engaging, bringing out the kernel and showing it in multiple, complementary, pedagogical ways. A much-needed building block. Thank you.
This is so wonderful Julie, you've given me so much to think about! Thank you so much for writing something for the series - I'm going to go away and rethink my entire life now x
I don't know if there is a "most effective" way. I think different people will respond to different things. You will be slowed by skepticism, naysayers, and politics no matter what way you choose. Societal attitudes change at a glacier pace so it is often difficult to see the impact even if it's happening.
Yes, agree. I keep hearing Kamala Harris saying, "People will try to bring you down. Don't let them."
Thanks for devoting your time and intellect to this worthy topic, Julie. Yeah, when notions (or myths) of “sustainable development” or “ecosystem services” don’t work (and I believe they don’t), we’ve always got joy and wonder in nature. They’re still intrinsic to what it means to be human, and perhaps they’re the message.
Hear hear!! Thanks for reading, Bryan. 💚
Dear Julie, your essay on how to message the environment made me stop and think many times. I think storytelling is an old art form but I feel it is where we can inspire change and hope. It's where we can imagine alternative futures, and communities based on love and trust, joy and sustainability. A good short story will move you, get down into your bones. And if your heart is in it, your head will follow, then maybe your car!
Here's to more brilliant nature stories!
Thank you for including me in your list of nature writers here, I am deeply honoured.
Kate
So glad you’re here, Kate! Indeed, stories create worlds — first in our imaginations, then in reality. It’s not even cause and effect as that implies; the veil between them is thin. 💚😊
So many things to say about this posting - makes me think and wonder how do we come out the other side. How do we maintain our positive presentations so others might listen and learn. I don't have answers. I struggle every day, but all I know I can do is try.
But I tried (quickly) your exercise -
What if your senses are never awakened by nature's reliable action of reclaiming - for too many this is true because of proximity or inaccessibililty or economics. My responsibility is to share, to guide you through small bite-sized steps how to feel the breath of outdoors. This opportunity matters, because without the living of wildness, we as a species cease living.
Oooo, Stacy! Happy to see this. I’m sure “nature’s reliable action of reclaiming” has a certain meaning for you, but it may be less accessible to some. What’s a specific place, feeling or experience that evokes it?
What if the best, most effective message is not a story, but a tool? I'm thinking of Buckminster Fuller who said, "If you want to teach people a new way of thinking, don't bother trying to teach them. Instead, give them a tool, the use of which will lead to new ways of thinking." Such a tool might look like a decision-making process through which people anywhere & everywhere persuade themselves to choose the option (for meeting their physical needs) that extracts less from the biosphere and/or puts less pollution into the biosphere. Such a tool might look like an affirmative answer to Ayana Elizabeth Johnson's question, "What If We Get It Right?" because people everywhere have a tool to get it right.
I love this!! Bucky Fuller is a touchstone for me! He would’ve been on that timeline for sure. He understood that everything connects to everything else. He’s also delightfully quotable. This is my favorite: “You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete”
Thank you Julie. The tool I'm referring to is a new decision-making process for meeting human physical needs (called "regenerative decision-making") that makes the existing present-day decision-making process obsolete.
This makes me think of all the people regenerating commoning and commons practices around the world. I think that's part of why I'm so taken with the idea of reinvigorating the commons -- it brings together story, tool, and, crucially, practice. Something as simple as a shared garden teaches the new-old story at a level that maybe, in some, can reach the DNA, but at least the bones and breath.
Yes! Commons practices! You see this in the aftermath of disasters like Hurrricane Helene - neighbors stepping up to share their skills, whatever they are, to help each other and the community at large.
I can’t laugh at this…
This was extremely useful, well-explained and engaging, bringing out the kernel and showing it in multiple, complementary, pedagogical ways. A much-needed building block. Thank you.
Thank you very much! I’m glad it served its purpose. 💚 And I appreciate your taking a moment to comment.
This is so wonderful Julie, you've given me so much to think about! Thank you so much for writing something for the series - I'm going to go away and rethink my entire life now x
I'm so glad! And rethinking your entire life -- that's MY thing! On a regular basis! 😂
❤️
More compassion for people's flaws and less shaming. 🦋
Brilliant
Thank you! I needed this.
Wonderful! Thanks for reading.