An Invitation
“It is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community - a community practicing understanding and loving-kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
As some of you know, for the better part of the past two years, I’ve been writing a book. It’s called The Regeneration Handbook: Transform Yourself to Transform the World and is currently available to pre-order from New Society Publishers. I’m extremely proud of it and will be talking a lot more about it in the months to come. However, I want to use this initial blog post to share with you my vision for Evolutionary Change and invite you to be part it.
Evolutionary Change was actually the original title for The Regeneration Handbook before my publisher persuaded me to change it to something more marketable. When my editor first raised this issue, I told him I understood: “evolutionary change” is a term I came up with on my own and nobody really knows what it means yet. Nevertheless, I continue to believe that no other two words better express what my work is all about and what our world needs most in these increasingly chaotic and uncertain times. Eventually, I hope it will become part of our shared lexicon.
You can read more about what I mean by evolutionary change here and in my forthcoming book, but in brief, it refers to a kind of activism that is uncommon but not unknown throughout history. It’s an approach to changemaking that aligns with how change naturally occurs at every level: inner, interpersonal, and collective. Many different people across many different contexts and fields have described it in many different ways, but they all point towards the same underlying truth: a perennial philosophy of change.
It was about 15 years ago now that I started to see how many of the maps and models I had been exposed to through my graduate studies at Naropa University and early involvement with the Transition Towns Movement were essentially saying the same thing. Authentic transformation begins whenever we’re willing to let go of who we think we are and what we think we know. Instead of merely repeating the patterns of the past, we’re encouraged to be curious and explore our present situation with eyes, mind, and heart wide open. If we persist in this exploration, it will inevitably bring about a shift in perspective, opening up new possibilities for being and acting in our world.
It was this realization, combined with a deep desire to provide guidance and support for grassroots leaders, that initially got me thinking about writing a book. However, it was only after more than a decade thoroughly testing out these theories in my own life and work that I felt ready to write it. Even then, my understanding of evolutionary change continued to evolve, weaving a web of increasingly intricate interconnections both in my mind and on the page.
As I wrote, I also started to see how this book could serve as a catalyst for an even more expansive conversation. I first realized that I had hundreds of pages of material I had cut from The Regeneration Handbook that could be repurposed into a series of blog posts. Then, I began to envision a tour of North America, which I’m now calling the Regenerative Communities Roadshow. Then, I came to understand how all of this work could be bundled together under the banner of Evolutionary Change and exist as an ongoing effort.
Finally, as I prepared to launch this website, it became apparent to me that Evolutionary Change has the potential to become something much greater than just a vehicle for my individual work as a writer, activist, and leadership trainer. I’m not entirely sure what that will look like yet, but it could start very simply by you (and others like you) taking a few minutes to check out the rest of this website and sign up for updates if you like what you see. I want to invite you to comment on my blog posts whenever you feel so inspired and share evolutionarychange.org with any friends and colleagues you think might be interested.
In the spirit of evolutionary change, I don’t want to force an outcome prematurely, but I can easily imagine other like-minded changemakers contributing to the blog and publicizing their own talks, trainings, and events through a shared calendar. My greatest hope is that Evolutionary Change will eventually grow and blossom into “a community practicing understanding and loving-kindness,” where people feel at home, excited to engage in meaningful discussion with each other, give and receive support, and collaborate on creative projects.
This is the vision I want to invite you into here at the outset. While I know it’s not entirely clear at this point, I hope it intrigues you enough to stay connected. I’m committed to putting my heart and soul into this project and am curious to see where it goes.