The Regenerative Life by Carol Sanford

Author:Carol Sanford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2019-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

Additional Insight: Journal Entry

Ian Johnson, another research participant, lives in Portland, Maine, where he is a senior director for Linnean Solutions, a company that guides local governments, organizations, property owners, and communities in reaching ambitious resilience and sustainability goals. Ian used his participation in the regenerative life research project to take a hard look at how he was approaching a very high-pressure project.

I found myself working on a project for which my team had very little design input. We were expected to produce a high-performing, energy-conserving building after the fact. It was a situation perfectly designed to generate resentment and burnout, and that’s where I found myself heading. Initially, I thought, “Since I have so little power in this role, why should I give it more than I have to?” Happily, being exposed to the essence of the Earth tender helped me shift from the doing side of my role to understanding its potential. I began to see how ripples of change can move out from even a tiny scope of work.

I let go of worrying about whether we were going to meet the highest possible energy standards and put my attention on how the team was interacting. I knew that if we could foster optimism and effective communication, it was bound to influence the results we’d be able to produce. By changing my approach, I found that the project began to change. The team felt lighter, and I worked on generating a positive field in our meetings. I had shifted the scope of what I was working on to something more enduring than just this one building. There were many more projects, surrounding cities, communities, and ecosystems that would benefit as team members changed their outlook and approach for years to come.

Going forward, I see my scope expanding far beyond the scope of a contract. My role as an Earth tender is bigger than what I’m paid for. It’s also bigger than my personal hiking or gardening practice. I have come to realize how important it is to help shift others’ perspectives in their work and lives, to help them become Earth tenders themselves. From someone who never saw himself as an educator, I now see how vital it is to the work I want to do. The degree to which I can awaken positivity and an appreciation for the living world in every team I work with, the greater impact I’ll have on the bigger picture.

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