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The Limits of Possibility

The Limits of Possibility

by | Oct 1, 2022 | Capitalism, Uncategorized

I love to read, although keeping up with my list is near impossible.  My to-read wishlist now has over 335 books (which if my math is right, means even if I read one book a week for the next six years, without adding any, I still won’t be finished. Help?!).
 
Recently though I started the short but fascinating read, How to Be an Anti-Capitalist in the 21st Century by Erik Olin Wright.
 
The book is full of interesting ideas of how we can move beyond capitalism, but one line stood out to me: “In politics, the limits of possibility are always in part created by beliefs in those limits”.
 
What a beautiful truth, right? That – at least in part – the limits of what we are able to create or experience are only bound by what we believe to be possible.  

I think this truth extends beyond politics, to our lives, our change-work, and our collective future for humanity.

The limits of our possibility are shaped by our beliefs about our limitations. (read that again).
 
How often do we find ourselves unhappy with an element of life, but withstanding it anyway because “we have to”, “there’s no other options”, “it’s just a few weeks/months/years” etc (note: this doesn’t apply to grief, anger or other healing processes we have – which do come with the requirement to sit in the muck – but our every day life choices).
 
How often do we find ourselves disillusioned with our world? Instead of actively remaking it, feeling passive, stuck or angry at those in power, but who won’t change.   That this is just the way the world is.
 
Where might we limit our very dreams, afraid that disappointment might lurk if we dare to challenge our beliefs about what is possible?
 
Possible is an expansive phrase. It doesn’t ask what is realistic or actual.
 
It doesn’t ask what has happened before, or what is predicted to happen in the future.

it asks what is possible.
 
And possibilities are endless – lest our beliefs say otherwise.
 
It’s not just Erik Olin Wright who refuses to dwell in the boundaries of our limitations, but some of the beautiful thinkers of history.
 
Mahatma Ghandi said “Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
 
Emily Dickinson, “I dwell in possibility…”.
 
John O’Donohue, “Where the imagination is alive, possibility is awake because imagination is the great friend of possibility. Possibilities are always more interesting than facts. We shouldn’t frown on fact, but our world is congested with them. Facts are retarded possibilities, they are possibilities that have already been actualised. But for every fact that becomes a fact, there are seven, eight, maybe five hundred possibilities hanging around in the background that didn’t make it in to the place where they could be elected and realised as the actual fact. It is very interesting to look at what you consider real and to think that it is always peopled by a background presence of unrealised possibilities.”
 
To shift our limitations of what is possible requires a shift in our willingness.
 
We must be willing to believe there’s possibilities & opportunities that we can’t currently conceive of.
 
We must be willing to be vulnerable, as our (mental) limitations were often put in place to protect us from risk, failure, rejection and the like. 
 
We must be willing to be wrong.
 
To not know it all.
 
To practice humility.
 
What possibilities are still waiting to be realised in your life? In our world? In our collective relationship together?

What would be different if you had infinite possibilities ahead of you?  If your belief in the limitations did not exist?

Love & power,

Laura

What even is capitalism?

What even is capitalism?

by | Jun 21, 2022 | Capitalism, Uncategorized

I talk about capitalism a lot. Whether it’s healing internalised capitalism or seeding business beyond capitalism, its transcendance is at the core of this school’s purpose. 

But, what actually is it?

Capitalism is an economic system that has social, cultural & political threads to it.  Its most common definition is a system in which trade and industry are controlled by private owners, rather than by the state. 

 But it’s also based on three, less-talked-about and detrimental principles:

1.    The pursuit of infinite growth on a finite planet.

2.    The artificial production of scarcity (to fuel said growth).

3.    The devaluation of complex, living systems to lifeless resources

 It’s these principles that lead to the climate crisis & inequity we see today (along with other crises), and ask us to imagine a world beyond capitalism. 

But here’s the thing. This system is so ubiquitous – so all encompassing – that it can be hard to imagine a world beyond it. 

We’ve also internalised it to a degree that it shows up in our belief systems, values & habits.  (you can learn more here,)

This means to vision & seed a world beyond capitalism – one with less burnout, stress, hustle, extraction, not-enoughness – we need to look first to the ways the system lives through us and as us.  The ways we unconsciously assume “this is just the way things are”, or “the way the world works”. 

We need to look within, to see how we can untangle it from our minds & hearts, before (and during) we do any work of changing the system ‘out there’.

Otherwise we might transform it, but not transcend it. 

I want to offer you two reflection prompts today:

1 What would a world without scarcity feel like, in your body? What emotions & sensations come up when you imagine this?

2 How might you generate that feeling of aliveness this week? That sense of energy, wonder, possibility & life?  (note: this space is where some magic happens).

The Language of Violence

The Language of Violence

by | Apr 1, 2022 | Business, Capitalism, Uncategorized

“You’ll smash it.”  “You’re making a killing“.  “Shoot over an email”.  “Find your target market”.  “Just keep banging it out”.  

How often in business & life do we use the language of violence?

It might seem silly, but the way we work matters – and that includes our choice of words.

The way we speak is reflective of the way we think, the way we feel, the conscious & unconscious ways with which we view & make sense of the world.

If our language of celebration is reflective of destruction – you’re killing it, you smashed it, you owned it, we crushed it – what does that say about visions of success? Must it always come with a cost to someone else?

If our language of operations is reflective of pain – shoot an email, target this audience, find the right execution – what does this say about our work? Is it a place of service or a place of conquer?

The same applies to activism. Words like struggle, resist, strike, fight; how are they then reflected in our approach & embodiment of work? 

What would it be like to step beyond the language of violence? 

To embody the language of beauty, creativity or regeneration instead? 

What phrases would you change?

Business Beyond Capitalism

Business Beyond Capitalism

by | Mar 25, 2022 | Business, Capitalism

Business Beyond Capitalism

I saw this sign the other day – People & Planet over Profit. 

As a climate and environmental activist, it’s not the first time I’ve seen it. I’m sure it is held high at climate strikes all over the world today as the Global Climate Strike lead by Fridays for Future takes place. 

This message is important – the climate crisis & ecological breakdown we face is a result of unchecked capitalism, its insatiable need for infinite growth on a finite planet.

What does this mean for ethical entrepreneurs though?

How often do we hold ourselves back, afraid that turning a profit or making money is inherently exploitive?  

Afraid that to be flourishing financially – to live a rich & abundant life – is to participate in an unjust system? Struggling with values clashes as we create a more beautiful world, while also existing in the one that we have?

Here’s what we need to understand: business is not the same thing as capitalism. Money is not the same thing as capitalism.  Profit is not inherently exploitive.  

Business is a form of trade, a way of sharing our gifts, talents and interests. A way to be fairly compensated for our labour.   

Capitalism is a social, cultural & economic construct. On the surface, it sounds reasonable: a system in which trade and industry are controlled by private owners, rather than by the state. 

But it’s also based on three fundamental principles:

1.    The pursuit of infinite growth on a finite planet.

2.    The artificial production of scarcity.

3.    The devaluation of living systems to lifeless resources

It’s these principles that lead climate & environmental activists, like myself, to imagine a world beyond capitalism. 

To demand new values, new visions, new systems based on regenerative principles – life giving principles. To place planet & people at the front of what we do.

And here’s the thing: we can do that in business too. 

There is business beyond capitalism.  

And it doesn’t require being broke, scarce or playing small.

There’s a world that allows for our social, financial & ecological flourishing.

But we need to imagine it first.

Can you let yourself feel that world today? 

Can you begin to imagine your Business Beyond Capitalism? 

Regenerative Culture

Regenerative Culture

by | Feb 21, 2022 | Business, Capitalism

It may be Autumn here in the southern hemisphere, but this time of year, with Easter, Ramadan, Passover & other holy holidays, is still a time of renewal and resurrection.  Can we also make it a time of regeneration?

The word regenerative is more & more commonplace lately.  

Regenerative leadership.

Regenerative farming.

Regenerative banking.

Regenerative culture.

But what does this mean?

The word regenerate means to renew or restore something, especially after it has been damaged or lost. The act or process of regenerating is regeneration.

You see, our current economy & systems – whether they be agricultural, justice or financial – are devoid of life.  They’re soulless, based on principles that go against the wisdom & soul of nature.  

Take capitalism as an example.  

One of capitalism’s defining features is the pursuit of never-ending growth.  Not only is this not possible on a finite planet, it’s out of alignment with life-giving principles – as Edward Abbey once said, growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell. 

We live at a pivotal choice point in time.  Whether it’s war or climate change or widening inequality & democratic instability, our systems are not supportive of life.  

This is why the word regenerative matters so much right now. 

To choose renewal, to choose resurrection, to choose regeneration.

To infuse our environment, systems and culture with life-giving principles.  To mimic nature’s cycles & seasons, base our designs on circularity, embody a new form of leadership – away from the hierarchical, top-down, follow-me approach to one that is emergent, trusting & encompassing of everyone’s skills and offerings.

So I want to ask, what could regenerative culture look like in your life?

What part of your work or community could be infused with the care & energy reflective of regeneration? 

Where can you expand your sense of possibility to allow regenerative wisdom to enter? 

Let me know what you think – I love to hear from you.

Laura x