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Read these short blog posts to explore the Conventional and Natural Paradigms, and what it might mean to you to Re-Align with Nature.
 When we care deeply about something, such as Nature, we feel a heightened sense of meaning, of purpose, of passion. We might feel clarity about what needs to be done, perhaps with a sense of urgency. These feelings can lead us to take meaningful action — or lead us to becoming myopic and misinformed.
Our current dominant cultural paradigm — what I’m calling the Conventional Paradigm — is based on seeing the world with a mindset of scarcity, individuality, competition, greed, resistance, and fear. We can blame this mindset for the existential problems we’re facing. Unfortunately, many social and environmental activists — knowingly or not — adhere to this same paradigm — which leads to beliefs and actions that are myopic and misinformed rather than meaningful. We cannot address the existential crises we are facing by following the Conventional Paradigm. We might make positive changes here and there, but the bigger problems keep getting worse. Let’s look at forests as an example. We all love trees and forests. For many of us, the forest is our happy spot. And no one likes to see a forest that has been recently harvested. Accordingly, environmental activists often fight to stop the cutting of trees. They point to loss of wildlife habitat, soil erosion, or need for carbon sequestration. Those issues are meaningful, but viewed through the Conventional Paradigm, the resulting actions are myopic, misinformed, and ultimately harmful. For example, greed and fear lead us to protect trees in our own backyard (literally or figuratively); however, as long as the population continues to grow, so will the market for lumber, and trees will be harvested somewhere. If not in our own well-regulated, well-managed, and highly productive backyards, trees will be cut in places that lack protections and regulations and in areas where a greater number of species are at risk (like the Amazonian rainforest) resulting in backyard protection, but global harm. We point fingers at timber harvest, but most of us live in wood-framed homes filled with wood-based furniture. Forests and trees and wood are natural, can be replanted, and can be managed for multiple objectives including habitat. Harvesting trees for wood products is a net carbon sink. By contrast, the production of steel and concrete account for 15% of CO2 emissions, and mining permanently destroys ecosystems. What is meaningful and what is myopic and misinformed in the case of forestry? If you’re curious, I encourage you to listen to “It all starts in the soil” from the Forestry Smart Policy podcast series [ https://tinyurl.com/ydpw34tt ]. After listening, think about how we might approach forestry and our own lives and impacts from Nature’s Paradigm. If you’d like to explore your own Natural Paradigm, please request a free Tiny Transformation workbook [ https://www.wildhazel.net/resources.html ].
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 In the “real world” — driven by the Conventional Paradigm — we exist with a sense of scarcity. For most of us, we feel we never have enough time or money. We may also feel we never have enough “likes” or status or material possessions, regardless of how much we actually have.
By contrast, Nature is driven by a sense of abundance. Plants and animals live and grow and reproduce as if there is plenty of whatever they need, and have strategies to manage when resources become limited. Nature exists with a sense of abundance. Since you are part of Nature — made by Nature, fed by Nature, dependent on Nature — a sense of abundance is natural to you. You feel it whenever you are experiencing and expressing your Natural Paradigm. What does abundance feel like? Have you ever been walking somewhere, anywhere, paused, and thought it just couldn’t get any more perfect than this? That’s the feeling of abundance. Have you ever been playing with your dog, who is being silly and giving you unconditional love, and you had no idea what time it was or how much you had to do, because it didn’t matter in that moment? That’s the feeling of abundance. Have you ever held an old book in your hand and pondered the improbable sequence of events that had to have occurred for you to have this portal into the thoughts and life experiences and soul of the singular person that was its author? That’s the feeling of abundance. Have you ever looked across the ocean and marveled at how incomprehensibly enormous and powerful and timeless it is, and how miniscule you and your issues are? That’s the feeling of abundance. Have you ever struggled with the death of someone you love, and then realized that they are now part of everything everywhere for all time — and always were? That’s the feeling of abundance. Have you ever been momentarily overwhelmed by beauty, joy, or delight and were left feeling expansive, generous, and wise? That’s the feeling of abundance. The feeling of abundance occurs when we are wonderfully surprised by the first smell of rain, the first leaves falling in autumn, the first flower emerging from the melting snow. It occurs when you realize you have enough time, enough money, enough of what you need to be your best self and live your best life, as part of the whole that you belong to. It occurs when what matters matters. Imagine if we all walked around with this sense of abundance in the “real world”. -- If you’re curious to learn more, I invite you to request your free Tiny Transformation Workbook. If this is compelling, please let me know! I’m in the process of forming the first cohort of the online course Re-Aligning with Nature, Re-Discovering the Power of Your Natural Inspiration, Creativity, and Wisdom.  Martin Seligman, the “father of positive psychology”, created the PERMA model to describe the features that are critical to wellbeing, balance, and fulfillment: Positive emotion, Engagement, positive Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment or Achievement.
In the “real world”, our behaviors, decision-making, and sense of self is driven by the current dominant cultural paradigm — what I’m calling the Conventional Paradigm. This paradigm is based on believing the world is characterized by scarcity (resources are limited and there’s not enough to go around), individuality (in the end you have to look out for yourself), competition (you have to play the game and play to win), greed (you’ve got to keep climbing), resistance (it’s their fault), and fear (if you’re not stressed, you’re not working hard enough). The “real world” is a negative-sum game where our positive emotions are based on external and comparative metrics. Engagements are self-serving, a means to an end. Relationships are transactional and dropped when value stops flowing in our direction. Meaning, a sense of self-worth, is based on fabricated and exclusionary value systems. Achievement or accomplishment is measured against others, and usually occurs at the expense of others. Sadly, this is not limited to the workplace. We constantly judge and are judged even by people we consider friends and family, especially on social media platforms. While wellness may not be possible in the “real world”, it is an emergent property of living in alignment with Nature’s Paradigm. This paradigm is based on believing the world is characterized by abundance (there’s more than enough for you and everyone else), systems (we’re all in this together), synergies (the whole is more than the sum of its parts), trust (valuing what is true and real), resilience (always driving toward what is really important), and curiosity (“I wonder” are two very powerful words). Nature plays an infinite game, plays to keep playing. Positive emotions include joy and love, compassion and gratitude — things that are abundant. Engagement is being and feeling one with the whole, the system. Positive relationships are based on trust, caring and being cared for, synergies. Meaning is intrinsic — you know you matter and just as you know every tree matters. Achievement and accomplishment arises from doing your part, working with meaning towards the greater good, being resilient. -- If you’re curious, I invite you to request your free Tiny Transformation Workbook. If this is compelling, please let me know! I’m in the process of forming the first cohort of the online course Re-Aligning with Nature, Re-Discovering the Power of Your Natural Inspiration, Creativity, and Wisdom.  A paradigm is what we believe to be true about the world, how it works, and our role in it. The paradigm we walk around with drives our behaviors and decision-making far more than our values, yet we often are unaware of it.
Our current dominant cultural paradigm, the Conventional Paradigm, is based on believing in and valuing scarcity, individuality, competition, greed, resistance, and fear. It is what we mean when we refer to the “real world”. Believing that we have to operate according to these rules has not only caused most of the social and environmental problems we have created, it is keeping us from solving them. Nature has a very different paradigm. Nature’s Paradigm is based on believing in and valuing abundance, systems, synergies, trust, resilience, and curiosity. Since humans are living beings, Nature’s Paradigm is our Natural Paradigm. This is the paradigm we feel and follow when we’re taking a walk in the woods, lost in a creative activity, or helping a friend. We must lead from Nature’s Paradigm in order to address the biggest challenges of our time. The problem is, most of us working to save the world — including those leading nonprofits — believe we have to adhere to the Conventional Paradigm in order to accomplish our missions. Is that you? Where are you leading from? Take a moment to reflect on where you are in the Conventional—to—Natural Paradigm spectrum. Is your leadership largely driven by a sense of: SCARCITY — there’s not enough to go around — or by ABUNDANCE? INDIVIDUALITY — the burden is on your shoulders — or by SYSTEMS? COMPETITION — you’ve got to play the game and play to win — or by SYNERGIES? GREED — some is good, more is better — or by TRUST? RESISTANCE — it’s all their fault — or by RESILIENCE? FEAR — stress, worry, anxiety — or CURIOSITY? Leading from the Conventional Paradigm not only sabotages our own missions, it’s detrimental to our physical and mental health, as well as those we lead. Just as we’ve learned to create innovative and sustainable designs by following Nature’s Principles (biomimicry), we can learn to lead innovative and sustainable — as well as beautiful, creative, and joyful — organizations and lives by (re)discovering and following Nature’s Paradigm. You can shift from the Conventional to the Natural Paradigm. It’s not only wonderfully freeing, it brings immediate benefits, both personal and professional. We need more of us — most of us — to rediscover and lead from Nature’s Paradigm. If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your organization, your mission, and for Nature. If this sounds compelling, please let me know! I’m in the process of forming the first cohort of the online course Re-Aligning with Nature, Re-Discovering the Power of Your Natural Inspiration, Creativity, and Wisdom. |
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October 2023
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