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Own Your Power

Own Your Power

“Power is not brute force and money; power is in your spirit. Power is in your soul. It is what your ancestors, your old people gave you. Power is in the earth; it is in your relationship to the earth.” –Winona LaDuke

I’ve been writing power this week as Business for the Revolution comes together (more coming soon!), but it’s also been front of mind as I’ve made some big decisions, grappling with fear, doubt & what it means to own my power.  

One of the struggles we hold with power is often the idea that power means power over or power under.  

We equate power with domination and control.

We hold stories that power is dirty, that power needs money, or that people power is fine but it’s not something we can wield individually.

It’s no surprise that cultural stories of powerful women tend to fall on a spectrum from the Lolita femme-fatale to the ‘nasty woman’, who perhaps holds power but, you know, lacks connection, friendship & warmth.  

These stories all imply that power is bad – that power is corrupt, and cannot be trusted.  And of course in some cases this is true – when it perverts itself into domination.  

But these stories also all uphold the status quo, they all perpetuate business as usual.  

To pretend the status quo is not deeply invested in our belief in our powerlessness would be naive.  

So this brings us back to the question – what does it mean to own our power? 

The natural world is filled with power – just consider the elements – that wields itself without domination. 

Our power in co-creation is in our unity, not our separation.  

And power – whether we believe it or not – is something we all have more of than we think, because we all have agency.  

So who would you be if you trusted your power? What would you do if you knew yourself to be powerful?

What possibilities would you hold that you now consider to be limited? 

What limitations would you reject? 

What would power look like to you, if it wasn’t over or under anyone else? 

Love & Courage, 

Laura

Regenerative Culture

Regenerative Culture

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