Stickles & Pikes

Today we walked the Langdale Pikes in the Lake District and it was, if I’m honest, a bit of a slog. I think we bagged 5 Wainwrights. The cloud was all around once we’d climbed a couple of hundred metres, and I certainly missed the scenery, nature, egging me on. You have to look closer to home, right under your nose, when the cloud is around. 

I found myself pondering as I was walking up the never ending steps. As usual, I thanked the people who had made the path that I was walking on, and I think that’s what set me off.

What really struck me today was, ‘No matter how innovative you think you are, someone has always walked that path before.’

This idea of ‘transformation’ and ‘innovation’ feels really ego and market based to me. When you’re in nature you’re reminded of how small you really are in the grand scheme of things. And what babies we humans are to this planet. 

I saw a job description for an institution a few weeks ago, seeking someone who would make them the ‘best in the country’ at community wealth building. It felt like an oxymoron to me.

What if we let go of ego driven behaviours, like ‘being the best’ and shifted to ‘doing the best we can’ … what if best was defined in planetary rather than reputation and ego terms? 

How might that truly open space for humanness and the planet? 

Back to nature for now…