I was moved and provoked by Neil Theise's unsettling/comforting/unsettling keynote at the SustainableBrands conference last week, so of course I invited him to join us for this month's Living Between Worlds conversation for possibility.

Neil is an MD, Zen Buddhist, professor of pathology at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine, pioneer of adult stem cell plasticity and the anatomy of the human interstitium, and author of Notes on Complexity: A Scientific Theory of Connection, Consciousness, and Being. https://amzn.to/3YcvmXk

As Maria Popova wrote in The Marginalian, Neil "endeavors to bridge the mystery out there with the mystery of us, bringing together our three primary instruments of investigating reality — empirical science (with a focus on complexity theory), philosophy (with a focus on Western idealism), and metaphysics (with a focus on Buddhism, Vedanta, Kabbalah, and Saivism) — to paint a picture of the universe and all of its minutest parts “as nothing but a vast, self-organizing, complex system, the emergent properties of which are… everything.”

I was glad for the chance for a deeper conversation with him about what that all means for the challenges of sustainability, regeneration, and the world we want—and to be able to share it with you.

Have a look, see where the conversation went, and let us know:

What, if anything, shifted for you while absorbing this conversation? What, if anything, is showing up differently in your life?

And join us next time, on the third Wednesday of every month from 12:00-1:30pm Pacific time. Register at https://bit.ly/LivingBetweenWorlds. 

...

On October 18 Dr. Sharon Blackie explored stories, myths, fairy tales, and archetypes illustrating the transformative potential of time spent in inner inquiry, and how doing so might help to shift

On October 18 Dr. Sharon Blackie explored stories, myths, fairy tales, and archetypes illustrating the transformative potential of time spent in inner inquiry, and how doing so might help to shift the collective mindset. She highlighted ways of using the old stories to reflect on today's challenges.

During this interactive session, we discussed how time spent in solitude and in nature helps us to listen, participate in a reciprocal relationship with the animate world we belong to, and to deepen our sense of kinship. The session concluded with the challenge to attendees: what are the foundational shifts we need to make to participate in the larger possibility of metamorphosis?

Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer, psychologist, and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on reimagining womens’ stories, and on the relevance of myths, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today. To learn more about Dr. Blackie's work, please visit: https://sharonblackie.net/

Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer, psychologist and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on reimagining womens’ stories, and on the relevance of myths, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today. To learn more about Dr. Blackie's work, please visit: https://sharonblackie.net/

Karen Doyle Grossman, is the Executive Director for the Garrison Institute. She was the founding Vice President, Social Innovations at Mercy Corps, a $400 million international organization operating in 44 countries. In this role, Karen created and directed Mercy Corps’ work to advance highly scalable, double bottom line solutions. At the Aspen Institute, Karen launched the Institute’s Young Leadership Initiative for executives under the age of 45. She served as associate director for the Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program, leading multi-year initiatives to document, evaluate and fund innovative anti-poverty strategies in the United States. There, Karen created and founded MicroMentor, the world's largest community of entrepreneurs and experienced volunteer business mentors: https://www.micromentor.org/

...

On October 18 Dr. Sharon Blackie explored stories, myths, fairy tales, and archetypes illustrating the transformative potential of time spent in inner inquiry, and how doing so might help to shift

On October 18 Dr. Sharon Blackie explored stories, myths, fairy tales, and archetypes illustrating the transformative potential of time spent in inner inquiry, and how doing so might help to shift the collective mindset. She highlighted ways of using the old stories to reflect on today's challenges. During this interactive session, we discussed how time spent in solitude and in nature helps us to listen, participate in a reciprocal relationship with the animate world we belong to, and to deepen our sense of kinship. The session concluded with the challenge to attendees: what are the foundational shifts we need to make to participate in the larger possibility of metamorphosis? Dr. Sharon Blackie is an award-winning writer, psychologist, and mythologist. Her highly acclaimed books, courses, lectures and workshops are focused on reimagining womens’ stories, and on the relevance of myths, fairy tales and folk traditions to the personal, cultural and environmental problems we face today. To learn more about Dr. Blackie's work, please visit: https://sharonblackie.net/ Karen Doyle Grossman, is the Executive Director for the Garrison Institute. She was the founding Vice President of Social Innovations at Mercy Corps, a $400 million international organization operating in 44 countries. In this role, Karen created and directed Mercy Corps’ work to advance highly scalable, double bottom line solutions. At the Aspen Institute, Karen launched the Institute’s Young Leadership Initiative for executives under the age of 45. She served as associate director for the Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program, leading multi-year initiatives to document, evaluate and fund innovative anti-poverty strategies in the United States. There, Karen created and founded MicroMentor, the world's largest community of entrepreneurs and experienced volunteer business mentors: https://www.micromentor.org/

...

Read more

Email a Friend