Awedacious Ideas: Poetry, Stormtroopers and Conservation

A weekly round-up

Welcome to Awedacious Ideas, a weekly summary of what we’re reading, listening to and contemplating as we build a case for awe in the change-making space.

This week’s recap

1. We contemplated the stars, and how important ‘looking up’ might be in reclaiming our proximity to awe and wonder. Things are Looking Up

2. We defined ‘Awe-Based Changemaking’ and where we see it evolving.

The words we use

Awe is obviously just a word. But it’s a word that is opening new frames of reference when it comes to understanding new ways of influencing behavior - seeing change-making from a whole new lens.

Language is everything.
Is nature a resource? Or a relative?
Are we developing? Or are we unfurling?
Are we striving to create impact? Or to have influence?

”We need the languages of both science and poetry to save us from merely stockpiling endless “information” that fails to inform our ignorance. (…) Science describes accurately from outside, poetry describes accurately from inside. Science explicates, poetry implicates. Both celebrate what they describe. We need the languages of both science and poetry to save us from merely stockpiling endless “information” that fails to inform our ignorance or our irresponsibility.”
- Ursula K. Le Guin on objectifying the universe.

Rebel or Stormtrooper

“It's entirely possible that the Great Sorting Hat at the End of Time won't give a damn which side we thought we were on - Rebel or stormtrooper, Red Pill or Blue - but only our intentions. Which flag we flew, which uniform we wore will yield to something much simpler. Were we coming from fear or love? Were we standing for all of us or only some of us? Were we playing Team Finite, or Team Infinite?”
- Jamie Wheal, a quote from what we’re reading.

A small but mighty thought

“In the end, we will conserve only what we love; we will love only what we understand and we will understand only what we are taught.”
- Baba Dioum