After 15 years inhabiting the world of an environmental scientist, it became clear that we already know enough facts and figures to take action - and yet we are still not acting on the scale that is needed. We desperately need to move from our heads to our hearts, to transform our story about who we are, and take courageous action.
The crisis we face is a direct result of an exploitative world view driven by colonialism and ruthless competition. But life isn't like that, life is deeply collaborative and extremely generous. Until we re-imagine what it means to be human, what a good life looks like, we have little chance of fundamentally changing course. I facilitate workshops around the themes of deep ecology, reciprocity, the art of story, and tapping into awe and wonder that we even exist at all.
Becoming Life
In this workshop I bring participants way back in time, well before profits and shareholders were a thing. Starting out, rolled up tightly on the ground with our eyes closed, we inhabit the experience of being a single celled organism. A simple life of floating around in the oceanic soup over 2 billion years ago. We feel into what it was like to be our original ancestor, to then sprout fins, and eventually haul ourselves onto the land.
This workshop brings participants through the miraculous evolution of life on earth. Based on the beautiful work of Joanna Macy (who I had the great fortune to learn from as part of the Embercombe 'Seeds for Radical Transformation' Leadership program), I aim to give participants a visceral experience of becoming human. In the process, we realise we are a member of the biggest family we know: the family of life herself. We take the time to consider what it would mean to truly embody this truth in our own lives. We feel into the joy that this transformation can bring, and we hatch plans to create a world of balance, reverence, reciprocity with the rest of life.
I was invited to give this workshop at Electric Picnic (2022 & 2023), Beyond the Pale (2023), and the Blue Lagoon festival in Wales (2023). For enquiries on future events please email: [email protected]
The Art of Storytelling for Social Change
“We are, as a species, addicted to story. Even when the body goes to sleep, the mind stays up all night, telling itself stories.” (Jonathan Gottschall, The Storytelling Animal).
Not only are we all story addicts, stories shape our conception of who we are and how we perceive reality. We currently live under a story of survival of the fittest - at all costs - and the cost is the world.
Reshaping what it means to be human through the art of story can inspire and energise us. Through professional training with the Story Collider in Canada, I learnt the techniques to craft real life stories into compelling tales.
I am enthusiastic to share this knowledge and have trained multiple groups in the art of storytelling and media communication (incl. giving workshops at the University of British Columbia, University of Oxford, the Nature Conservancy, Humboldt University Berlin, community gatherings, festivals, and eco-events). Feel free to get in touch if you would like me to host a workshop at an event near you.