Medium Short: Just Ice Is Served

Change is hidden, seems slow, is always there

My neighbour’s bike, currently. It feels strangely representative of so much. (Photos by me.)

Welcome to the latest Medium Short, a weekly accountability practice highlighting what I am reading, writing, and doing along the unmarked trail towards #IndustrialHealing. By the way, all of my articles are freely available through this link.

Right about now, progress feels like my neighbour’s bike currently buried in snow and ice. Realizing some forces are far greater than I am, this week I took my own advice (a word that happens to have ice hidden within, come to think of it). I’ll get to that advice with the “doing” below, in a sec — but first, some reading and (not very much) writing.

Reading: Solutions present and past

This week I thought I would finish Peter Gelderloos’ The Solutions Are Already Here. I want to write up a piece about it, maybe even summon the courage to invite him for a chat like the one I did with Patty Krawec). I didn’t finish, but I’m close — it is one heck of a read! If books were ranked by head-exploding emoji it would be a 5 🤯 for sure. I’m looking forward to reading what happens in the end…

The Boudica reading continues. It’s placed in AD 32, yet in a strange way it underscores so much of the present puzzles, reminding us the solutions really are already here.

Writing: Handwritten scribbles and whiteboardery

Lots of journaling, white board notes, sketching ideas out, nothing to share here today though. More soon. (I wish it weren’t so, but also accepting it is so. See also: bicycle in snow, above.)

Doing: Speaking, or at least, talking to myself

I spent the start of the week prepping a presentation for participants of the Climate Smart Lending Fellowship which I delivered on Wednesday. I was encouraged to bring my full self (hence I accepted the gig) although the participants are from major banks and not necessarily familiar with the sort of industrial healing stuff I go on about. I put a lot into these kinds of talks — I love public speaking. But the virtual nature of these things, where there is no eye contact or body language to communicate how people are doing, combined…