The title is still a secret, but my new book about the future of humanity and the transition to a new economy is on its way! The first part of my quest for answers will be published by The House of Books (in Dutch first).
On a small island off the coast of Alaska:
‘Looking out over the fallen and discarded tree trunks, I feel the rising trend of working (too) hard, always going on and constantly producing in my tense neck and shoulders. It is a narrowing of my field of vision, in which the beauty of the world hardly exists anymore and only the ongoing movement counts. But as I look around the island’s rugged coastline, I feel the deep connection to the earth again, and the sense of wholeness and unity that the vast wilderness of this island inevitably brings. With my feet firmly on the earth and the wind blowing through my hair, I realize that as much as I would like to run to achieve a circular, blue, green, biobased, shared or donut-shaped economy, a cup of chamomile tea and a box of Kleenex probably will be of better use. The underlying values of the ‘wrong jungle’* are deeply embedded in ourselves and only when we become aware of all those worn and beaten paths in our minds and hearts will we be able to enter the new jungle that the world needs so badly right now. The white frost on the smooth-polished trunks glistens like a beacon of light, as the morning sun suddenly breaks through the clouds. And like the bears waking from hibernation this month, I blink against the bright light as I take my first steps into the pristine and vast wilderness of my own heart.’
*According to renowned leadership expert Stephen Covey, most people are busily trying to make their way through a ‘dense jungle’, but a leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the whole situation, and shouts: ‘Wrong jungle!’ – to which the busy crowd yells back: ‘Shut up, we’re doing great!’ Often we are so busy making progress through the undergrowth that we don’t even ask ourselves if we are in the right jungle: ‘Effectiveness does not depend on the amount of energy we invest, but on whether we are doing it in the right jungle.’
Read my personal update about the writing process here.
Just like our entire world, this website is currently in transformation. Stay tuned for new updates.