FUTURE

2021 Has Been a Surprising Murmuration. Let’s See What the Future Holds Next

Moving from 2021 into 2022

Nature is never static. Today I’m this and tomorrow, I’m that. Today I’m sad and tomorrow the sun shines again. Or for my friends in hot countries, let’s say today is scorching and tomorrow it rains fertile drops.

The year 2021 was full of surprises. I’ll tell you about some of mine. And of course, I’m mighty curious to find out about yours.

Murmurations

In 2021 Mike and I focused on rewilding souls and rewilding soils. Both are very important in the changes of our world…

2021 has been the year of the starling and the murmurations. Have you ever seen this impressive phenomenon in nature? That a whole bunch of birds fly in one direction, change course, and fly the other way without bumping?

The trick of a murmuration is to stay close to your neighbor. Flow together and move when they move. It’s dancing without anyone leading. And it’s not easy for humans to do. People often see differences more than what we have in common. And people all want to lead.

So, that’s why our murmurations look more like a stuck pool of immensely aggressive vortexes than like a flowing river that has any chance of reaching the horizon.

Vortexes

Which vortex were you this year? The angry one asking for freedom? The scared one asking for risk reduction? The one shouting we should all consider the collective purpose just to sell us their limited solution?

This year, I moved from collective purpose to personal meaning. I have finally accepted that the world is the way it is. And I now lean into the unknown. I have focused my vision on the infinite possibilities in the universe to create my personal life and the lives of numerous others.

And we have found so many surprising solutions for our human predicaments that I can’t wait to share them all again. We can all use the parts that are for us.

Abundanism is in full flow now and changing lives. Not least my own and Mike’s.

After a long and cold winter in our caravan, we decided that our living conditions needed to change. So, we went on a trip of exploration of what, how, and where. First, we went to Ibiza in April and May to contribute there to the large women’s movement The Heroines that is changing lives, businesses, and leadership with conscious daring.

iCanay and Rudy de Waele made us feel so welcome that we longed to stay. But after a lot of sensing and concluding, Ibiza doesn’t seem to be our journey. Too expensive. Too many rich and know-it-all, seen-it-all people to make us feel comfortable.

But how we loved the artist vibe! The hippy vibe! The open ways of exploring the regeneration. The conscious creations of all the wonderful people I met who live there. So many regenerative farming projects, ocean restoration projects, and people trying to invent their way of living with meaning and purpose.

Ibiza and Es Vedra stole our hearts. But we left anyway.

Angry Rivers

June, July, and August were months of coming to terms with climate change in our own lives. Despite The Netherlands' big-effort investments in adaptations, creating space for the river to move, the rivers Rijn and Maas gave us scary moments. And took a lot of human lives in Germany and Belgium. Our neighboring countries.

Our village Well just held on. But our daughter’s house nearly drowned. We had true conversations with younger generations about risk and daring. And I must say, I’m sometimes surprised how I lean towards too careful (very aware of risk) and the younger generations lean towards complete faith (extreme daring).

It also struck me how young people hold on to authority when it suits their worldview of freedom (“the water is no risk yet, you can stay where you are”). And how they fight authority when it doesn’t feel convenient (“you have to evacuate now. It’s not safe anymore”).

And of course, we see the same thing now with COVID. Young people are fighting authority (with a good reason I must say!) and old people, my relatives, are comparing the virus with their war times to excuse governments gaining control over our freedom and lives with technology and manipulative information.

Who has the best gut feeling? Or is our gut feeling always dependent on our past? After all, I grew up with the war traumas of my parents and the younger generation grows up without facing war or threat up close.

Often, it only hits home when disaster comes close in their reality.

Who is right or wrong? I think it all depends on the situation. The place we live, the community we are part of, and the personal longing to have certain experiences. We can only find our own journey and the best path for a country or a community in true conversations…

Agroforestry in Greece

In the summer, we had to take a decision to get vaccinated or not. We complied with resistance in our hearts. In the meantime, I had seen up close what being on an IC and long-COVID can do. But I also realize the risks of vaccination. I truly believe in my body and my immune system. But is it strong enough? Or not? I really struggle with this. Like we all do.

It’s a balance of risk and life energy that we all have to feel in our own bodies. And make our own decisions about.

At the beginning of September, I went again to Ibiza to create a movement with many women. And in the process, I found my personal power of creation. Healing the flames of my grandmother’s death and finding my own flame.

When I came back, we sold our caravan and became fully nomadic. We decided to go to Greece to contribute to the regeneration of 24 nearly empty villages in Paralio Astros. Christiana Gardikioti, Anna Blume, Alejandro Colete Moya, and the other Meraki People became our tribe.

We started moving mountains.

We created the project ‘Olive Bliss’ to create awareness around ecosystem restoration in the olive orchards. With inoculated biochar, crushed volcanic rock.

The simple and oh so life-changing way of micro-organisms, fungi, and biochar to give them a home and capture carbon in the soil.

We came up with many opportunities for young people and entrepreneurs to acquire extra income streams and design new business models to their liking for all kinds of businesses.

Conscious travel and tourism in practice.

But also agroforestry (ecological intensification) combined with phytomining (plants are accumulators with minerals and metals so we can shift away from regular mining). We inspired community Biolabs to redesign materials. We inspired 3D printing facilities to finally create materials and products with more space than matter and still be very functional.

Functionality by structure instead of solid matter. Like nature does it.

We explored with young people opportunities to return to the countryside and build their lives in the villages if they are tired of the city and do not want to raise their children there.

We met the beautiful tribe of agroforestry people Southern Lights and the inspiring farmer Giorgos who is also a tai chi master. At his request, we helped bridge differences of view and planted 500 trees on his farm with a team of young volunteers.

We met inspiring artists and filmmakers who tell the stories that matter. Healing and honoring the past. Creating a better future without wars and ecosystem destruction.

Life Happens

End of December, we came back for three weeks over Xmas. Our small apartment, our car, and our small bags of nomadic stuff are all waiting for us in the Greek place where we feel so at home now.

Paralio Astros. The sea. The villages. The mountains.

But life happens when you are making wonderful plans. And we have to change course quickly. Being abroad is nice when we are healthy. But now I need an operation and then being abroad is not an option. We have to return our stuff from Greece and stay with family and friends in Holland for the next few months to heal and recuperate.

So thankful that we have social capital. It makes the world of difference!

We are looking at the infinite possibilities in the universe right now to come to decisions, adapt our plans, and talk to the people involved in our lives right now.

Find the path good for us. And for our planet and change-makers tribes.

Luckily, my dear friend anna blume helped me to set up our website Abundanism. So, I can still share our wisdom as much as possible and get paid to adapt generalizations to specific contexts. The world needs nature’s wisdom right now.

And we really want to contribute with some unique puzzle pieces and connections that no one seems to see (yet). And develop the thinking and design tools for other people, educators, leaders, and entrepreneurs to start creating as we do in our daily lives and work.

The more we learn, the more we realize that Nature has all the answers… We just have to know what’s what. See the toxic triggers we created. Use tools like the zero-point and the mirror. Zoom in and zoom out. Go a little upstream instead of always downstream.

And definitely listen and observe more closely…

It all starts with ecosystem restoration, but evolution is not ending there. With many nature-, planet-, and universe-based solutions, we are going to shift from industrial, polluting nonsense to interconnected, distributed productive wisdom.

We are going to create new (parallel?) economies with DAOs and NFTs.

And maybe our world from 2028 onward will be a hugely fun and modern Regenaissance. Adapting to our planet. Independent and free.

Income for the independents will create huge shifts. Artists, dancers, and musicians who feel the sign of our times and will contribute to evolution. Most of them aren’t big polluters, big shoppers, big destroyers.

It’s like Cindy Lauper sings, girls just wanna have fun… immaterial fun…

And in terms of physical production for basic needs, we will learn how to go from mining to phytofarming. We will create unique products with 3D printers and biodegradable materials. We will build houses that power themselves with minimal material use. We will create wetlands for keeping freshwater longer on land.

And we’ll adapt radically and quickly to everything our planet has in store for us. Sea level rise? We might need all the water we can get now that the sun is getting hotter and more water will evaporate.

Salty soils? We’ll adapt our food chains and start eating what’s locally available.

In the future, comfort and thriving will not only be for the happy few. But we will have to become alert beings again. Awake. Not only looking out for snakebites and virus bites.

But wisely preparing for all planetary surprises.

We will learn to become resilient and adaptive in the face of extreme weather, drinking water scarcity, floods, volcanoes, bushfires, and hurricanes. Prevent them as much as we can. And adapt whenever we need to.

How? Minimizing solid matter. Adding flow and space. Rewilding soils, seas, and souls. Breaking down walls between silos. Quick overviews of the present and predictions of the future. NOT getting stuck in the past. Easy and fast on our feet.

Facing reality with an open mind and heart. And imagining the future.

All the while being independent beings. Valuing and respecting life, health, and freedom for all people and all other species big time!

We will realize that science thinks he has all the answers, but there is so much more to shift and discover if we include the rewilded feminine and rewilded nature, the planet, and the universe…

Let’s include deep biology, ecology, and astronomy in all we do. Especially in evolutionary mathematics, engineering, and production. And apply these ideas inside distributed systems, designed for change and quick evolution.

Darwin was right. The adapted species will thrive best…

Focus on Health

We want to thank our Patrons with a special mention. They supported us from the beginning via Patreon and help us do what we do with a financial contribution. I know you loyal ones expect little in return but the work we do for the world. We talked about that with you. But still, we can never show enough gratitude and appreciation!

Thank you Shereen Tucker ariel quixote Justin Lawler and Sabine Koppe!

2022 will be a year of focus on health for us. It’s fitting. And despite the adversity, we will definitely not make it a boring year! We will publish the book Abundanism.

I will work with the Born Global Foundation on touching hearts with science that will shift the world into community action for all people and all other species. Our deadline is the end of June when the Global Diversity Forum takes place in Davos.

Stay tuned…

How About You?

And now, let me hear about your progress in 2021 and your dreams for 2022 in the comments. Did you find your online, international tribes? Did you grow your impact by creating, spreading, and walking your talk? Do you still love the process of storytelling?

Did you manage to break some social media algorithms and spread your impact?

A new project of mine is a Substack with storytelling tips and tricks for impact makers. I’ll start with some general free sharing and when the interest is there, I’ll deepen with concrete tips and tricks in a paid content stream.

We need all of your stories to fly high and far too, remember?

Martine Trista Selma Elisabeth Amy Michele Rebecca Rebecca Zelam Dew Tree Agnes Agnes Jenine Adelia Kaia Yael Maria CR Annelise Nicole Caroline Melissa Charlotte Gurpreet Lanu Aurora Annick Neha Noma Sherry Paul Bill Kathryn Joe George Jessica B. A. Tony Rasheed Henery Chowa FILZA 𝘋𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘢 Simona Tamela Jayne Infiniti Russ Salam Ravyne Fred Liam The Maverick Thewriteyard Stuart Maria Sumera Ntathu Arthur Britni Dipti Eliot Daniella Ryan Do The Green Helen Jo Ann Kevin Nicole Kim Priya J.J. Roz Jyssica Radha Upen Suzanne Tre René Terry Jill Eli Shin Karen ◦•●✿ Christina Dr. Christine Keno Dennett Dr Mehmet

Thank you all for being in my tribe. I read you all! In this new year, I’ll comment again on many stories. Although you have to excuse me that with my operation and my tribe growing fast I need to balance time and freedom.

But I am here. Out in the cloud. And if you need me, please reach out…

Thank you, Mike, for adding your wise energy to my words on Abundanism, Simple Abundance. © Désirée Driesenaar, 2021