The S.E.E.D.S.
The School for Ecocentric Evolution & Design Strategies
“Our primary mission to sow seeds of a life-affirming future at the fertile intersection of the individual, communal, and ecological worlds.”
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The Three Pillars of The Work
Soul Rooted Individual Development
Soul Rooted Development is a process of relating to and developing within the domain of the individual subject. Here we focus on supporting the individual in the cultivation of greater meaning, significance, wholeness and belonging. This is achieved through the cultivation of an awareness of the ecocentric soul and developing the skills and capacity to live a soul rooted life. We understand the ecocentric soul to be the process-relational space (niche) that any individual inhabits and is informed by. This niche space not only informs the individual but also compels the individual towards a greater becoming that can more deeply serve the whole. In this sense the soul can be seen as a kind of weaver of threads, meaningfully coalescing the random into personally significant images that generates desire and compels movement towards ever greater evolutionary participation. The soul rooted development of the individual is a relational process that compels the individuals towards psycho-spiritual maturation so as to meaningfully contribute to the holistic cultural regeneration and the re-animation of the more-than-human ecological world.
Holistic Cultural (Re)Generation
A truly holistic human culture must balance both continuance (stability) and evolution (change) so as to eternally create and re-create the conditions necessary for life and consciousness to not only survive but thrive across deep time. Our current predominant overculture is on a self-terminating path through amplifying fragmentation across human differences, within individual psyches, and across the ecosystems that sustain us. This necessitates the (re)generation of holistic human culture. Healthy culture can be defined as the co-created relational facilitation that promotes the maximization of generative participation, authentic creativity, and quality of experience for the greatest number of humans and more-than-humans across time. Human culture quite literally shapes the consciousness of the individuals grown within that culture, and shapes the landscapes of our ecological communities. Thus, this pillar is in service to consciously evolving the foundational values and practices of our socio-cultural milieu in order to support the other two domains/pillars of soul rooted development of all individuals and the re-animation of our more-than-human ecological world. A human culture that can serve all three intersecting domains/pillars is an ecocentric culture capable of great longevity and extraordinary ingenuity.
(Re)Animation of the More-Than-Human
The re-animation of the more-than-human ecological world is the process by which we as humans choose again to see and feel all that is, has been, and will be as a divine living expression of a wildly intelligent process of evolutionary becoming. It is the process by which we come to see ourselves as born out of a complex, dynamic, living field of relationships comprised of unique elements all valuable in their own particular ways. As human beings, we are invited to participate in the ongoing generation of greater harmonized complexity. When we see life as animate and understand ourselves to be present within a living universe, then our participation becomes instilled with greater significance. From this place, we can begin to step into our rightful place with the family circle of life, becoming agents and stewards of our planetary communities. Without this ontological and phenomenological shift into seeing, knowing and feeling ourselves as inherently entangled within a vast living system, then no truly sustainable future is possible. Only through reciprocal relationship, can a generative ecocentric process-relational future emerge.
Praxis
Praxis is where our theory meets practice, where we get to play with the actualization of ideas into form for the creation of living symbols that point towards the core fundamental values of the ecocentric life-affirming world that beckons us forward. Essentially, we are taking the SEEDS articulated ecocentric cosmology story and applying it into time and place with the intention to experience the theory subjectively through our psycho-somatic responses, while simultaneously reflecting on its objective effectiveness at communicating the story of value in a way that can be clear & replicable to those who interact with it across a diversity of theoretical contexts and cultural understandings. Praxis spaces are ones of engagement, education, innovation, and experimentation in service to the further refinement of our theories of change as well as the continued propagation of tangible representations of ecocentric life-affirming values in action.
Cultural Regenesis Hubs
As a catalyst for collective evolution, SEEDS prioritizes bioregional action toward cultural regeneration. Through the creation of cultural regenesis hubs, we are beginning to root our vast vision into time and place. These praxis hubs offer on-the-ground practice ground for essential learning and development across the three pillars of ecocentric evolution (i.e. self, culture, and ecology). Aimed to be sites where experimentation, collaboration, and innovation are welcomed, these hubs are birthing emergent models of localized resilience. Through taking an experimental yet grounded approach across diverse bioregions, these praxis hubs aim to offer immersive “living classroom” approaches to cross-pollinating ideas, frameworks, and practices that can amplify our collective momentum toward the growing of a life-affirming world.
Initiatives & Enterprise Ecologies
Based on our ecocentric understanding of the interconnection of all things, our vision is one of mutual co-arising. This means that SEEDS is inherently interested in collaborative partnerships and innovative initiatives that support the growing of an ever-more resilient and diverse ecology of exchange. We do this through striving to cultivate enterprise ecologies, in which we intentionally craft partnerships with individuals and groups who are visionary leaders in their respective fields and areas of expertise. We believe this model of collaborative social entrepreneurship is the way of the future because it simultaneously honors the unique ingenuity of the particular individuals and entities involved while celebrating that their co-creative potential is greater than the sum of their parts.