Centering ourselves within a holistic context
A holistic context is not limited to farming. As an individual, family or organization, understanding your context is the essential step many of us overlook.
Together with Abbey Smith, Global Network Coordinator of the Savory Institute and Uve Hub Leader (formerly: Jefferson Center), and Daniel Firth Griffith, Executive Director of Robinia Institute (a Mid-Atlantic Savory Hub), we explored the process in two parts: first, understanding what we are managing and then our holistic context.
OUR PEOPLE & BEHAVIORS
Tell the truth.
Respect each other and all creation. Whole perspective understanding, listening and learning.
Meet people where they are. Never stop fighting for the underdog.Living freely, fiercely and regeneratively for ourselves and those we love to leave world better than found it and foster wealth and health cycles that compound for all future generations to come.
OUR LAND & ENVIRONMENT
Our Mother is vibrant, thriving, resilient, lush and in perfect harmony. Each and every system is perfectly imperfect to create everlasting abundance, biodiversity, clean water. Her people and creatures alike honor renewable and cyclical processes that connect and regenerate resilient communities at every scale.
Our future vision
Defining our holistic context
Whole Under Management
The key here is to keep your focus on the big picture! The first step of this process helps you define the decision makers, your resource base and money under your management. Your whole under management often contains multiple “wholes,” all which give live to and energize eachother.
Holistic Context
For organizations, your holistic context also centers around a statement of purpose, “Why were we formed?”
Then, you design your quality of life statement that includes considerations for your economic well-being, relationships, challenge and growth, and your purpose and contribution.
Lastly, and possibly our favorite step, is to create a vision for your future resource base. By resource base, they mean the people, land and environment you exist within — yes, they mean Mother Earth! The purpose here is to reconnect humans with nature — farmer or not.
Imagine a world where every individual and organization considered the whole planet in their decisions?! We can and it’s a beautiful thought…
Find a way to fall in love with your life so intensely that watching another person love theirs is a confirmation, not a threat. Be so involved with cultivating your own talents and forging through your own desires that you don’t have the time or energy to criticize how others live. Determine for yourself what matters to you, how you want to experience life, and let that, and only that, be your map. Stop letting other people’s lives be your map. Let yourself want what you want and be patient, let it unfold, see what’s right in front of you, and listen to your wild urges, to your painful jealousies, to the what if’s and why not me’s, and reach, small step by small step until you can’t remember when you ever felt anything but wholly in love with the life you’ve intentionally created.
Jamie Varon @moonomens
Our friends at the Earth2Earthlings podcast dive deep into the holistic context concept
Listen in! “In this episode, Daniel and Jesse interview Abbey Smith, the Global Network Coordinator of the Savory Institute and Hub Leader of the Jefferson Center, which provides a full spectrum of support and training in Holistic Management within the Northern California area. We speak about the power of the Holistic Context and Abbey’s hope in its ability to heal our world.” — Earth2Earthlings
