By Maeve Elder, Communication & Outreach Coordinator
Missouri Gateway Green Building Council
Positive momentum feels like a scarce resource right now, with so much good work being undone. In the world of green building, we’re particularly attuned to the dismantling of achievements around climate change policy, green energy and decarbonization. Banned words, cancelled programs and incentives, clawed-back funding clog daily headlines. And yet, we know how important our work is, now more than ever. So, how do we muster optimism in the most unlikely of times?
In a recent podcast I listened to, Tara Brach shares an old Native myth that has helped me find my footing. As she tells it, inside a cave, an old woman is weaving the most beautiful garment ever imagined, but now and then she pauses to stir a pot over the fire that’s at the back of the cave. That pot holds all the seeds of the earth, and if it’s left unstirred, the seeds will burn, and life itself will vanish. So, she has to go to the back of the cave to stir the pot, but while she’s away, the black dog that keeps her company pulls at a loose thread and unravels her weaving, thread by thread, until only chaos remains. When she returns, she pauses and looks silently upon the remnants of her once-beautiful design. Then, she bends down and picks up a thread, and in that thread, she envisions an even more beautiful garment, one that didn’t exist before the unraveling.
Tara shares this story to reflect on how our reaction to the unraveling in front of us can play a role in shaping the future. As unthinkable as it seems, finding a way to cultivate calm in the face of so much destruction keeps us connected to the resources we need most. It creates room for what Tara calls the healing power of our imagination – the imagination that can first envision then help re-weave the better world we envision.
This story has helped me step back and see that there’s much more to the broader reality of our collective work than the unraveling taking place in this current moment. The truth is that our capacity to imagine a better world has been key to this movement from its inception – driving everything from setting global emissions targets to creating and collaborating around innovative solutions to bring about that imagined future. Let’s let ourselves remember that, and do what seems implausible – breathe, and lean in.