Shape Change.

This is a share from last weekend's New Room newsletter. If you're interested in more like this and want to get updates on our upcoming events, you can subscribe here!

Hi all, Erin here.

Typically, our reading lists are compiled of non-fiction that touch on systems-thinking, social innovation, relationship dynamics, Oh you know, just a little light reading… (When you stop by our next BYOBook on Aug 25th just take a quick look at DJ’s reading pile - and I mean pile! - that’ll say it all.)

I’m all for intellectually stimulating reads but this summer, I was in the mood for something different.

In an effort to engage my imagination instead of my intellect, I picked up a fiction novel I’ve been meaning to read for a while: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower. I started it right before our first BYOBook event held on July 28th. This was aptly timed! Though Octavia wrote it in the early 90’s, the story begins on July 20th, 2024 and I can’t tell you how spot-on some of her predictions were.

In Octavia’s fictional future, there is a right wing fundamentalist who runs on the platform “Make America Great Again”... Yes, you read that right.

I knew I’d love it (I’ve already read the second in the series) but I didn’t know just how meaningful and poignant this read would be. It’s dark and dystopian - exploring what happens when greed and fear take hold in our societies. It’s also hopeful and deeply human. Fiction or not, Octavia’s lessons for how we survive a f*cked-up future (or a f*cked-up right now!) are exceptionally clear and relevant. Her teachings (as shared through her protagonist Lauren Olamina) are: Be prepared, share resources, learn from history, commit to communication, embrace diversity of thought/skill/lived-experience, work in community, exchange often, repair when harm is caused, share vision, have something beautiful to aspire to, and - importantly - shape change.

“All that you touch, you change. All that you change, changes you. The only lasting truth is change.”

Octavia Butler - Parable of the Sower

I’ve read this phrase many times over and each time, I get choked up. It just rings so exceptionally true.

So, how do we begin to shape change?

If we take Octavia’s guidance, we need to imagine the change before the change can occur. We need to believe in our capacity to be creative, life-giving beings.

Octavia spoke and wrote about the power of our imagination. She said, “At its best, science fiction stimulates imagination and creativity. It gets the reader and writer off the beaten track, off the narrow, narrow footpath of what "everyone" is saying, doing, thinking - whoever "everyone" happens to be this year.”

DJ and I often talk about just whose imagination we are currently living in (a topic we unpack in The Seed). At one point, someone(s) was(were) bold and greedy enough to imagine systems of power-hoarding and dominance, systems of extraction and systems of excess.

Some will say it’s idealistic and naive to believe in systems-change. To them we’d say it’s possible, actionable and absolutely imperative that we act. Just like the characters in Parable of the Sower, we need to get specific about what steps we can take to prepare for and work towards different systems. How might we engage in practices that enable communities of care and actively build relationships centered in the principles of belonging.

We designed The Seed to intentionally take steps towards a different future.

As Octavia reminds us over and over, in the face of tremendous unrest and anxiety, we can nurture equitable, collaborative teams, communities and societies. We must do it together.

With belief in you and your ability to shape the future,

Erin (and DJ!)