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Przemek Adolf's avatar

I agree but working from within and having your hand on the steering is a much more effective strategy than yelling from the shore. This reminds me of the queer rights movement I was deeply involved in the 1990/2000s and the purity tests of who was doing the "right" strategy. The radical queers, transpeople, drag queens/kings, fetish and sex were deemed to not fit the image. We were marginalized and excluded, and how the tables have turned. There are many paths to climb a mountain. Trust that others are working on plans you may not understand or see yet.

With love and kindness, Przemek

Tijn Tjoelker's avatar

Thank you for sharing Przemek 🙏 Wholeheartedly agree. I pray we can all work from within with joy and aliveness 💗

MarilynM's avatar

So true.

And... some of those mountain paths can consume all our energy without taking us closer to the peak. How do we cultivate the discernment to distinguish one from the other - before exhaustion sets in?

Przemek Adolf's avatar

That is for our individual internal north star to decide. Some of us having been training mountain climbing for decades and have the right gear and food, the right mindset, and the community cheering each other on, along with the resilient resolve to take on what others may seem impossible. I packed snacks and extra mittens in case for others :)

Kevin Wilson's avatar

I do not want another report

That embalms intention

In neat columns of compliance

While the world keeps bleeding.

I want a way of working

That leaves fingerprints

Mud on the knees

Witnesses who can say

“I was there. This happened.”

I do not want to measure life

Until it suffocates.

I want proof that breath moved

That hands acted

That promises crossed the threshold

Into reality.

What if legitimacy

Was not declared

But earned

In daylight

Before money ever moved.

What if trust

Was not outsourced

To logos and frameworks

But held by people

With names

And roles

And something to lose.

What if capital

Learned to wait.

Not forever

Just long enough

For truth to show its face.

Release nothing

Until action speaks.

Release more

Only when the next step

Is witnessed

And held.

What if validators

Were not priests of abstraction

But stewards of process.

Replaceable.

Rotated.

Bound to published standards

That anyone could read

And challenge.

No mysticism.

No green poetry in spreadsheets.

Just clear conditions

Met or not met

In the open.

What if reporting

Became a byproduct

Not a profession.

What if evidence

Fell out of doing

Like sweat

Like dirt

Like laughter

After real work.

Then sustainability

Would stop being a word

And become a pattern.

Not environment.

Not social.

Not governance.

But relationship.

Sequence.

Reciprocity.

Money would no longer pretend

To create impact.

It would follow it.

And those beautiful souls

Trapped in compliance theatre

Could come home

To building something

That breathes.

This is not an escape from responsibility.

It is its return.

Not burn it all down.

Reorder it.

Change the sequence

And the system follows.

The world does not need

Another ESG report.

It needs a way

For truth to arrive

Before money does.

Rhalia Naseer's avatar

Dear Kevin. is this composition of prose attributed to you

MarilynM's avatar

Love it. Not least: "Your job is to create the conditions for life. As you are its unique expression." I'm reminded of something by a Dutch woman, years ago (must look up her name): "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." It has apparently been adopted and repurposed by many, evidence of its power. And after the outrage comes... Monday morning. What can I do differently today?

Drinking coffee that came as a gift from a Christmas visitor. I notice it's neither bio nor FairTrade (which I normally always buy), also that it's distributed by Nestlé (ouch). Throwing it away would make no sense, right? So I drink it, and enjoy it - enjoyment is also important, yes?

The 7-year-old cat we've recently 'adopted' sleeps next to me. Oh dear - pets are such a strain on the environment. Yet... every human should be able to connect with other beings. And I can't imagine having her killed to save... something.

Everyday life, including 'corporate' life, is full of these trade-offs. Not 'compromises' but tiny decisions with potentially large impact. How to navigate them? Maybe the key is increasing consciousness so that we at least become aware of the decisions we're making? - it's not just about coffee and cats but more generally about, for instance, sourcing and respect for all beings.

Maya Frost's avatar

Thank you for this thoughtful expression of the shift we need to make, both collectively and individually. ❤️

Cari Taylor's avatar

my second poem to add to this would be about aligning with SDG goals - dear alllll the organisations that continue to align with these goals and proudly state it on your website ...