Time for an Ecology of Change

Four Rs for All Life

“When the world feels crazy, plant trees.”

That’s what kept coming to me last Friday, when I joined in the efforts of the Macrosystems Ecology Laboratory to plant 300 quaking aspens at the Gill Tract (a community land project here in Berkeley). By the time I arrived, most of the planting had been done, so I and other volunteers were working on the care-taking side — assembling wire cages around each tree, watering them, and affixing irrigation lines. It felt profoundly hopeful on so many levels. I don’t know where the world will be tomorrow, and somehow, I believe in the future enough to imagine an aspen forest by the side of a highway.

Gill Tract, Berkeley, CA, May 2025: One day, this will be an aspen forest.

In these times of uncertainty, I notice myself calling in both mystery and complexity. I am sitting with/in the unknown and just trying to breathe there. It’s like I am a teeny tiny microcosm of this big big world, aiming to stay in the stretch zone (that space in between comfort zone — where everything is known and, therefore, there is no learning or growth — and between the panic zone — where the amygdala is triggered into fight-flight reactions, therefore, there is also no learning or growth). Each moment, I find myself trying to stay open, to listen, and to act slowly with gentleness and kindness at the center. Those are my strongest guidelines right now. I am asking myself: Wherever I am, how can I contribute to healing, interdependence, and the well-being of all? How can I make space for presence and emergence, instead of being caught in the traps of good-bad, right-wrong, fixed-and-known? How can I invite in more complexity — not as confusion, but rather in the sense of many pieces, seen and unseen, working together in dynamic co-creation?

I have been thinking about the term ‘biomimicry’ ever since I participated in the Bioneers conference at the end of March. While people have used this approach in the world of engineering — looking at nature’s models to design solutions to human challenges (like how birds’ wings helped us understand the aerodynamics of flight) — I have been thinking about how biomimicry can inspire us with learning, healing, and personal and social well-being in these times. Where have we seen nature re-balance when systems are deteriorating? How have the elements of earth, air, water, and fire, as well as living beings, played a role in that healing? What can we learn from the earth to support us in navigating the mystery and complexity of now?

I am remembering what happened when grey wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone National Park. Nearly a century before, the wolf population had been decimated by European settlers in the western part of the US, because of their own fears and their desire to have nothing interfere with their ranches and homesteads. Over time, the loss of the wolves began to wreak havoc on the land as a whole. Eventually, they were reintroduced, and in a very short time, the entire ecosystem benefited tremendously — mostly in ways that went far beyond human understanding. Vital grass and tree species returned, many previously declining animal populations increased, birds came back to Yellowstone. (A short film about it is available below.)

How can each of us be like the wolves and replenish a degraded environment? What kinds of fantastic synergies and fresh possibilities would emerge if we could bring back ‘lost’ elements? What might happen if we could each have a role in the whole?

All of this brings me back/forward to the Four Rs. My friend, and the author of this framework, Jodi Lasseter, shared it with me over 15 years ago, and it has been crucial for my life and work ever since. It takes both/and to the next level, and offers us pathways for purpose, contribution, and belonging for everyone in this time.

The Four Rs reflects the core strategies that people use to make change in this world: Reform, Resist, (Re)Create, and (Re)Imagine.

REFORM: Improving the Current System - The existing structures in society have real impact on our daily lives and on our abilities to self- and collectively-determine our futures. This strategy tackles immediate needs and focuses on how our current social and political institutions can provide remedies to pervasive social problems. Examples include human services, law and policy development, and resource redistribution.

RESIST: Confronting the Current System - Historically, social movements and resistance struggles have shown us that ‘power concedes nothing without demand.’ This strategy analyzes how existing political, economic, and social institutions perpetuate injustice, violence, and destruction, and challenges them to stop. Examples include direct action, community organizing, and movement campaigns.

(RE)CREATE: Generating New Systems - A liberatory, thriving, and generative future calls for new institutions and practices that reflect shared values and commitments. This strategy enables us to experiment with ways of constituting our society by re-creating alternative, cultural, or indigenous practices and/or creating entirely new models, forms of governance, and leadership structures. Examples include democratic schools, restorative justice processes, local economies, and open source technologies.

(RE)IMAGINE: Conceptualizing New Systems - In order to generate a just world, we must be able to imagine societies based on partnership, inclusion, and interdependence. This strategy engages how we think about ourselves in relation to each other and the whole, and taps our individual and collective ability to dream up and to engender newly imagined and/or re-imagined possibilities. Examples include the arts, media, academia, and cultural and spiritual traditions.

Image created by Hanzade Germiyanoglu for YES! Jams <yesworld.org>

Each R can be seen as an essential part of a whole, working synergistically, just like the four elements of nature. They offer an opportunity for every person to be a part of co-creating a better world, rather than just leaving it to only those who favor a single approach to handle it all. Indeed, social movements are most comprehensive and successful when they continuously integrate all of these approaches, because then they have benefited from the wisdom and contribution of the collective. Think of the musicians’ songs being sung at the rallies, in which protestors are shining a light on the violence and saying ‘Stop!’, which creates space for solutions to be developed, both to alleviate immediate suffering, as well as to engage more deeply for long-term healing and benefit for all. That is one example of the whole ecology of the Rs.

Yet, too often, people working in one R think that people in the other Rs are wrong, stupid, or simply wasting time. I know I used to think that. Rather than seeing that I had certain proclivities and instincts for ReCreate and ReImagine, I felt the need to justify why they were ‘right’ and the others were wrong. I also realized that I felt hurt and overwhelmed while participating in Reform and Resist at a younger age. Over time, I saw that I needed to grieve and heal those experiences, rather than let my unaddressed pain skew my understanding of the strategies overall. So much of my energy and vitality freed up when I got this, and I have worked in more solidarity and gratitude with others ever since — so thankful for those who find themselves active in the places where I cannot or choose not to be. I am their cheerleader and biggest fan. This softening has helped me find ways to synergize across all of the Rs and infuse my offerings with a greater sense of the power of the whole ecology.

In this way, ‘because we need each other’ is not just an article series and podcast episode to help us shift from ‘cancel culture’ to safe/r, brave/r, and grace spaces — it is a reflection of the co-creative circle of life. I believe that if more of us could make this biomimicry shift and see the whole ecology of change — i.e., if people in the different Rs stopped competing with each other for space, time, resources, significance, and attention, and instead valued, supported, and/or synced up with each others’ diverse roles and contributions — we could truly co-create miracles.

Of course, this approach assumes that political, economic and social leadership would be focused on the betterment of all life — and not just on their personal pocketbooks, misdirected fears, or power-hungry egos. I have been praying regularly for the healing of this profound sickness, and linking my own work in the Four Rs to such transformation wherever and however I can. I know many people are, and I am grateful for them.

Heavy on my heart-mind also are the millions of people who are kicked out of active participation in this co-creation, through the violence of mass incarceration, brutal poverty, war and occupation, factory-schooling, and other kinds of systematic alienation. I know each of us have a role in the whole, and losing people in this way is devastating our ‘landscapes’ beyond measure. The sooner we can turn the collective tide towards generating healing systems, rather than hurting systems, the sooner we will unleash beauty, creativity, joy, justice, at an unprecedented scale. I trust and know that many are using the Four Rs for just this kind of transformation.

Taking a deep breath…

As I stood in the field last Friday, with those nascent aspen trees, I heard the Earth. The sunlight, the clear blue sky, the cool wind, the small leaves, the damp soil, all made it clear that life wants to live, and life joins together for all life. I am not alone, and we are not alone. The circle expands and grows hope.

What R do you resonate with, and how might you synergize with other Rs in this time? I would love to hear in the comments if you’re willing to share.