I’ve been on a fantastic and inspiring course of training sessions this week with Katie Treggiden of www.makingdesigncircular.org . She has very generously shared her passion and vision for ‘imperfect environmentalism’ by hosting a series entitled ‘Shake Off The Shoulds.’
She has explained her 3 principles to ‘Rewild Your Creative Practice’: release, plant and grow and in a way that makes sense and gives hope in the face of an overwhelming stream of environmental crises.
This is about aiming to achieve alignment between yourself, your practice and environmentalism to avoid a constant pull in many, often conflicting directions.
The first principle packs a powerful punch because it encourages absolution from a sense of guilt, duty and perfectionism, feeling paralysed and not knowing where to start. Yet while the environmental crisis may not be our fault directly, still we have a responsibility as individuals to do what we can.
So, the first principle offers a ‘release from perfectionism’ – ‘perfectionists’ often give up when faced with a challenge that seems too difficult, because the conditions are never quite ‘right’ to make a start. Instead, Katie encourages us to become ‘imperfectionists.’ Imperfection is often seen as a good thing in craft and it can be applied to sustainability too. Once we allow ourselves to be released from the need to be perfect we can be open to embrace the idea of ‘imperfectionism. We are also encouraged to identify our personal values and then to make decisions that are based in alignment with those values - there is no ‘right’ way to ‘do’ environmentalism.
The second principle ‘Plant’, encourages ‘defiant hope’; an appreciation that you cannot save the world single-handedly. But rather than being a simple, passive faith, choosing to believe in a better future takes work, not to feel overwhelmed. As niche practice makes for success in business, Katie highlights the power of doubling down on one area of environmentalism that we feel a particular connection with and putting our focus and effort into that ‘one thing’; and where we decide to put our time and effort is where we can achieve a greater result.
And the third principle ‘Grow’ is about learning from trusted sources so we can make informed values-based decisions and to avoid that sense of over-whelm. Consider all the things we can do and put them into an order, walk towards them and do them, one at a time. It’s a journey without a particular destination from ‘acorn’ to ‘forest’; and certainly, one person’s journey to and through this is different to another’s, because again, there is no one ‘right’ way to ‘do’ environmentalism.
Your environmentalism can be held lightly; it can be playful and fun, not forced (or it will likely be abandoned). This can an often does feel like an overwhelming issue creating a sense of hopelessness, but as in so many other things, if you can let go of the guilt and fear and approach it in ‘bite sized chunks’ ‘one step at a time’ positive impact as an individual is so much more achievable.
I highly recommend the inspiring approach and vision of Katie Treggiden. If you don’t know about her work already, just visit her website: www.makingdesigncircular.org to find out more and become inspired too!