Politics of Being: Going as a River
Dear friends,
It is wonderful to see the Politics of Being taking off.
Last month, I had a first exploratory conversation with a member of parliament in a Latin American country about possibly bringing the Politics of Being there. Can you imagine a law supporting the cultural evolution of a country or making the Politics of Being its new development paradigm ? We have not yet defined a concrete intervention but this kind of conversation shows we are not far from that. I will keep you informed if it further develops.
I also had the pleasure to be invited as a guest speaker on the main stage of Charter for Compassion’s annual gathering in Monterrey (9-10th of September), where a few thousands of participants should join. Some of you have mentioned your interest to invite me; so you may take advantage of my presence in Northern Mexico. Please reach out to me if you want to propose organizing something in the region.
To ground all this activity and to recharge, I am participating in different retreats in Plum Village throughout May, June, and July. The main insight I am receiving in relation to the Politics of Being is to “go as a river”, not as a lonely author relying only on his own time, work and resources, overwhelmed by the task and anxious to see concrete and rapid results, but rather as an inter-being, feeling part of much larger movement, aware of the infinite ways through which this work permeates the world, and coming from a space of love, joy and abundance. As I was looking deeply into this, I started to receive a couple of emails from some of you asking me how they can support this work. I am planning to organize a collective call to discuss this. Please contact me if you want to be part of this conversation.
Here is also an update on recent and upcoming events and discussions:
April 13, with Ecocivilisation. The theme of the event was "𝗜𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗳 𝗖𝗢𝗣𝟮𝟲… 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄?" (at 00:24:00), and I talked about how to deepen our response to climate change to address the necessary cultural evolution, the need for alternative narratives, the transformation of our governance systems and ultimately a new development paradigm. You can also find a quick recap of what we shared here (with my interventions at 00:08:52).
April 23, on Reconnecting with Your Culture, in which I reflected on "Politics of Being and the necessary cultural reconnection and development" as the key to systemic change (at 00:59:55).
May 16, with Humanity Rising. Here we talked about how the Politics of Being is part of a Humanity Rising movement, specifically addressing the war in Ukraine, the recent French presidential elections, and how we might listen to nature so as to represent it in governance systems through wisdom councils.
May 24, with Susanne Kallanian, on a paradigm shift that places inner development at its center. We touched on the role of leadership, on changing perspectives from “having” to “being”, my spiritual journey, and small concrete habits can help us be more present on a daily basis.
If you would like to follow upcoming events, save the following dates:
June 22, 17:00-18:30 CEST/11:00-12:30 ET – an EAMBA-Exchange (a European association for mindfulness professionals who work with evidence-based secular programs) conversation with Jamie Bristow from the Mindfulness initiative on “Reconnection: Meeting the Climate Crisis inside out.” Register here.
June 23, 14:00-15:00 CEST/ 8:00-9:00 ET – a webinar with Christoph Stückelberger, a Professor of Ethics and President and Founder of Globethics.net. His book “Globalance. Ethics Handbook for a World Post-Covid” (2020) is already in revision to look at a world “Post-War.” Register here.
23 Juin, 18:15-19:15 CEST/ 12:15-13:15 ET – rejoignez-nous pour cette discussion en français avec le programme leader éveillé sur la politique de l'être avec deux leaders Québécois Rémi Tremblay, fondateur de La Maison des leaders et Céline Charron, co-fondatrice de Leader Éveillé. Réservez votre place ici.
July 21, 18:00 CEST/ 12:00 ET – with the Conscious Enterprises Network, focusing on conscious leadership. There will be a half hour presentation followed by a Q&A session.
For reminders on these appointments and the registration links that still haven’t been posted, you can also visit Politics of Being’s social media pages. There you will also find a weekly quote with a corresponding excerpt of the book to provoke thought and inspiration. Find the extended blog posts at https://politicsofbeing.com/blog/ If, like me, you feel this is an important message, please join the river and share these resources widely.
Warmest regards from a very hot France, with an unprecedented 37º C forecast for this week !
Thomas (as a river)
P.S. If you have read and enjoyed the book and would like to support this vision of a Politics of Being, please share your review on Goodreads or other book-selling platforms.
