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Lucy Richards’ 10 Ways To Regenerate Self, Soul & Business Strategy
744 Plays22 days ago
Things to know about this episode:
🪶 It was recorded on Lucy's bedroom floor, smushy carpet under-butt and steaming cups of dandy tea in hand.
🪶 It’s a day spa for your weary weary soul, the one who yearns for alignment between what you love and what you earn.
🪶 It includes a grounding practice & ways to attune to your evolutionary purpose.
🪶 It’s kinda like a personal session with a business strategist, social entrepreneur, poet, writer and regenerator… in podcast form.
🪶 It’s a brave and nuanced take on capitalism, less about poisoning it with roundup, more about seeing it as part of the garden we humans have grown and can therefore gently, intentionally supplant.
❤️ Listen right to the end for a poetry reading.
🧙♀️LINKY POOS
📕 Lucy’s book ~ Divine Postal Service
***Support Reskillience on Patreon (but don’t use the Patreon app cos Apple will charge yo ass a fee. GO DESKTOP)***
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Skills, Beauty, Joy, and Nature
00:00:03
Speaker
Hey, hey this is Katie and you're tuned into The Sounds of the Local Forest and Resculiance, a podcast that is sometimes about skills, but increasingly about filling our days with more beauty, joy, meaning and birdsong. I recorded this little snippet while out on a frolic in Jara country, the unceded lands of the Jaja Warong people and my adopted home soil, even though there's really very little topsoil left after the gold rush when hundreds of thousands of gold diggers upended the earth searching for sparkles, which is why a local mob call this place upside-down country.
Lucy Richards: Business Strategy Meets Regenerative Practices
00:00:47
Speaker
Today's guest is a fellow wanderer on this scarred and resilient land. She's literally my neighbour, but also my friend, mentor and one of those clever disruptors who flex their skills within the system to shift the system. It's Lucy Richards, a deliciously subversive voice in the business strategy and leadership space, here to help us regenerate our minds, hearts and livelihoods.
00:01:14
Speaker
Lucy is that person who insists that poetry and business plans can coexist, that rest and your best work and natural bedfellows, that online content can honour nature's rhythms and lore. For example, Lucy publishes her sub-stack In Sync with the Full Moon and makes no bones about acknowledging her cycle on LinkedIn.
00:01:35
Speaker
Most of all, I love that Lucy is brave enough to take a nuanced view of capitalism, of where we're at, not to disavow it and poison it with Roundup, but to see it as part of the garden we humans have grown and can therefore gently, intentionally supplant.
Reshaping Capitalism: Intentional Transformation
00:01:51
Speaker
It is quite possible that I've butchered Lucy's edgy and complex perspective, which is why we're going to spend the next hour or so sitting with her on the floor of her bedroom in conversation, starting with a beautiful grounding practice that won't make you fall asleep while driving the tractor, I promise.
00:02:08
Speaker
then hearing about Lucy's values, her evolutionary purpose and list of 10 regenerative ways, which is all exceedingly instructive for those of us wanting to clarify our roles and purpose and routines in this world without all the macho self-optimisation stuff. Because I loved Lucy's list so much, I turned it into a poster, which is available as a digital download for Patreon members. I've also made one for Brenna's interview and will be drawing up more as we go along.
00:02:37
Speaker
You can support the podcast and score cute hand-drawn posters at patreon dot.com forward slash Reece Gilliance. Membership start at just a couple of bucks per week and you'll feel instantly swaddled in warmth and gratitude for sustaining an independent creator. Thank you to all the podcast's wonderful patrons. You are actually the best. Head to the show notes for all the links to things we mention in this conversation.
A Serene Welcome with Natural Sounds
00:03:01
Speaker
And here are the sounds of fantail cuckoos, bronze wings, golden whistlers, the river, small disgruntled birds and one resounding pobble bonk in the forest near me welcoming Lucy Richards.
00:03:17
Speaker
Lucy Richards. I feel like this has been a long time coming and I've got these people in my pocket that I'm saving for when the time feels right and ripe and that time felt Exceedingly right when I was dreaming up this series 3 that was a different format I firstly just for everyone who doesn't already know you wanted to say a big hello and also Extend my curiosity over to your side of this cute little table that we've got here in your room my curiosity about like how you describe yourself when you're speaking to new people and I was also thinking about describing as this kind of outline of
00:03:59
Speaker
the way we outline ourselves in the throng of everything that we're kind of obviously intimately connected with but how do you draw a line around yourself temporarily and articulate that Lucy who you are and feel today?
Lifelong Learning: Mental Health & Environmental Focus
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah oh thanks Katie it's so good to be here and that line is a very blobby non-linear shape around myself I feel um Lucky to have lived many different lives and had opportunities in life. So but something that sums that up is is that I call myself a lifelong learner. i'm I'm really drawn to exploring and experimenting and that's taken me um ah everything from like working overseas through to writing poetry. um And I have a big interest in exploring humanity.
00:04:52
Speaker
So through that I've done a lot of listening to people, facilitation. I worked in the mental health world for about 10 years, mostly on the business operations brand side, but have worked a lot with psychologists and therapists. And and more recently, my that blob-shaped personality outline of myself has evolved into more of an environmental lens. and Working with people so deeply in the mental health side of things, I began to see this relationship between the health of the self and our capacity to look after others around us and care for the world. And so that link between the individual and the collective and the individual and the earth was born in me.
00:05:41
Speaker
and And so now a lot of my focus is is that link between the individual and the Earth. And I'm lucky to be a part-time farmer here on Jojo or on Country. I own 20 acres with 500 olive trees on them, which I'm just really figuring out what on Earth that means and how to be an olive farmer. And also I'm on the board of an environmental organization.
00:06:11
Speaker
um and And through all of that, I'm just so fascinated with it was with business and small business, nonprofit, social enterprises, like how how can we use the amazing creative potential that the of of people, of resources, ah of of creativity that is in business and use it, given that capitalism unfortunately seems to be here to stay.
00:06:36
Speaker
on some form, um how can we use that to shape our world that's for future generations? Yeah. And that's why one of the reasons I was so excited to speak with you, bring your voice to resilience, because I suspect there are a lot of listeners who are heading up their own enterprise, doing their own thing, kind of seeking um freer and more connected ways to to make an income, to have an a livelihood, something that thrives and exists within nature's systems. But that's not easy to figure out because we've got to kind of get through the capitalist apparatus till we get out and actually do the thing that we want to do. So um talking about regenerative business and leadership is something that we haven't really done on the podcast before.
Exploring Regenerative Business & Leadership
00:07:25
Speaker
So, yeah, I'm i'm super, super keen to hear your
00:07:29
Speaker
unpacking of that in 10 pithy and poetic points. And on the poetic note, I just wanted to share something that struck me so profoundly recently when we were ah um chatting with our little business brooding group was um what came up was one of us had something going on that they sought your advice on. And I believe you responded with a poem, you know, it's such a quirky and offbeat and unexpected way.
00:07:54
Speaker
to hold a problem, but to meet that. And yeah, I think that really, for me, sums sums you up in some special way. So hang thank you for being here. I'd love to read that poem at the end as well. Oh my goodness. Perfect. I'd actually plan to. Well, happy days. So yeah, I was really appreciative that when I came to you with this proposition and vague plan, you instantly came back to me with an incredible flow for this conversation. And the first thing that you wanted to bring was a grounding practice. So I wonder if you'd like to start us off there. Yeah, thank you.
00:08:40
Speaker
To me, this is something I do in a lot of lot of the work that I do, whether it's coaching or facilitation um and also with myself. But it's an opportunity to connect with ourselves and and connect with where we are. And I know that some listeners will be might be driving or they might be out gardening or on the move. Others might just be at home. So this is for you wherever you are. And I invite you to tune into yourself as a human.
00:09:10
Speaker
Katie mentioned the the shape of ourselves and start to get a sense of who you are in this moment, where you are and what country you're on and become aware of the fact that you are breathing.
00:09:40
Speaker
This beautiful, powerful act that we do all day and night, every day and night. This breath that feeds us life and feeds the trees. We are breathing with the trees.
00:10:12
Speaker
So allow yourself to follow the thread of your breath for a little longer.
00:10:21
Speaker
Noticing how it moves into your body, maybe through your mouth, through your nose, fills up your chest, your lungs, your belly,
00:10:40
Speaker
and then leaves your body with ease.
00:10:53
Speaker
There's no need to change the breath in any way, just noticing how it comes in and out of your body exactly as it needs to.
00:11:17
Speaker
And if you're standing or sitting, bring your awareness to the parts of you that are connected with the ground or a seat or the floor. And just like the breath that connects us all, so does gravity.
00:11:38
Speaker
Here we rest on the earth as our shared home.
00:11:45
Speaker
Allow this earth to hold you.
00:11:56
Speaker
See if you can release any tension and just sink a little deeper into gravity, into our home.
00:12:17
Speaker
And as we come out of this grounding practice, we can thank our home, thank our bodies, thank our breath. If your eyes are closed, you might want to start fluttering them open. Move your body around a little bit. Bring your consciousness back to our voice in this conversation.
Reflections on Nourishing Practices
00:12:44
Speaker
Wow, thank you. Thank you so much.
00:12:49
Speaker
that feeling of being transported but also incredibly present and rooted is an interesting feeling. I really enjoyed that. And I was anticipating
00:13:07
Speaker
the nourishment that this conversation would offer me today when I'm feeling kind of stodgy and scrambled. And it's like a day spa for my soul. It the perfect insertion into my day. And I'm sure everyone's day is listening to this. so So the next thing that you wanted to share, and I love this because as I read through your ideas for this conversation,
00:13:37
Speaker
I felt like you were role modeling you know role modeling the ways that we could start to clarify who we are and how we want to be and what we want to bring to this world. So just while you're listening, I invite you to notice how Lucy has structured this and the the the ways that you're going to share about your values and what you do as an invitation to kind of like an example, ah a trellis or something that people can kind of grow their own ideas onto. So I love that meta lens on this combo. um So you spoke about framing and that I believe is the the framing for your your work in this world, if you'd like to share those three tenets. Thank you.
00:14:30
Speaker
yeah Part of the reason why I suggested some of these these structures around framing and values and and my evolutionary purpose, which i'll I'll get into, is because I run my own business and I'm so fascinated with yeah with the the purpose of business.
00:14:48
Speaker
and I, in in my integrity, i want to I want to practice what I preach and experiment, use myself as as a practice and experimentation ground to then be able to share with others and and and lead lead by example.
00:15:05
Speaker
So I wanted to start with really like what what is regenerative business and and ah for for me, it's an um it's an absolutely emerging field. There are quite a few people around the world who are starting and have done a lot of work and written books on this, um but but what does it what does it mean for me? and The reason why I came into this work was really through climate grief and knowing that this earth has been around for 4.5 billion years and we are now using its resources at 50% faster than can be regenerated. it Hearing that stat just that sent, you know, it was like a shock to my heart of of like, oh, oh my gosh, what are we doing? What direction are we heading in as as as humanity?
00:15:56
Speaker
And so I was like, well, regeneration is the greatest imperative of our time. um um and And it's also the one of the most ancient principles. It is embedded in life, the life, death, life cycles of regeneration. And thinking, you know, in the most simplest terms, compost you know is the best example of regeneration ever.
00:16:21
Speaker
um where we have like beautiful fresh green life that gets put into a big heap compost heap and it sits and it rests and it gets eaten and moldy and it decays and it dies but at no point is it ever dead it is always
Three-Part Framework for Regenerative Business
00:16:38
Speaker
so alive like the amount of life that is in soil is incredible you' in healthy soil.
00:16:45
Speaker
and and the fertility that that then offers to for full growth. and And so the importance of of decay and rest and even death when it comes to building fertility and the ability to regenerate.
00:17:01
Speaker
So how on earth does that apply to business? Well, as I said, it's a big experiment, but I think about um it's a big balance of of three things. And one is personal wellbeing and fulfillment, being connected with the self, being connected with our bodies, like the amount of wisdom that is held in in our body that's always speaking to us. Like even in that grounding practice, you will have noticed something about your body, whether it was your breath or and note the air coming in through your nostrils or oh my shoulders are a bit sore or I have a headache or this is boring like all of these things are like our bodies speaking to us. So um the first one of of of um personal well-being and fulfillment.
00:17:45
Speaker
The second part of a regenerative business is financial health and sustainability. And knowing that ah that that growth in business is awesome and necessary and part of ah yeah of of feeling financially healthy and also knowing that there are times for rest. with um With income, maybe there are sometimes parts of a business that need need rest or or need to be composted. um But being being very conscious of financial health is important. And then the third part, of course, is social and environmental nurturing. nurturing So bringing a system's awareness to how our businesses are impacting our communities and social impact, and and of course, the environment around us.
00:18:34
Speaker
Beautiful. I have a question that I would like to pose at this early stage in the conversation, but I just have to get it out of my system and exercise the demons. You did say earlier, your your feeling is capitalism is here to stay. And I know that one of my core deep down beliefs is money is the problem. We're converting everything into money because of this kind of weird obsession that we have. and um a fixation on the acquisition of of money, even if it means cutting down a forest and turning it into coins, like we'd rather have the coins because we're just that possessed. yes um And so when I think about trying to like triage the system that we have, I'm like, can we not just
00:19:26
Speaker
bulldoze it. And is that not, you know, the radical solution that is needed right now? Yeah, talking about like amending capitalism or or using business as a force for good. And like, how far can we actually go with that? And how deeply do you believe that? And how do you shush the part of you that probably does say, let's just burn this fucker to the ground? Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you for bringing that up. It's it's a really important question to be asking.
00:19:56
Speaker
particularly because capitalism is and its endless growth principle is is really extracting so many resources from the planet, but it's extracting a lot from humanity as well in terms of exhaustion and the social inequities, the supremacy that it perpetuates. like we all I'm assuming most of your listeners really understand the the the downside of capitalism.
00:20:23
Speaker
There's parts of it that I ah that ah that i think ah are going to be here for at least a while. maybe Maybe not forever if there was some radical change in the world, which was which would probably not be driven by humans, it would be more likely driven by the Earth. but Given where we we're here, i'm I'm really curious with what how we can work with what we've got.
00:20:49
Speaker
and having worked with people for so long in mental health and behavior change. So I was the, when I was 23, I accidentally became the CEO at Smiling Mind, which was ah an app that teaches people how to meditate. And we did work in schools and the corporate world. And so, and that was when, when mindfulness didn't exist. Everyone was like, you're crazy for, well, it existed, but it wasn't a mainstream thing, but apps didn't exist. So you're crazy for teaching mindfulness, let alone putting mindfulness on an app.
00:21:21
Speaker
And I bring that up because there was a huge behaviour change component with that, of introducing something to people in a way that they um wasn't wasn't too scary for them, in a way that that met them where they were at.
00:21:38
Speaker
um And then also offered a solution, a solution forward of like, okay, there's this thing, it's called mindfulness. um It's really easy. You can do it two breaths or you could sit there for two hours or you could be in a cave in silence for two years. Like, you know, you choose the breath. And so I think when I, I have certainly um thought a lot about, yeah, burning capitalism to the ground and how might I do that?
00:22:03
Speaker
um But when I'm working with people, where the I see that they're still in their lives often will still need involve like feeding families and paying a mortgage and um and also doing things they love in their in their business. a lot of people Most people I work with do do things they love in their business. and so It's meeting people where they are at in this behavior change, a capitalist change your process. and um And some of my clients are more on the conservative end of the spectrum and some are super radical. And so I love like being able to ah test different theories at different ends of the different parts of that spectrum.
00:22:47
Speaker
it's like we need the idealists and the renegades and the rebels and the rogues kind of like doing something over here and then we also need the pragmatists and the people who are really so humbly engaging with the things that are now and exist and bridging those two worlds and I think of like um the people who want to make coals and woolies like do things better and then the people who want to you know sabotage their entire kind of gross multinational business model and of course we need we need both and I actually have so much respect for for folks who are yeah just like on the front line of trying to do do something good. a Part of it you'd like to think on an ecological perspective thinking about you know an ecosystem and and the everyone or all these beings are playing their part in the ecosystem and I really feel and want to trust that about humanity as well
00:23:42
Speaker
And if you think about Third Horizons thinking, you know, we have Horizon One, Horizon Two, Horizon Three, and they're all part, they're all actually part of that. And what, there are things, it's very easy to say business as usual, is it a Horizon One, that's terrible, ah burn it to the ground. But there are some gifts in in there. So how can we harness those gifts? And that includes, that includes um things like health care and safety and like um on a personal note my my dad had a heart attack earlier this year and um
00:24:15
Speaker
um he's still alive ah but thank you thanks to Western medicine and I remember as someone who doesn't engage in Western medicine that much I remember sitting in the hospital you know holding his hand and feeling so fucking grateful for these people who show up and do what they're good at and what's and and the system of a hospital which you know I'm sure has many of many many flaws but um is also they're saving people's lives. So I'd love to talk about values because a lot of get to know yourself kind of exercises and workshops start with what are your values and it's great I love hearing other people's values what they arrive at so I'd love to hear yours.
00:25:00
Speaker
Oh, yeah, yeah, my values. um This has been developed over many years and um and I really want to highlight that, like, you know, how I've done that workshop and fill out those, those exercises many a times and, and um It's really only with time and data and repetition and patterns that I'm like, Oh, this is who I am. This is who my values are. And they'll probably change in the future as well. So, um, but the first is inner wisdom and that is really believing in the wisdom of myself and the wisdom of anyone that I work with.
00:25:36
Speaker
In a world that loves like hierarchy and giving advice and um and and teaching, I prefer something that's a little bit more of a flat structure or a peer learning based.
00:25:50
Speaker
um yeah And so it's believing in the depth of knowledge that our minds, hearts and bodies hold and providing a space for that to emerge. So inner wisdom is my first value. ah The second is always welcome. And I, having worked in in yeah the mental health world for so long and done a lot of facilitation with human beings, like we are so complex. We are so, so complex.
00:26:23
Speaker
And I really love like internal family systems work and knowing that there's lots of different parts of us and some get along famously, some really don't get along internally as well as externally within humans. But as much as possible is trying to have compassion for all the different parts of of myself um and then and and inviting that in other people and especially for people who work in small businesses.
00:26:51
Speaker
which I imagine many of your listeners do, is is that business world and personal life fuse together. And so when you might be developing a business strategy, like you need to consider, well, who am I living with? What's my relationship like with my with my parents, with my family? Like what are these life considerations that could be incorporated into a business strategy? And to me, that's just so fucking cool.
00:27:20
Speaker
um And then the third is nature's pace, which is my my um attempt at unwinding capitalism and colonialism within myself and in the work that I do. and And knowing that there are times in life where it is so fun and ready and ripe to grow and fruit and go just go for it. And then there are times where it's really important to rest too and and giving myself and anyone who I work with permission for that.
00:27:51
Speaker
Maybe just on that last point, which I love the shit out of, how do you find yourself explaining your position on the rest front, like if you're being um pushed to work at a pace that you're not quite comfortable with?
00:28:05
Speaker
ah Most of the pushing comes from myself, I would say, so that conversation is more often an internal one. Interesting. um And that's where a lot where my body wisdom comes into play and and having the conversation with those different parts of myself saying, oh hey, um have we noticed that the body is saying this? you know What could we do about it?
00:28:29
Speaker
There are certain like, I think, externally with other people, communication is a big big, big part of that. I used to be someone that would say, sure, I'll get that to you tomorrow and then be like, um excuse me, who set those deadlines? Like, ah that's a shit boss. um And so I've had to be better at their at at giving myself time and space to complete work that um that I'm doing.
00:28:55
Speaker
And I think i think love with my clients there's more of there's more of an awareness around looking like self-care. Well actually sorry to um keep like drawing more out of you on this on this topic but I think this is like...
00:29:13
Speaker
a very radical inclusion in our work lives. And especially, I'm thinking of people who are in offices and at the behest of of actual bosses who aren't their own internal shit bosses sometimes. like What are little ways that you could seed nature's pace in an organization that you' you're within and not necessarily in control of?
00:29:33
Speaker
e Great question. it It does really have to be cultural. So mutual, oh well, I believe that having conversations around it um and having permission in having permission. So it can be things like, um I mean, I love the idea of being paid to meditate.
Incorporating Rest and Meditation in Workplace Culture
00:29:53
Speaker
And so in a workplace, can there be times where it's yeah we're we're meditating for 10 minutes? or 15 minutes, um being being paid to go outside and and spend time in nature.
00:30:09
Speaker
I think with a regenerative lens, thinking about ah the the the life cycle of creativity and productivity is that we we do need that time where our brain is sort of idling or you know in that like shower-like environment where it can do the the subconscious and the deeper parts of us can can do the work, not just always the cerebral um tangible parts.
00:30:36
Speaker
And so building time within calendars and as an inner culture of a workplace for that is is really powerful. um And then as as I said, like managing timelines and deadlines is is really important being and being really honest with yourself. How long will it take me to do this in a way that makes my body feel good?
00:30:56
Speaker
and communicating that with people and then sometimes in fact most of the time you end up doing it faster than you said you would because well for me when that I said I would because I've given myself permission for a bit more spaciousness.
00:31:09
Speaker
yeah yeah oh that Yeah, I feel the the possibilities there if people start just gently bringing these into their workplaces. But I do wonder how much justification, like do we need um studies like in our holster to kind of lay on our boss's desk and say, hey, like if you pay us to meditate,
00:31:27
Speaker
our productivity is gonna increase by this amount. And then you're kind of feeding back into the notion that the only value that matters is like your output and the profit you know of the the organization. And so I'm just like, how how much justification legwork is there then to to really establish some of these things, which we all can fundamentally see are wise. And like you said, might support us to do way better work over time, but that face value quantification, like My worker wants to take some time off and I'm going to have to pay them. Like how do we get past that?
00:32:03
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, there are lots of studies around that, yeah for sure. And this is part of the edge of regenerative bit of what regenerative business is is introducing into the world. And that can be things like like sensing and intuition and trust and and reducing hierarchies, giving more self-organizing principles um a go. And so ah so it is quite new.
00:32:33
Speaker
It is quite new and some people will need the evidence behind that. And there are there are like organizations big and small with amazing case studies who are trying this out. Nice. Yeah. And meanwhile, I know that when particularly yourself and people like Cora and Helbig have been on the podcast and um there's a slew of I'm going to say influences just for want of a better word, but people putting out um their daily rhythms and routines and role modeling this kind of presence in the world that does shift the greater culture too because it becomes kind of trendy and cool and then the ABC runs an article on and everyone's like well that makes sense and we start to kind of get somewhere so I feel that even sharing on your personal platforms and within your networks does make a difference too and I see you doing that so superbly
00:33:16
Speaker
So yeah that that excites me a lot. I imagine it must be really frustrating for people who are really deeply in the system and trying to get these things over the line that make so much sense but are coming up against those walls but like you said that it's it's nascent and um we're on the edge of it but I'm sure that you know in a few years time whatever it might be we might look back and and marvel like at how far we've come because I've seen that in so many different um like even organic food was just not such a big deal a decade ago and yeah look at it now. And I would add for anyone who is there having a difficult conversation with their boss about trying to build in time for rest or meditation is like thank you in terms of like moving the needle on capitalism and seeding these ideas in people like going back to that behaviour change process like everything every conversation
00:34:11
Speaker
counts in building people's awareness and capacity to start to think about these new things. Yeah, positive reinforcement.
Purpose and Wealth Redistribution
00:34:18
Speaker
um So we're almost getting onto your regenerative prompts for 2025, which I'm very excited to unbox with you. um But the last thing that you posited as part of this conversation was your evolutionary purpose, which you've referred to a couple of times now.
00:34:37
Speaker
And I've tuned back in quite recently to the work of Bill Plotkin, um who sometimes I feel like, you know, we're not quite ready for him at certain points of our lives. And I'm just once again, kind of like sidling up to him on the couch and taking a seat and listening deeply to what he has to say. But he.
00:34:54
Speaker
speak so wonderfully about that our soul and not in a religious sense but in a the niche that we have in this in the ecosystem we find ourselves in and that everything has a niche and this is kind of our souls work and place and even if that is like a bird doing a poo on the ground and that like cycling nutrients from one place to another. I always feel really like my baseline level of success is if I'm composting my my crap because I'm cycling nutrients and playing a really vital role in the fertility of the earth. So Luce, you call it evolutionary purpose and I'm wondering like is that kind of on the same track as what Bill is speaking about?
00:35:34
Speaker
Yeah, you'll see the book, The Journey of the Soul Initiation, just at the bottom. There it is. It is absolutely fueled by Bill's work. Oh, he's right next to Murakami, James Clear, The Alchemist. Now I'm going to be twisting my head, cuddling, ogling your bookshelf. Oh, man. Yeah. OK, let's not get distracted by this amazing library. Bill, back to being an evolutionary therapist.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yeah, I mean Bill's work. I mean his book Wild Mind was absolutely transformative for me in terms of helping me understand myself in the world of things in the world in the world of of natural things and It really sent me on a journey of ah Like why why am I here?
00:36:23
Speaker
in and and in a very existential sense, thinking, okay, just by existing, I'm kind of fucking up the planet. I'm perpetuating colonialism and capitalism. I'm consuming resources. And so really what what makes it worth for the earth for me to be here?
00:36:43
Speaker
And this is what I came up with after a quite significant period of angst. So at my evolutionary purpose, I'm here to contribute to regenerating the health and vitality of people on the planet.
00:36:59
Speaker
And I do that in lots of different ways. So through my writing poetry and sharing and articulating my emotions and do it through my facilitation, work with regenerative business. um And also my work as a farmer and supporting other farmers. I'm probably not the best farmer, but I'm quite good at supporting other farmers.
00:37:18
Speaker
And the other part of my evolutionary purpose is redistributing wealth. And I will really quite happily engage with the corporate world in this sense um and the wealth world, whether it's philanthropy. And I want to challenge traditional ways of giving and distributing and moving money around the world. Yeah. If you're Robin Hooding the shit out of the situation. I love that. and That's the second time I've cried in this conversation. Cause it's so moving to hear a person express that purpose and the process of getting to it, but it feels so fundamental. Like, isn't that the question in our hearts? Like I think any thinking, any thinking, feeling, inquisitive of human, I've held that question my entire life. And then to be in the presence of someone who's doing that work to, to continually like refine and
00:38:11
Speaker
and live by that too, which is so counter, I suppose, to our current conditioning around what's in it for me. e
00:38:22
Speaker
So, yeah, thank you. Wow. And again, like I'm im thinking of Bill when he speaks of the the poem, you know, our our purpose as a poem that we're born with in the image at the center of our ah life. and You're a poet too. And so I'm wondering like what the poetic imagery that you might hold in yourself around this evolutionary purpose, like maybe the creatures or the the places that are like dear to your heart in a kind of poetic sense as well. Like, I don't know. Does that make sense? I think so. I mean, this is the the beauty of poetry is that it doesn't have to make sense. There's a feeling there. There's an essence there. And that's, and I, and I feel that.
00:39:06
Speaker
in what you're talking about and for me it's like a weaving together of of worlds and um yeah living life living life as a poem is is to me a very cathartic way of of living and it it requires listening listening to to things, people, animals, land, plants that ah that are bigger than me and helping me feel connected to something that's greater than just me. Yeah nice. Okay well before we hear your list of 10 things I want to know what you think about lists of 10 things.
00:39:49
Speaker
Let's get reductive. Oh my gosh. The first thing I thought of was like, how are people going to remember them? People are taking notes. Okay. Okay. Great. They're scribing furiously. Aren't you? They need to remember them all. They've got transcripts and printouts. You will remember what you want to remember and need to remember. But yeah, do you think like, I mean, this this is the first time I've trialed this format and it's such a playful and fun experiment that we're running here. but I'm like, yeah, what do what are people, what do you think about that as an idea? Like 10, 10 shiny trinkets to take into the new year. Is that, is that simplifying things? Is that kind of playing into our listicle sound bite, only one, a small snack situation, or is it like meeting people where they're at? Exactly. I think so. I mean, it is reductionist, but it
00:40:43
Speaker
yeah We can't consume huge amounts of information and and change in in one go. I mean, sometimes we can, but that's when crises happen. And we if we can hold ourselves through that, then okay. um But in terms of like the the out your and being on an average day listening to a podcast, I think it's a really beautiful way of giving people a buffet of things to pick and choose from. Yeah, I love a buffet. And where were you coming from with this list?
00:41:14
Speaker
Honestly, I think it's a culminate it was quite a spiritual experience when you asked me to do this and some of the list some of the things on the list I already had and others were like bringing like weaving together, that word again, um different different parts of of things that I've learned or life or businesses that I'm i'm working with at the moment. so It felt like a culmination of many years of thinking about this. How grand. Yes. Okay. Well, Luz, if you'd like to share your first titbit, I would love to hear that.
Ten Trinkets for 2025: Wisdom for Regenerative Living
00:41:54
Speaker
Yes. So my first, what do we call these? Well, look, I think there's so many things to call. I've been calling them trinkets. Trinkets. Okay. Cool. Trinket number one.
00:42:05
Speaker
my fit The first item on my list is take a breath. So we we experienced that earlier. And we are all, as I as i said in that in that in that practice, we are all grounded and share the breath. We are all grounded by gravity and reminding ourselves of that is quite a profound experience for all parts of the being.
00:42:33
Speaker
including the physical like the the very, very physical realm. And the physical health, the scientific, Western medicine-proof physical health of mindfulness and meditation are really quite profound. um It also helps with our mental health and decision-making, creativity, but ultimately it's it's an awareness. It's a check-in with the self. It's a moment to breathe in and out and nourish ourselves, even if it's just for one breath. Number one.
00:43:05
Speaker
Number two is go outside and listen. Really a greeting of the earth. I imagine many listeners spend a lot of time outside. We can never spend enough time outside as our home and it's connecting. Connecting with the earth for me is really connecting with the essence of of being connected to the whole.
00:43:31
Speaker
And I like to ask ask the earth a question of what do you need? And knowing that she's going to speak in a language that I don't necessarily know, but I do know. And that kind of deep listening is quite profoundly nourishing, really. Do you think it's different to speak those words out loud?
00:44:01
Speaker
There's a nice intention with it. I know that in many indigenous practices, there is a practice of singing to the trees. When I learned that, that really struck me of knowing that there's, that the land, like the earth needs, ah the earth needs humans in order, ass we've evolved together.
00:44:29
Speaker
And so there's, so going out among these, this, the title of this thing being going out and listening is, is part of like a reciprocity of being, being in the relationship with the earth in that way. Yeah. Gorgeous. I ah love that. And that opportunity to go outside and feel that you are also perceived and noticed and witnessed by the everything else. Everything's interacting with us and, um,
00:44:58
Speaker
feeling our presence in the same way that we're out there kind of breathing the fresh air and getting our feel of nature. It's actually like a two-way street and I spoke about this in my last intro actually where I gazed into the eyes of an Australian fur seal off the rocks in Newcastle and it was deep.
00:45:16
Speaker
o and removing that anthropocentric worldview that is very persistent. I think we need to practice that every single day. Well, I love number two. What's number three? It's ask what would nature do. So that's the kind of the flip side of the reciprocity of um if um if I felt like if I'm going to ask nature a question, you know, what would you do? Can you teach me?
00:45:42
Speaker
Can you show me? I need to first give give back, give something. um And it's a reminder that that I am nature too. you know Humans are absolutely nature. And i in ah in a business sense, if I'm like sitting with a with ah with a problem or a tricky situation, I might ask you, what what would nature do? And I can always find an example.
00:46:07
Speaker
of if it's if it's something to do with fast growth you know it might be a really fast growing plant or a plant like ivy that will overtake and become noxious um or if it's about slow growth i think of old growth trees and um even if it's anger like thinking about how animals will fight and protect like that i guess it helps it helps me accept parts of myself and even like this is like pretty feels like a wild thing to say but even except capitalism but what what is happening in this crazy world of capitalism and and how is that potentially a product of of nature I mean it's not a great product of nature but what if we can see it as
00:46:59
Speaker
connected to human nature, what, and we can ask the the the greater, more than human world nature for for help, what what might we learn in that beautiful mystery? That's, I'm feeling the extension of my thinking as you say, like that's, as you say that, that's another step beyond kind of circling back to that conversation about Is capitalism good or bad? And how do we, do we transcend it or do we work with it? I feel like you've just kind of taken us to a new place. It's a pretty, it's a pretty wild question to ask what is the evolutionary purpose of capitalism? I mean, it's scary. I'm not like, I don't want to think it has an evolutionary purpose, but what if it did? And Tyson Yunkleporter talks about it in Sand Talk, which is in my bookshelf over there, of, of, um the of, of Kainto dreaming.
00:47:55
Speaker
Yeah. An airport dreaming, right? Like yeah the old man in the airport, just yeah all of the bright lights and the dinging devices. It's like part of the dreaming. Part of the dreaming. And you know it's confronting, it's it's it's a good self-reflection exercise of what am I romanticizing in in terms of like, oh, not having capitalism or, yeah, to check in with my my own
00:48:21
Speaker
models of supremacy and privilege that that ah that can save up capitalism, feel confident enough to say that, feel ah like I've got enough other meaning in my life and safety that I can start to think about something else. Yeah, I feel like these spaces are so beautifully held by elders and I have that craving for the wisdom and the maturity of elders in conversation around these topics and not that I want to tap out, but I can feel that I would defer to them on topics such as this. Wowza, that's just number three. So number four is honoring our humanness. And so well this is quite esoteric. We're going to get a little bit more practical as i as we go along. But really, it's about how do we, you know in in the attempt to unwind capitalism and colonialism,
00:49:17
Speaker
um That means being in the messy, asking these really kind of crazy, weird, uncomfortable questions, being okay with being imperfect, ah being in the non-binary. And so to me, this is a really great honouring, honouring all of human, our humanness is ah is an important practice.
00:49:40
Speaker
number five this's Number five is sort of part one and number six is part two. So number five is growth in all directions. So, oh, I just love this. I just love the fact that um we can think about death as growth. We can think about resting as growth. And you know as as a society, we are so good at growing and harvesting, but also asking ourselves, what can we let go of?
00:50:10
Speaker
and knowing it's the most natural thing to do is to put offer parts of ourselves to compost.
00:50:22
Speaker
I did have been joking sometimes that I'm in my compost era because I'm just so obsessed with with the cycle of regeneration and also like what parts of me am I ready to to compost? Everything from like belief systems to um ah social media platforms, clothes, just like ready to like let go and move on and compost. So number five, growth in all directions, what can we compost?
00:50:49
Speaker
Number six is growth in all directions, but it the part two is where are we ready to grow? And also how can we support ourselves? There there are there are many there are many plants in in the world that need a little bit of help in growth. They need a little bit of trellising.
00:51:05
Speaker
And I think in business too, absolutely, like having um having structure and strategy and policies and communication skills will all really support growth. And even if a ah tree doesn't need trellising, it still needs soil and water and sunlight. So how are we how when in the places where we feel ready to grow, how are we supporting and feeding and nourishing that?
00:51:31
Speaker
Number seven is plan in brackets T plant in 100 year increments. It looks cool when it's written. i can match for that ah um And really about long-term thinking. So how are our current actions shaping the world for future generations?
00:51:55
Speaker
That to see in that as as an open question is is really what's needed, is really what's needed to give to give space for that question. How are our current actions shaping the world for future generations? How can we plan or plant things in 100 year increments? And this came from um me being in being amongst old growth trees and thinking and and and feel, ah ah talking to them, asking them, listening to them, and thinking about their playing the long game.
00:52:32
Speaker
the earth is playing the long game. The rocks are playing the the long game. And in a world, even even in terms of asking that question, what would nature do? Like, yes, nature can grow really fast, but we have a lot of fast growth. I believe that we need more, more so slow growth. And so that's where I'm trying to ah focus my and energy. Yeah. And it requires a little bit of imagination. It does.
00:53:02
Speaker
So the next number eight is self-organising and I actually learnt this from Ivy. um I spent a day on Tongarong country clearing up Ivy from this this forest and i was i it was it was remarkable at how invasive it was but impressive like whoa you have got a hold you've got all your systems like I'd pull up one bit but it was already you know rooted in another bit it was it was so self-sufficient and so self-organizing that I thought there is something that I can learn from this and so when I think about
00:53:40
Speaker
this in in like the cyst like our social systems but maybe even in our business systems is what structures and sense of psychological safety can we can we build that promotes like creativity and self-governing and self-leadership and i recently did this masterclass on on good governance and governing for purpose uh they defined governance as cultivating effective conditions to make good decisions and that's not just in the boardroom. That is anyone can cultivate good good conditions or effective conditions to make good decisions and to me that's so cool. It's also reducing hierarchy which we love.
00:54:25
Speaker
Number nine is holding complexity. So this is in really honoring that this shit is hard. The shit is complex. It's weird. It's new. It's also like really juicy and fun, but it's, I've certainly gone through times, um, especially when finding my evolutionary purpose, but in times of, of, of, of.
00:54:49
Speaker
When I expanding my mind out into like the ecosystems and long-term thinking and thinking about all this, there's a lot of competing needs. There's a lot of differing views. And while we all talk about how great diversity is, it's actually really hard to hold at times.
00:55:09
Speaker
It can be beautiful and nourishing, but very, very complex. So what, how are the ways that, that I invite, invite people to reflect on what are the ways they can internally resource themselves to hold complexity? Because the world is, we're only getting bigger in terms of our population, which is increases complexity, increases all the different amount of relational connections that we are having with each other and also the world. So what, what can.
00:55:40
Speaker
If we can hold that complexity, what can be born from that place? Which links nicely into my 10th and final one, which is sitting in the unknown. And Bill Plotkin talks a lot about the mystery. And and I'm doing a mindfulness, an eight week mindfulness course at the moment. And so much of sitting with myself is not trying to fix things. And in a world that we love problem solving and doing and moving and reacting is how can we actually sit with things a little bit longer? Going back to number one. Oh, I love a full circle. Going back to number one, take a breath. How can we take a breath and sit with the mystery, sit in the unknown?
00:56:28
Speaker
It took, ah as I said at the start, like it took 4.5 billion years to get to this point. And we're not going to get out of this crazy situation that we're in with like a hack or, you know, a quick fix solution. Maybe a listicle though. We might, we might be able to get out of it with a listicle. This listicle. I don't know. We need lots of listicles. But can we, can, can we humble ourselves to the mystery and practice saying, I don't know.
00:57:01
Speaker
Lucy Richards you're so alight with inspiration and I know that ah people are going to want to bask in that glow some more. I feel like we could just continue this incredible tangent that we've set ourselves off on and I can kind of sense that energy generation, that heat coming from you, which is extraordinary, but we have to wrap this edition of Resculions with Lucy Richards, but I'm wondering where would point people if they do want to nibble at some of your tasty words and offerings, where could they go? Oh thank you. Well I have a website lucyrichards.com.au and my instagram handle is loose underscore richards and I also have a poetry book divine postal service if for those who are into the realm of poetry that should Should we end on a poem? Yes, please. But I will just mention you do have a sub-stack as well. Oh, I do. And your publishing schedule is so wonderfully integrated, as is everything that you do. You publish on the full moon. I publish on the full moon. I do it on the minute of the full moon. I mean, I'm not always up at 4.23 AM. I schedule that, those ones. But I do publish on the full moon. Yeah, you're on moon time. I love it. Yes to a poem, please.
00:58:25
Speaker
Okay, it's called a big love and thank you to the beautiful woman who we know who inspired this.
Poetic Reflections on Regeneration and Transformation
00:58:33
Speaker
A big tree, a big love, blown over in a storm, oftentimes does not know its fate. Up until the moment it fell, it was photosynthesizing, trying new limbs on for size and sighing into its roots.
00:58:55
Speaker
The tree was living, present, grounded in its place, until it wasn't. Over on its side, its roots are bare. The birds can no longer use it as their home, but the ants still can. The spiders don't mind. The echidna can bury under it, and even the beehive can still thrive. It is an old home and a new home.
00:59:27
Speaker
Some aspects of it will decompose quickly. The leaves and bark and ready parts will fall into the earth with ease. The trunk, proud and thick and strong, may hold on for longer because that's what it was grown to do and it may take some time for it to figure out its new use. Instead of an upright soldier, it may be a log of warmth in the home or a bed of mulch for veggies to be grown.
00:59:57
Speaker
And also, did you know that fallen trees like the River Red Gum will sprout new limbs? A remarkable sight to see its horizontal former self becoming the foundation for almighty new daughter trees who, already ancient in their wisdom, stand tall once again.
01:00:25
Speaker
That's three out of three eye floods. Me too. Divine is right. Thank you so much. Thanks for the invitation.
01:00:38
Speaker
That was Lucy Richards, whose wares and work you'll find linked in the show notes. And I highly recommend subscribing to her monthly full moon sub stack, which is a glow with poetic treasures.
01:00:50
Speaker
Next week we're bringing ancestral skills and bushcrafts back to the airwaves with either and will of wild beings. Their stories of hunting, foraging, crafting and sleeping beneath the stars will have you pining for a radically grounded lifestyle. So saunter on back for that chat next Monday. Thanks for lending your attention to another episode of Resculience. Catch you soon.