Emergence

It was somewhat ironic, that I spent time this week planning activities for an upcoming conference we are hosting in Jasper, only to watch wildfires scorch the town two days later.

Our conference themes relate to the joy of a connected human experience, amidst the challenges of our tumultuous and rapidly changing world.

It seems that the universe has a timely way of creating the most relevant metaphors, and the burning of our retreat location seems to exemplify them.

When faced with chaos and challenge, humans have an unrelenting ability to learn, adapt and grow.

I predict a more beautiful, improved, and safer Jasper growing out of the ashes.

Simultaneously, I am optimistic to see humans breaking free of the constraints of screen addiction, social media brainwashing, and drone group-think.

I feel peoples’ frustration at time lost to endless scrolling, hungry to return to a ‘heads-up’ human experience, aware of their surroundings, and present in life.

The pressures of challenge provide the motivation to set the constraints required to design an improved life and world. The devastation, so terrible in the short term, will create opportunities that will even outshine the past.

• Now that’s a peak ethos.