Climate: A New Story by Charles Eisenstein

North Atlantic 2018 | 320 pages

Having read this book and also watched the video below of author Charles Eisentstein himself reviewing it, I have convinced myself it is a powerful narrative to begin to comprehend the significance of these times in terms of survival of the kind of diversity we have come to know, and of the systems in peril.  It offers a pointer to how we can change our trajectory by seeing ourselves differently. That’s the point where the “new story” leaves it to you and your imagination, which arguably is better than more information.

Frankly its not as good as I had hoped it would be as a book. I guess I’m pragmatically biased to think it would take a “transformation” of how we know ourselves as humans to make the grade to the next level.  That would involve behaving less as individualistic consumers and more as one tribe, one people, living with a “transformed” awareness of each other in a newfound group consciousness and resultant shared economy, awareness, and the like.

Even when I say that I had hoped for a better book from Charles Eisenstein, who is one of my thought leaders, implies that there is something hopeless in our situation. Yes we can fix it and yes that implies it’s broken, so the real question is can you “fix” me? That’s because I’m privileged to know enough to know that I’m responsible and, to date, I don’t seem to be the one I’ve been waiting for.

Heck, I’m 65 and everything is just “fine”, except that you know and I know it’s not. So, at least this book gives the reader a lift into what’s possible, and that includes a change in my way of seeing things. I can’t help or fix the climate, but I can be of service to it in small ways and in ways that reflect a way of seeing ourselves that includes wholeness and relationship and connection. This book is fuel for these thoughts.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYQKLrbiCDE[/embedyt]

Reviewed by Dan Kingsbury, 2019