What is Thriving Ways?
Thriving Ways is a fledgling collective of facilitators and designers dedicated to working with natural principles to create sustainable organisations, livelihoods and projects. The permaculture ethics are at the core of our vision, and we take them with us wherever we go. As we are all walking our own paths, we keep in touch, interweaving our individual threads into an ever-increasing patchwork. There are many other groups all over the world weaving the same patchwork. Soon all these efforts will come together and form the fabric of a new way of living, a new cultural story – this is the objective of Thriving Ways.
What do we do?
What is unique about Thriving Ways courses and activities is that they involve personal and social permaculture and are transformative experiences.
We explore, uncover and develop our own talents & skills in order to be able to facilitate others to do the same. Therefore, we provide a wide range of methods, tools & activities:
We write books, facilitate trainings, design social projects, offer individual or group coaching sessions, we develop people-based permaculture design tools, we work as community builders, support personal development programs and above all we reconnect nature & culture.
What is permaculture? And isn’t it all about gardening…
Everything gardens. Both the world we live in and the world that lives within us consists of countless interrelated systems. It’s not possible to isolate the individual elements within these systems without doing them harm. Permaculture is about observing how all these systems work together and applying these patterns and principles to everything we do as human beings. So yes – permaculture is all about gardening, but the garden includes our inner landscapes too, and everything that comes out of them. What do you want to cultivate and where do you leave room for your wild edges? Are you familiar with the thoughts, feelings and inspirations that want to sprout, grow and blossom?
Personal permaculture is about transforming our inner landscapes and enhancing our well-being and being the best we can for the world. Social permaculture takes this into our interactions with others and seeks to create regenerative healthy relationships and communities.
The story of the Imaginal Cells
When the time is right a caterpillar turns into a chrysalis and begins to change…
The caterpillars new cells are called ‘imaginal cells. They resonate at a different frequency. They are so totally different from the caterpillar cells that his immune system thinks they are enemies…and gobbles them up–Chomp! Gulp! But these new imaginal cells continue to appear. More and more of them! Pretty soon, the caterpillar’s immune system cannot destroy them fast enough. More and more of the imaginal cells survive. And then an amazing thing happens! The little tiny lonely imaginal cells start to clump together, into friendly little groups. They all resonate together at the same frequency, passing information from one to another. Then, after a while, another amazing thing happens! The clumps of imaginal cells start to cluster together!.., A long string of clumping and clustering imaginal cell, all resonating at the same frequency, all passing information from one to another there inside the chrysalis.
A wave of Good News travels throughout the system– Lurches and heaves…but not yet a butterfly.
Then at some point, the entire long string of imaginal cells suddenly realizes all together that it is Something Different from the caterpillar. Something New! Something Wonderfull!….and in that realization is the shout of the birth of the butterfly!
Happy Birthday Butterfly!!!
Since the butterfly now “knows” that it is a butterfly, the little tiny imaginal cells no longer have to do all those things individual cells must do. Now they are part of a multi-celled organism– A FAMILY who can share the work.
Each new butterfly cell can take on a different job.—-There is something for everyone to do. And everyone is important. And each cell begins to do just that very thing it is most drawn to do. And every other cell encourages it to do just that.
A great way to organize a butterfly!
Mostly sourced from Norie Huddle’s ‘Butterfly’ (1990)
We are all imagining a butterfly – and that butterfly is a balanced world full of consciousness & joy. We are all imaginal cells, trying to find our place in a world in transition, joining forces to facilitate the evolution. There are many of us. You are probably one of us too. There is a calling inside, that keeps getting louder. The all-consuming caterpillar has become a chrysalis, and a new world is emerging. This is where our ways begin to thrive.
Start your journey:
- check out upcoming courses
- find coaches and mentors near you
- explore our Thriving Toolshed of resources
To learn more, please visit: Thriving Ways
