In Practice
Healthy Land. Healthy Food. Healthy Lives.
MARCH / APRIL 2017
a publication of Holistic Management International
NUMBER 172
HMI “Gatherings” and the “Slow” Movement BY DANNY NUCKOLS, PhD
“Creativity is the product of ‘wasted’ time” —Albert Einstein “Not everything that counts can be counted” —Stefan Collini
A
s I continue to reap the benefits of attending HMI’s 2016 HMI Gathering in Paicines, California, I have been thinking about what made that event so powerful for me. While there was lots of opportunity to learn critical skills as Holistic Management practitioners, what really inspired me was the opportunity to engage in heartfelt dialogue and exploration with other participants—to slow down and explore. While the slow-food movement has shone a light on the importance of thoughtful engagement with food, there is also a greater understanding of the importance of slowing down in all areas of our lives to better engage with that which we value. Those in the vanguard of the slow-food movement have shared important information over the importance of blunting the velocity by which food is produced and consumed; and how the introduction of ‘speed’ by mechanization and industrialization has damaged not only the quality of food but the land resources used for its creation. The claim is that shifting back to more locally sourced food will create more equity between growers and consumers, save energy, bring back diversity to the land via abstaining from chemical-intensive mono-cropping, and restore local jobs and vibrant communities. In addition, such a slow-food mission is thought to preserve local cuisines and gastronomic traditions, which would, importantly, aid in restoring local culture. Likewise, a resilient local culture is an important by-product of Holistic Management, and is a sentiment voiced at HMI gatherings, with its emphasis on how good company (conviviality) can help build a gateway towards a vibrant, inclusive local economy. In fact, food INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Creating Resilience Creating resilience in any system— natural, human, or financial—requires us first to understand the system and then work with the critical processes and principles within that system. Ken Klemm of the Buffalo Guys has learned how to do that with his operation. Read about his Holistic Management journey on page 7.
W W W. H O L I S T I C M A N A G E M E N T. O R G
production and consumption do not simply perform a functional role, but rather have a crucial social context. The conversations overheard at Holistic Management gatherings signal the critical importance of coming together and sharing ‘why’ we believe and act as we do, combined with that of declaring the social responsibility that surrounds sustainable land management. In their superb text The Slow Professor, Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber further extend the important theme of sharing contemplation in a gathering. We need time to think, digest, and understand each other. Berg and Seeber tells us that research shows that periods of escape from tightly constructed time schedules are actually essential to deep thought, creativity, and problem solving. Scholars and poets have suggested over the years that the timeless intensity of “the present moment” (read HMI Gathering) is a gateway to creativity and joy; and that when we leave the compressed frame of our routine job, we experience a sense of timelessness, which brings forth creativeness. Indeed, creativity itself is experienced as timelessness. This timelessness houses a gathering that creates, cultivates and nourishes trust, along with understanding, compassion and patience— making it possible to have an open exchange of artistic ideas. After all, the conversations found at a gathering are fundamentally about collaboration, and collaboration is, in essence, about thinking together. All of the preceding benefits gleaned from a gathering are especially enriched if they are coupled with an opportunity to “walk the land.” Such an opportunity was provided by HMI Advisory Council member Sallie Calhoun, owner of the Paicines Ranch, as she hosted nano-workshops dealing with Holistic Management. I hope to see you at the next HMI Gathering or any of the Open Gates HMI hosts each year. Together we can learn to lessen the culture of speed and alleviate stress and, consequently, continue to sustain a mission of holistic training in land management and the collegiality it feeds.