“We lie in the lap of immense intelligence, which makes us receivers of its truth and organs of its activity.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson.1
Resonant World #39
Sometimes I hear a phrase and I immediately want to steal it.
Last week it was: “I like to work at the edge of irrelevance.”
For a journalist, “irrelevance” could sound a lot like oblivion.
But the man who spoke these words — Bob Anderson, founder of Leadership Circle — was talking about how life opens up when we forsake safety. There’s never a guarantee that following a call will lead us anywhere good — that’s why it’s scary. But it’s only at the edge of irrelevance that something new can unfold.2
That phrase lit me up.
Making Choices
There have been moments when I’ve questioned the path I’ve taken, looking back at previous phases in my career when I worked in big media institutions, such as the Financial Times and Reuters, pursuing a very different vision of success than I do now.
I walked out of that world in April last year when I quit Reuters to join nonprofit climate news service DeSmog, having belatedly realised that it would be impossible to pursue the kind of climate accountability journalism I believe is essential at this time had I stayed. (Resonant World#32, Resonant World#33). Nevertheless, while the kind of public interest investigations we pursue at DeSmog are critically important, they aren’t enough.
As Dr Britt Wray, author of Generation Dread, a book and newsletter on the impact of the climate crisis on our inner lives, pointed out when we spoke last week, we need a “cultural and spiritual revolution” if we’re going to change course. (Our conversation will go online as part of the Collective Trauma Summit 2023, running from September 26 to October 4).
This kind of talk is off limits at places like Reuters. Not only does legacy media largely ignore the psycho-spiritual dimensions of global crises (with some notable exceptions), editors don’t want journalists discussing such ideas on social media for fear of appearing “biased.” If I’d stayed at Reuters, Resonant World would not exist, and the connections we’ve forged would have remained pure potential. And — however close to the edge of irrelevance I might sail — that’s why I made the right choice.
We Matter
With Resonant World now celebrating its first birthday (give or take a day or two), I wanted to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has subscribed, read, shared or contributed to this newsletter in any way.
Likewise, thank you to all of those who supported the Resonant World Tarothon for my friend Noorullah Noori’s family in Afghanistan, which raised more than £2,000. (Resonant World#11). (If you’re interested in learning whether my approach to Tarot might be an appropriate resource for you, see below).
Writing the 40 newsletters I’ve sent so far has given me more joy than I could have possibly anticipated when I shared the first post on July 28, 2022 (Resonant World is a Leo, it turns out) — and that’s reason enough to continue. But there’s larger stakes in play. As Karen O’Brien writes in You Matter More Than You Think: Quantum Social Change for a Thriving World, what we do as individuals can affect the whole in unanticipated, nonlinear ways. Our choices matter.
I see every comment, email or voicenote I receive in response to these posts as another strand in the web we’re weaving as a global movement to support the integration of individual, trans-generational and collective trauma. (The record voicenote response was 17 minutes, 34 seconds — and it was such an energising stream of higher-dimensional awareness that I’m thinking about asking the sender’s permission to share it in a future edition).
These interactions matter, because until we develop the means to integrate collective trauma — at scale — then we’re going to keep repeating the same dysfunctional patterns, on an increasingly inhospitable planet. And I can’t think of anything I could usefully be doing at this time that’s more important than supporting this work.
Making Space
There’s a power in finding the right words to name what happens in healing work, and it’s particularly rewarding to hear when a post helped somebody’s own integration process in some way. Thomas Hübl, the facilitator of the two-year training I’m pursuing in collective trauma, often says: “Precision is love.” I try to remember that dictum each time I write.
I’ll be sending some more thoughts this week on where Resonant World could go next — and would welcome any suggestions or requests in the meantime. To give you a sense, headlines saved in my draft folder include: Global Acupuncture and the Psychosphere; Men, Anger and Collective Spaces; Witnessing the Exiles; Is Competition a Trauma Symptom?; 12 Signs “Collective Intelligence” Is at Work; Things That Helped Me; Was Ancestral Trauma the Real Reason I Went to Iraq?; Is Trauma a Substance?; and Trauma and the Tarot.
For now, I want to make a little more space for the feeling of connection and gratitude I’ve experienced as I’ve reflected on the past year, and all the encouragement I’ve received, and say thank you once again.
Yours in Resonance.
Matthew
Work With Me
If you enjoy Resonant World, then you may find a Tarot session with me illuminating. My goal is to open an oracular space (to borrow Matthew Stelzner’s term) to help you access the part of yourself that knows the answers you seek, and can communicate precisely via the symbols on the cards. I charge £70 / $90 for a session that typically lasts 90 minutes, including a guided meditation to establish a coherent field linking us with the cards. Sessions in-person (in London) or via Zoom. (I am a member of the Tarot Association of the British Isles and abide by its code of ethics). Do feel free to email me if you have any questions. Reading the Tarot is one of my absolute favourite things to do, and I love what sessions can unlock.
I write Resonant World in my spare time from my work as an editor at nonprofit climate news service DeSmog. Support from readers is a huge boost — and that includes forwarding, sharing, or commenting in response to my posts. Any variety of coffee most gratefully accepted! Thank you for reading.
From the essay Self-Reliance, as quoted by Bob Anderson on the Point of Relation podcast.
Bob Anderson was in conversation with Thomas Hübl on the Point of Relation Podcast.
Thank YOU Matthew, for holding a psycho-spiritual space for reflection and inquiry. For being honest and real, for sharing your thoughts and inspirations. If the present 'climate' (including covid) has taught us anything, it is that we in the western world are in denial and dis-ease about death and dying, to our detriment. I have learnt that to engage with the grief about death (of anything, from personal dreams to loved ones to biodiversity and the planet) can be transformative, but we have to face, acknowledge and feel the pain first. Gratitude for a warm open space to 'resonate' with that.
Thanks for writing it Matt - it’s a little moment of received joy and contemplation.