From my book, The Necessary Revolution:

All of the brilliant technologies, inspired products and creative business models described in this book are absolutely essential to the Necessary Revolution of our time. And they are not sufficient.

To restore balance and vitality to the biosphere, we have to re-conceive our relationship to Nature. As biologist Janine Benyus says, "We must fall in love with the earth again."

For the last 300 years (industrial revolution), 2 millennium (AD/biblical), and/or 10,000 years (agricultural) we have been operating under a series of misconceptions. We have believed that humans had dominion over nature (biblical), that natural resources were unlimited (industrial), and that nature is here to provide for humanity (agricultural). As Daniel Quinn says in Ishmael, we have lived as “takers” of the resources of the planet rather than as “leavers,” those whose living does not destroy.

This way of defining our relationship to Nature has lead to the environmental crises that we now face: global climate change, species loss, resource depletion and resulting wars, toxicity of soil, air and water. Author Bill McKibben says, "The laws of physics and the laws of commerce are diverging and the laws of physics are not going to change anytime soon." The result as Paul Hawken writes in the Ecology of Commerce is the "death of birth." All of life is connected in a web of mutual destiny -- what destroys one will destroy us all. We no longer have the luxury of living this way. The "Bubble," in our metaphor, has burst.

What will replace the Bubble in our beliefs and behavior? Falling in love with nature means a renewed relationship between humanity and all of creation. It means, as architect Bill McDonough says, "Loving all the children of all species for all time." Imagine the radical implications for action that emerge from this kind of love.

1. We would consume less because we would respect the resources, energy and sweat that went into production.

2. We would appreciate more because we would be more attentive to and grateful for the life all around us.

3. We would experience more love, moment to moment, so be less likely to feed the emptiness inside with unnecessary stuff.

4. We would be loathe to start wars knowing that our aggression would lead to the destruction of habitat, species and people, all of whom we cherish as part of creation and thus part of ourselves.

5. We would laugh more, love more, enjoy more and give praise for the gift of life.

Is all of this "pie in the sky," soft, unrealistic, a dreamer's fantasy? Consider the alternative mess we have created. Then ask yourself, "What's at risk if I love, and what's at risk if I don't?"

The premise of this book, rooted in the Five Disciplines as it is, is that Systems Thinking matters: consider the whole in all you do. Reflective conversations matter: be respectful in all your relationships. And Vision matters: you can create what you imagine. As Martin Luther King said in his infamous speech, "I have a dream." For the sake of all of the children, we do too.

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