Better Than You Found It: How Will You Leave the World?
The premise for today’s quick post comes from Dr. Mark Goulston (whose guest blog post will appear tomorrow). I love the title of this post, so don’t be surprised if this becomes an MEA workshop in the not-too-distant future.
As a Burning Man board member for nearly a decade, I’ve ingrained the ten principles of Burning Man in various ways in my life. Burning Man didn’t create the concept of "Leave no trace," but it’s been a core part of the ethos of how people respect the fragility of the Black Rock Desert wilderness. We’re all expected to clean up after ourselves and leave no physical trace of our activities from this mega-event. This is a foundational premise of sustainability as well.
But the concept of "regeneration" suggests that we make the place better than when we arrived: "better than we found it." I love the double entendre of the subtitle: what will you leave behind AND how will you depart from this world?
This concept also reminds me of Erik Erikson’s five words that define leaving a legacy: "I am what survives me."
What will survive you?
Ponder the question for the day, and feel free to add your suggestions on my LinkedIn page comments to this blog post.
