#099, In Practice, Jan/Feb 2005

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N I

RACTICE P a publication of the savory center

January/February 2005 * Number 99

www.holisticmanagement.org

Holism—The Emerging Future

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

by Peggy Sechrist

R

ecently I was invited by the Savory Center to submit a newsletter article describing my 18 years of observations regarding learning and practicing Holistic Management. Doing so required me to take time to reflect over that long period of time— something I would not normally take time to do. I was grateful for that opportunity because it gave me the motivation to spend some time considering how my observations fit together into a holistic pattern that could serve as a learning experience for me and perhaps for others as well. The work that went into that article occurred at the same time that I was reading a newly published book called Presence by Peter Senge, Joseph Jaworski, C. Otto Scharmer, and Betty Sue Flowers. This book discusses the authors’ 20+ years of studying holism. I found their views and experiences as presented in their book helped me to better understand the observations that I wrote about and enabled me to put them into a much larger context, that is a transition to a new emerging future. In 1996, Frijof Capra wrote in his book, The Web of Life, “. . .what we are seeing is a shift in paradigms not only within science, but also in the larger social arena . . .The paradigm that is now receding has dominated our culture for several hundred years, during which it has shaped our modern Western society and has significantly influenced the rest of the world.” Capra continues with a description of the old paradigm based on a view of the universe as a mechanical system and noting we carried this view into medicine, social, and even economic arenas. He then presents, “The new paradigm may be called a holistic worldview, seeing the world as an integrated whole rather than a dissociated

collection of parts. Living systems at all levels are networks, we must visualize the web of life as living systems (networks) interacting in network fashion with other systems (networks). The web of life consists of networks within networks.” Along with Allan Savory’s book, Holistic Management, Capra’s writings have provided excellent leadership in helping us better understand the networks that exist in nature and that connect us with nature. One could even say that we are a member of nature’s networks. I will wager that most of the successes achieved by holistic practitioners to date have occurred in this arena. The new book, Presence, takes us deeper into learning about social networks including our marketplace and discusses how these networks might change from the old mechanical paradigm to the new holistic paradigm—something, I believe, we do not yet understand well. The authors remind us that even social institutions are living systems and “a living system continually re-creates itself.” You and I easily understand that process as a change of season and by the new cells replacing old in our body. “But how this occurs in social systems . . . depends on our level of awareness, both individually and collectively.” Once a social network becomes aware of themselves as a living system, “they can then become a place for the presencing of the whole as it might be, not just as it has been.” The authors suggest that a new holistic future is always trying to emerge through the whole networks that make up our universe. They believe this because they believe the universe fundamentally functions as whole networks. If we become aware and open to this continued on page 2

Because nature functions in wholes, we know that collaboration, not competition, is a key natural principle. In this issue, many of our authors discuss this insight, including Andrea Malmberg as she writes about her experience at Twin Creek Ranch on page eight.

FEATURE STORIES Progress at The West Ranch Peggy Maddox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Terra Madre—Celebrating Food and Those Who Produce It Jody Butterfield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Terra Madre 2004—Bringing A Global Perspective to the Table Sandra Matheson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Holistic Management in Nebraska—A Twenty-Year Perspective Roland Kroos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Learning to Create a Passionate & Profitable Livelihood—In the Wyoming Hinterland Andrea Malmberg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

LAND & LIVESTOCK STAC Dick Richardson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Wildlife-Friendly Fencing Made Easy Wayne Burleson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

News From the Front Bruce Ward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

NEWS & NETWORK Savory Center Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . .15 Savory Center Forum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Certified Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Marketplace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19


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