Last month, I shared my first real substack article on the topic of resurfacing: a slew of different themes, concepts, and ideas that have been bubbling back up for me in ways that are feeling impossible to ignore. Since then, some realizations have crystallized, each of which is worthy of its own whole post, but I’ll sum them up in 3 short points:
Our self worth can be deeply entangled with our professional identities.
Traditional business structures often constrain the work that creates real value.
The most meaningful work happens in the spaces between traditional roles.
These realizations, coupled with some tectonic shifts happening in the organizations I’ve been supporting, have led me to create something new. Many of you who I know professionally know I “wear multiple hats” and have for a few years now as I found myself leaning into more opportunities to do work that wasn’t directly aligned with billable services (but nonetheless felt extremely meaningful, important, and transformative).
*partially created with AI (I may be a skeptic, but I’m not a luddite)
Wearing all those hats has taught me what kind of work I love to do, and has also given me a perhaps unique perspective on how change actually happens: Not within silos, but across boundaries. When diverse stakeholders come to the table together. When change-makers within their organizations have peer support to know they’re not alone but are part of a larger ecosystem of movements. When we identify leverage points - strategic intersections where small shifts can create big impact. The ecotone1 that is created when different fields, scales, and specialties intertwine creates the conditions for a shared mission where this kind of approach can be leveraged - but it requires someone to weave the connections and identify where to apply pressure.
I don’t know about you, but it feels to me like some big changes are needed now more than ever before. Having a kid that I’ll one day have to be accountable to puts that into perspective in a whole new way.
Li-An Lim via Unsplash/Tom Toro via www.CartoonStock.com
Our society and the systems we operate within are a direct result of how and where we spend our time, energy, and resources (financial and otherwise). If I feel dissatisfied with the world around me, I must question my role in it all and how I’m contributing either to propping up the current system or building a new one. This line of questioning (and the cognitive dissonance that followed) is what led me to create Loom and Lever. I’m equal parts anxious, nervous, and proud to announce this new “business” venture: my attempt to focus my work, skills, interests, and passion in service of the Great Turning2 and to be an intentional contributor to a more regenerative economy.3
What is Loom and Lever?
I’ve always been a dot connector, a web weaver, a strategic thinker - but these aren’t really roles or talents that translate to financial value in our current system. So I’m building a practice that lets me do this kind of work intentionally, outside of traditional constraints, and contributes to the emergence of a whole new system. As I launch this new venture, I’m honored to continue to support two organizations near and dear to my heart that I have been working with for some time, Mindful Materials and Green Commons, and I’m interested in finding ways to support another initiative that feels really important and relevant to me: a circular economy for construction materials. (I’m not sure what that will look like yet, but if you have ideas, let me know!)
The greatest work of our lives happens in the intersections, and that’s right where I want to be.
Why “Loom and Lever?”
One of the things that we humans do that I love is making meaning - using language to layer concepts and ideas in a way that introduces depth and nuance and invites richer conversation and questions. That said, there’s definitely a lot of meaning layered in to this name choice.
Loom evokes the act of weaving - bringing diverse perspectives, experiences, and expertise together to create something that is more than the sum of its parts. I believe that the illusion of separation is one of the deepest root causes of all the crises we find ourselves in at this moment in time, and if I can contribute in any small way to addressing this separation, that’s something I would be proud of.
Lever refers to leverage points - places within complex systems where small, strategic shifts can produce transformative changes in everything.4 Rather than applying force everywhere, I’m interested in finding the points where insight, intention, and strategic action can create cascading, systemic change. (This was in no small way influenced by my participation in Project Tipping Point5 earlier this year)
In an era that feels fixated on technological progress, with relentless encouragement to involve AI for even the most mundane tasks, I believe that the transformative change we need is going to come from human connection and relationship, so I love that both a loom and a lever are pre-industrial tools that call to mind art, craftsmanship, and the work of the human hand.
I’m grateful to everyone who has encouraged and inspired me along this journey, and this is absolutely just the beginning. If you’re interested in learning more or staying connected, you can check out my website and sign up for my mailing list, or just drop me a line or a comment - I’d love to hear how this resonates with you.
1 Abigail Rose Clarke introduced me to this concept in her book, “Returning Home to Our Bodies” and it emerged again recently in a recent workshop with David Jay around his book “Relationality” - two phenomenal reads to add to your shelf!
2 I talked a little about orienting my work toward this ‘story of our time’ in my last post, but The Great Turning is a concept introduced by Joanna Macy: the story of the global transition from the Industrial Growth Society to a Life Sustaining Society.
3 The disconnect between how our economic system works and how our planetary systems function has been of great interest to me lately, thanks to the work of John Fullerton and Capital Institute - also a topic for many future posts.
4 Credit to Donella Meadows whose book “Thinking in Systems” forever changed the way I see the world.
5 A co-creation of Ra James Kemp, Erin Remblance, and Kasper Benjamin Bjørkskov, Project Tipping Point is “an education-in-action movement designed to equip participants with the supportive courageous community, transformative worldview, and actionable skills needed to seed societal tipping points rooted in kinship and interconnection.”