A Social Moonshot
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About this Platform
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Hello, I'm Hardeep, creator and steward, of this platform, and founder of per se, a design studio and creative practice dedicated to weaving new stories that will bridge us into a flourishing 22nd century.
"What kind of sustainable world do you WANT to live in? Do your best to imagine not just the absence of problems but the presence of blessings."
DONELLA MEADOWS
Age of the Steward emerged from conversations I was having on my podcast, The Architecture of Contemplation. These interactions, wherever they started, always converged upon a fundamental contemplation about the human experience itself. From physicists, and writers, to founders and photographers, each is on their own unique life journey but that is only part of the story. Most people, I have found, have a calling deep within, to contribute to something larger than themselves, something akin to collective well-being. An inherent intuition for care-taking, a desire to give back, a motivation to connect deeply, these themes I heard voiced so often, suggests to me that there is a bigger story at play, that encompasses and transcends our individual strivings.
Fast forward two years, and the time felt right to bring the Age of the Steward to life as a movement, a social moonshot, and a gathering place for fellow big-picture thinkers and now-doers, to come together. We are inheritors of a great many issues, but therein also awaits the opportunity.
I know there are many conversations on the loss of meaning and purpose but I must confess, I don't see that. What is perhaps lacking is the invitation to take part in creating meaning, and for me, the coinage and concept of stewardship, is one such invitation. It is a storied and old idea, but, with a little updating for the twenty-first century, I feel intuitively that stewardship is an approachable and pragmatic framing of how to be a proactive, responsible and considerate Earthling. To be a steward, after all, is to act in the knowledge that life is inherently worthy and to be cared for, nurtured, and cherished accordingly.
Age of the Steward is the hopeful, and pragmatic, sibling to the narrative around the Anthropocene. We *can* choose a different epochal framing, and within this, there will be plural ways to create, collaborate and learn.
Is this a big vision? Maybe. Idealistic? A touch. Hopeful? Utterly.
I am always on the lookout for collaborators and support, so if you too are driven to take on wildly wicked problems, and to find ambitious solutions, write me at hardeep@perse.london.
Always,
H
Steward-in-Training