The Future of Asheville is Thriving: Part 1
Amidst unthinkable devastation, there lies a golden opportunity to rebuild as a regenerative ecosystem
[I began writing this series of articles one month ago. Now that I’ve returned home to Asheville, I’m finally ready to start sharing them….]
“Everything will be all right in the end. So if it is not all right, it is not yet the end.”
~ from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
I was sitting at a coffee shop in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where I had taken refuge after Hurricane Helene ravaged my beloved town of Asheville. On the phone with a close friend in California, I was attempting to explain to her the magnitude of the devastation that had rocked western North Carolina three days earlier ~ still trying myself to comprehend the incomprehensible.
After days of scrolling through first-hand accounts by my friends, neighbors, business owners and community leaders, a confronting reality began to take shape. Amidst the shock, horror and heartache in the aftermath of this “1,000-year flood,” many were left wondering whether it was even possible to return to a functional state any time in the relatively near future.
What do you do when nearly every pillar of foundational infrastructure to provide essential needs like power, water, internet and cell service for a region the size of Massachusetts has been brought to its knees?
What do you do:
when hundreds {perhaps thousands when fully reported} of lives of family, friends, neighbors, and community members have been tragically lost ~ and many more are suffering from significant physical or emotional trauma?
when so many major and minor roads that would provide access for assessment and repairs no longer exist?
when after at least 1,400 landslides, not only roads have washed away but the entire hillsides beneath them are gone?
when much of the water, land and soil in the region may have become toxic after being contaminated with bacteria like E. coli and chemicals from manufacturing plants, mines, households, and agricultural runoff of manure and fertilizers?
when a large number of local independent businesses that formed the fabric of the community’s economy have been flooded, washed away or reduced to rubble?
when only 1% of the residents and businesses carried flood insurance?
Well… you take many deep breaths and go through boxes of tissues as you let all of this seep into your awareness. You move through a broad spectrum of emotions, processing as best you can the waves of shock, grief, heartache, survivor guilt, overwhelm, and immense uncertainty ~ alongside the waves of relief, appreciation, compassion, camaraderie, and hope.
And, if you’re like me ~ a whole-systems thinker, pattern recognizer, and geek for archetypal myths and the Heroic Journey ~ you begin to see the arc of a hope-filled story that is emerging here.
A Collective Dark Night of the Soul
The journey of human evolution follows a natural pattern that applies at every scale ~ from the individual to businesses to communities to the entire planet.
The first phase is the outward-facing, masculine phase ~ a quest for power, status and security in the conventional, known world. Eventually, the individual or collective begins to crumple under the weight of its own growth and a dawning realization of all that had been suppressed or subjugated during this phase.
At some point, a shocking event or series of events ~ an external crisis beyond one’s control ~ occurs that shakes up your entire world. Everything you thought you knew about your reality is turned upside down. All sense of stability is gone, and it appears that life as you knew it is over.
But just as the caterpillar believes it is dying as it turns to goo in the chrysalis, this “death” is actually the birth of the butterfly it was always meant to be.
This Dark Night of the Soul is an essential phase in any journey of transformation. It is an initiation that serves to disrupt the patterns and ways of being that are no longer serving you, and a breaking away from the drivers of fear and control that have held you in their grips.
This is the threshold crossing into the inward-focused phase of the feminine. As you tumble into the abyss of the unknown world, all the masks and layers of conditioned patterns that have been keeping you stuck are stripped away. You experience a sense of connection and unity within yourself and with all life beyond what you’ve ever known.
As you move beyond the tumultuous days of darkness and despair, you begin to see what is real and true. It is here that you unearth the buried treasure ~ the authentic gifts and values that are the core essence of who you truly are.
This journey could take years, decades, generations or eons ~ depending on whether you’re looking at the scale of individuals, businesses, communities, or civilizations.
In the final phase of this epic quest, you heal the wounds of the past and weave the best of all that you have been and experienced into a fully integrated, whole being.
This is where the phoenix rises from the ashes, where the butterfly emerges from the cocoon, and where the individual {or community} becomes truly centered, resilient and regenerative ~ bringing more life and thriving to itself and all it touches.
Rebirth is not only possible, it is inevitable
While the names, faces and places are wildly varied, the archetypal path of this innate story of human evolution is always the same. It always looks and feels like death and destruction. And it always culminates in a rebirth into something far greater than previously imagined.
This is how I know ~ beyond a shadow of a doubt, in every fiber of my being ~ that Asheville and the surrounding region is perfectly poised for an epic rebirth.
Some will choose to revert to the outdated ways of living and doing business in separation and silos, clinging to what they know in their “comfort zone.” And they will likely continue to receive increasingly loud wake-up calls.
But for the leaders of our thriving future, Hurricane Helene will forever mark a point of no return. Because once you choose to surrender into the Unity phase, realizing the vast potential that exists on the other side of the Dark Night of the Soul, there is no going back to your former existence.
It is already happening
In every single neighborhood, community and town in the region, there have been countless reports of heroism, generosity, kindness, and cooperation. People who have lost so much themselves have stepped in to help neighbors, friends and strangers.
It doesn’t matter what side of any fence you are on. Suddenly everyone is family, connected and in it together.
There was no waiting around for outside help to come to the rescue. Everyone was a rescuer, a contributor, and part of an incredible support system that jumped in to do what needed to be done ~ together.
This is human nature. And we’re realizing that we don’t need to wait for devastating crises to bring us together. An astounding number of natural leaders in the area are now showing up, connecting, and talking about how we rebuild together in all new, mutually supportive ways.
The future of Asheville is thriving
When I feel into the future of Asheville and the surrounding Western North Carolina region, here is the report I see us sharing with the world in the next 5-10 years….
The tragedy of Hurricane Helene revealed the core essence and potential that is uniquely Asheville. We found ourselves connecting in new ways, together dreaming into what is possible when we operate in a spirit of collaboration and mutual support.
We have designed and implemented systems of living and leading that continually generate more life and thriving, thriving in an increasingly regenerative and interconnected ecosystem ~ locally, regionally and globally.
We started with a focus on three core areas:
doubling down on support for local, organic and regenerative farmers, ranchers and food producers ~ dramatically increasing our capacity to feed ourselves from right here in our natural foodshed, and exponentially increasing the health and resiliency of our soil and our people.
building a regenerative infrastructure, employing emergent technologies that are aligned with and supportive of our natural world ~ in key areas like watershed stewardship, roads & transportation, housing, energy, communications, and circular waste solutions.
supporting local businesses and developing a regenerative business ecosystem ~ where people, purpose and impact are aligned with nature’s principles of wholeness and abundance, unique genius is synergistically matched with core functions at every scale, and the foundational operating system is rooted in mutual support and exponential win-wins.
It is possible to emerge stronger than ever, to heal the wounds of the past, to shift out of fear and scarcity into our natural states of connection and thriving, and to weave all of what has been into the best of what can be.
We are not only rebuilding. We are regenerating….
A personal note
As a whole-systems visionary, I have devoted myself to sharing the journey to regenerative leadership and a new operating model where businesses are seen as living organisms within nested ecosystems, rooted in nature’s principles of harmony, wholeness and mutual thriving.
It is no accident that I was powerfully called to move to Asheville in 2023, where a hurricane has now shocked everyone by traveling so far inland and devastating this idyllic mountain town and the entire Western NC region.
It is no accident that this area is filled with epic humans ~ heart-centered leaders who live and lead in a spirit of collaboration and support for their beloved community. I am connecting more every day with an astounding number of new-paradigm pioneers and evolutionaries who know they are here to help demonstrate to the world what is possible when we come together around a shared vision to not only rebuild, but to regenerate ~ to not only survive, but to thrive.
I will now be focalizing much of my energy in contributing to what I see so powerfully shaping up here ~ a movement I’m calling #RegenerateAsheville. I’ll be bringing the principles that I’ve spent the past decades remembering and embodying, now implementing them in a practical “boots on the ground” way here locally ~ while sharing globally what is possible when we activate and amplify human potential, living into our emerging future of a world that works for all life.
Stay tuned for upcoming articles, where I’ll delve further into the emerging technologies, frameworks, and resources I’m seeing in the three core areas I mentioned above: regenerative food & farming, infrastructure and business ecosystems.
Here’s how you can help
If you resonate with the vision of a regenerative, mutually thriving world and would like to contribute to this powerful movement and/or support me and my work, here’s how you can help:
purchase goods and services from local Asheville area businesses
adopt a local family, business or regenerative leader and ask what specifically they need {and, if possible, meet that need with locally sourced products and services}
subscribe to Regenerating Leadership on Substack {for free, or consider a paid subscription}
work with me in private mentoring sessions or refer an entrepreneur or executive who could benefit from this support
connect me to regenerative resources, including funding, who could support the movement in this region
reach out with any other ideas, resources or support you’d like to offer ~ I’d love to hear from you!
YES! Again, and again, Holly you answer your call and you send out the call. May we all answer ours - our alive instructions within, a brushstroke of beauty.