“The Ministry For the Future” by Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. It is a weave of science and reality and storytelling, all rolled into one package. You will find yourself riveted by our own future, rooting for the heroes to make change. It will terrify you, it will scare you, it will mobilize you, and inspire you.

It will also make you cry. Because so much of it is reality. By the time I reached chapter 85 I was so hungry for the solutions that I broke down in reading it. Do not jump ahead, enjoy it when you get there.

In the book, one of the concepts that stuck with me the most is the idea of “efficiency” or “productivity”. We spend our lives thinking that these concepts are inherently good. Why? Because of our value system. We always want more. More money, more things, faster, cheaper, easier. But what if we prioritized our ecosystem? What if nothing was of value unless it honored the Earth and healed it, and contributed to its well-being? How does that change the way we think about…basically everything?

Convenience and comfort and security–none of these things are meaningful without the knowledge that what we are doing ensures life will go on. Money is a human construct. Nature is not.

Anyway, I hope you find yourself questioning your values.

The other book, “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells is basically life altering. Sometimes you read a book that shows you that everything you hold dear is in jeopardy. Your world needs to turn upside down. And are you ready for it?

I suggest you start with this book and then move to “The Ministry for the Future” which is decidedly more hopeful, a path for us to follow.

Let these books flow over you like water. Take them in, absorb the hard parts.

The problems we face are so magnificent and historical, that they can become overwhelming. But as I’ve said before, it all starts with one step. One person can affect another, and so on, and so on.

You are never alone. We are changing. Get on board and join us.