Uh oh.

Seems like I’ve stumbled back into something important.

Quietly, almost without noticing, I’ve found myself believing in the future again.

I know right!! Wild!
But there it is.
This subtle, irrepressible thrum.
Somewhere between the static and the scroll,
I’ve started to feel the pulse of something bright and worth holding.

I’ve become, against all odds and current trends, genuinely excited about the world.

Not in a naive way.
Not in the ‘good vibes only’ kind of way.
But in the way you might sit with someone you love at the end of a hard day,
and realise that even if everything’s on fire,
you’re still here together.

And that counts for something.
Maybe it counts for everything.

Despite the atrocities I still witness everyday on instagram.
Despite the seemingly endless array of injustice.
Despite the overwhelming onslaught of cultural and environmental degradation.

I believe in people again.

In our weird, resilient brilliance.
I believe in what we’re remembering,
what we’re re-learning,
what we’re willing to walk away from.

And I believe, maybe most of all, in the miracle that I’m still here.
And you’re still here.
And we can still do something astonishing with that.

So shall we…

Tomorrow (that’s Friday May 16th, at midday AEST),
I’m joining my friend Simon Waller for a live podcast recording on LinkedIn.

You should come.

We’ll be talking about the future.
And more specifically, a future scenario I’ve written,
to explore, unpack, maybe even argue over, live with you.

It’s free.
All you need is curiosity, a little bandwidth, and a dash of hope.

But you know what’s funny…I almost couldn’t do it.

When Simon first asked me to write a scenario about the future, I was a bit stuck.
I couldn’t see past the noise of the now.

But then I sat.
And wrote.
And something cracked open.

Not a dystopia.
Not a bunker-bound, techno-apocalyptic cautionary tale.
But a future I would LOVE to live in.

Beautiful. Playful. Joyful.
Inclusive. Abundant. Creative.
Regenerative. Not perfect.
But… possible.
And from that place, everything shifted.

Because what I remembered, and what I’d forgotten, is…

We need a vision to live into.

Without it, the engine stalls.
The soul atrophies.
We stop building, stop risking, stop showing up.
We survive, sure.
But barely.
And certainly not beautifully.

So let’s talk about vision.
I even have an activity you could try…

Do you still dream?

One of the practices I’ve run with clients for years is something I call The Perfect Average Day.

It’s simple enough.
You write, in gorgeous, granular detail, your ideal ordinary day.
You make it 3, 5 or 10 years in the future.
Not your most glamorous or exceptional or post-worthy day.
Not one where you win the lottery or find the love of your life.

Just… your perfect average day.

What time do you wake up?
What’s the first thing you see?
What’s the light like?
What’s the first sound?
The first smell?
Who are you with?
What are you doing?

And most importantly:
how do you feel as you move through it all?

Try it. Send it to me. I dare you.

It sounds romantic (and it is), but it’s also revealing.
Because most people can’t do it.
At least not at first.
It just doesn’t come easily.

They start writing and immediately begin cutting themselves down. ‘
Oh, I can’t say that.’ ‘Well, that’s not very realistic. ‘Maybe in a dream world…’

It’s not imagination they lack.
It’s permission.
And what powers that permission?

Belief.

The belief that they’re allowed to want what they want.
The belief that a day like that, even just one, is possible.
The belief that they’re worthy of a life that lights them up from the inside.

I get it.

We’ve all been trained to be suspicious of wonder.
We’ve been taught to mistrust the beauty we sense.
Told to file our longing under ‘luxury’ or ‘selfish’ or ‘inappropriate’
and keep it out of our annual plan.

We’ve learned to settle, to stay humble, to not get ahead of ourselves.
And we’ve built entire systems on the assumption that dreams are dangerous.
Superfluous. And a fools errand.

But we need dreams.
Now more than ever.

And even more important than dreaming…
first…we have to believe they can come true.

Somewhere along the way…

Belief became a dirty word.

We traded it for facts.
Outsourced our faith to science.
Discounted our lived experience for someone else’s study.
Then told our souls to be quiet.

Whoa! Hang on!
Don’t get me wrong…I love science.
I’m not a luddite.
I value all the many tools and talent that have delivered the marvels of modern life.

But there are things that logic can’t hold.
Things that reason has no business getting involved with.
Things that only belief can carry.
Like love. And grace. And forgiveness.
And our collective destiny.

Like dreams…

The wild thing is, and I guess the controversial stance is…

When we stop believing, we stop seeing.

Not just the big, bold visions.
We stop seeing the signals.
The winks and nudges from the universe intended to keep us moving.
We miss the love notes and signposts that are placed on our paths to becoming.

We miss the message that we’re not alone.
And that life wants us to come alive.

Now, I’m only speaking from my lived-experience,
which I’ll admit is fresh, fabulous and fancy-free…however…

I believe that when we start believing again,
we start to see all kinds of magical things.

I’m seeing it everywhere.

I’m seeing it in The Telepathy Tapes (you MUST listen).
I’m seeing it in election results.
I’m seeing it in the language my clients are using.
The topics they’re asking me to speak on.
The program outcomes they now believe are important.

I’m seeing it in the David Walliams books I’ve just finished reading to my kids.

I saw it yesterday when I hosted an event for the Murray Local Land Services
and the NSW Government in Albury, NSW.

I saw a room packed with 100 farmers talking about becoming custodians of their land.
About their spiritual connection to country.
About coming together as a community to build regenerative systems,
to build resilience, to share knowledge, and help the city folk rediscover
how magnificent the natural world is,
by reconnecting with where our food comes from.

I wasn’t seeing it last year.
But I wasn’t believing it either.

And now…it’s everywhere.

So here’s the invitation

Let yourself believe again.

Even if the future feels foggy right now.
If your dreams have been sitting quietly in the corner like sad, unloved houseplants.
If you can’t quite picture yourself (or the world) beyond next Thursday…

That’s okay.

Start small. Start silly.
Just start somewhere.

Believe in the kindness of your barista.
Believe your garden knows your name.
Believe that joy is not a reward, it’s a companion.

Believe the feeling in your gut.
Believe your dog is talking to you.
Believe

And slowly, gently, your eyes will adjust.
You’ll start to notice the shimmer again.
The signals will come back.
Soft invitations from the universe will start to whisper…

‘Yes. You’re allowed’
‘Yes. It’s possible’
‘Yes. There’s more than this’
‘Yes. You have a role to play’
‘Yes. To all of it. Yes’

And even if, especially if, you can’t quite believe in any of that yet...

Don’t worry.

I believe in you.
And that’s more than enough to get started.