“South of the North, yet north of the South, lies the City of a Hundred Hills, peering out from the shadows of the past into the promise of the future." -- W.E.B Du Bois

For blog #52 which represents a full year of writing a weekly blog, sharing about my first few days in Atlanta location scouting for "How on Earth?" is not what I would haven imagined back when I was launching Earthmates Podcast. But it seems perfect now.

Acknowledge Earth Is Our Home

Humidity!

I looked at the weather app as I packed to be in Atlanta for 2 weeks.

The lowest lows in the mid 40s.

The highest highs in the low 80s.

Definitely warmer for April than I'm used to in Oregon.

So I packed light long sleeved for air conditioned environments along with tank tops layered with light jackets/blazers to take on and off as needed. Plus, of course a couple dresses both for work and for fun.

As for the flight outfit, I went with my norm: nice outdoor pants with a smartwool tee shirt and Patagonia pullover.

Comfy yet very navigable in all the settlings until...

I walked outside the airport and remembered...

Hot humidity.

Uff-dah!

I mean, I grew up with it in rural MN.

So many nights, I thanked all that's holy for a brief thunderstorm to roll through at 9pm so sleeping would be comfortable.

But that was 24 years again.

I've spent another 24 years in Oregon. And YES! It's wet around here -- but in the winter. The summer's are dry.

And yes, climate change has shifted things. We now get a couple storms and we definitely get way too hot of temperatures. But humid and heat still don't mingle.

So standing there, I remember that I'm a guest here.

My body is not only magically 3 hours ahead, it's in a land where I'm to listen first.

And be grateful for what it has to share.

Thankfully, the last 2 days have been cooler and more comfortable.

But the temps raise 10 degrees again tomorrow.

And I will continue to listen.

Especially has I continue calling Atlanta home for 6 months in order to produce "How on Earth?" here.

Discover Your Earth Archetype

My first couple days here in Atlanta are at SuperSouth.

In it's first year, the speakers are thrilled. It seems to be a first of it's kind in the region to bring sustainable entrepreneurs together to meet and mix ideas.

Though I oscillated whether it was a good match for me, I'm glad I came. I've gotten to meet up with some folks that I needed a quick connect at this stage of development rather than a longer courtship.

The rooms are filled with Weavers, Networks, and Molecules.

They crave the science, the strategy, the plan.

Economic and energy systems get front and center stage.

Business innovation is seen as a driver of change instead of just a source of destruction.

And as I stare at the mainstage slogan for the event, I read...

The word "Forging" really stands out to me.

It feels very appropriate for this audience.

A word representing metal and infrastructure.

And it made me curious...

To do a type of madlib experiment.

What verb would you chose?

And does it reflect your Earth Archetype.

LMK!

Work Together in Community

The first night of SuperSouth showcased a film about an incredible carpet company called Interface.

It provides a powerful case study of how a company can use leadership and innovation to turn a exploitive process into one with empowered a "dream team" and employees to find ways to reach net zero in the manufacturing space long before anyone else was doing it.

Yet, the film itself is a case study as well for Step 3 of the Reciprocity Cycle.

It started with a Weaver. A former politician that became a consultant for sustainable businesses.

He knew that this story needed to be told to inspire more business owners and industry leaders.

So he asked his Metaphor dad for help.

As a result, the film is being showed at over 300 colleges as a source of curriculum.

And it played for us.

It certainly inspired this room full of Weavers, Networks, and Molecules as we watched 3 different CEOs of the companies have their a-ha moments.

First Ray. Then the skeptic CFO turned CEO. And even the third brought on as a purpose driven CEO.

Yet, he didn't buy into the sustainability efforts of the dream team.

Finally, he had a sit down with them. The dream team went home discourage. Jay, the CEO, came back the next day on fire! As he explained it, no one had ever explained the science of climate change to him. And with that in mind, he could imagine a strategy.

So many of the SuperSouth audience resonated with that.

As a Metaphor, I find it curious.

After all, we've had the science for 50+ years.

Yet, it taught me how to better understand this side of the Earth Archetype spectrum.

As I digested it, I even realized that I should create a slogan for each of the 5 types that could encapsulate each one.

For Molecule, I'm choosing something like "Once people understand the science..."

The rest are yet to come.

Would love to hear your ideas!