From Living the New Story – Series 2

Rob Hopkins PhD, is co-founder of Transition Town Totnes and Transition Network, UK. He is author of The Power of Just Doing Stuff, 21 Stories of Transition, The Transition Handbook and The Transition Companion. He was voted one of the Independent’s top 100 environmentalists and one of ‘Britain’s 50 New Radicals’. He is an Ashoka Fellow, a keen gardener and one of the founders of New Lion Brewery in Totnes and a Director of Totnes Community Development Society, the group behind Atmos Totnes, a very ambitious community-led development project. Rob is also a Fellow of the Findhorn Foundation.

Questions for ongoing reflection and dialogue

1. What transition stories are you aware of in your local community (whether or not officially associated with the Transition Network)? How have they affected your own life and that of your community?

2. Rob tells us there is plenty of evidence that things can change, and cultures can change, rapidly, dramatically, and unexpectedly—for the better. What instances have you seen of this in your own community?

3. Imagination is central to empathy, to creating better lives, to envisioning and then enacting a positive future. Think of a time when your imagination was ignited in this way. What did it feel like? Describe this in as much detail as possible. What changed for the better?

4. Think of a time when you felt cut off your imagination. What was the direct cause? What does this feel like? Describe this in as much detail as possible. How were you able to transform this situation and reignite your imagination to begin to change things for the better?

5. Now think of a situation in your life or community that you would like to shift. You may wish to gather a group and do this exercise together to transform a real scenario in present time. Apply the ‘What if’ question in a spirit of openness, trust and possibility, then share your compelling new story.

6. How can you support those around you – your family, friends, neighbours, colleagues, young people – to tell themselves different stories about their lives and their future?

7. Rob notes that imagination is in decline in our cultures. Do you agree? What is your experience? What can you do to consistently revive and reclaim your faculty of imagination? What exquisitely delicious things might you be able to accomplish? What does a bold, decisive, new story future look like to you through this lens? What could be your legacy in 5, 10, 20 years’ time?