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Ed's Note | From dreams come actions 

“Each act, each moment is corroded by questions, by doubt. We live in a hall of mirrors, once-normal moments distorted by fear.” This haunting testament to the anxieties of our time comes not from an Insta-viral poem, but from one of our contributors, integral coach Karl Gostner.

I met Gostner just shy of two decades ago, when we both worked in radio and were young and handsome (well, I was the handsome one, he got by on charm and intellect). I have mused elsewhere about how we shared an office, bonding through banter and our failed romances. Last year, he contracted Covid. I would check in on him via text, and though he didn’t completely play down his condition, he seemed upbeat, even strong enough to exchange smartass one-liners like the good old days.

I would find out about a week later, through a harrowing, widely shared account on his newsletter, that he had been at death’s door. Thankfully, he pulled through. There are colleagues, friends, and kin who didn’t make it, a devastation that may have forced us to tiptoe in trepidation into the new year, steering clear of resolutions and pop affirmations.

As we present our first issue of the year — still as optimistic as we’ve been for the past few months — we offer a holistic reset, a clean slate, a renewal of body, mind, spirit, and our environment.”

We may only be in February, but many of us will already feel the weight of the abhorrent everyday: the rise in anger as the taxi behind you hoots a millisecond after the traffic light has switched to green, or the annoying alpha male breathing down your neck in the queue, social-distancing stickers at his feet be damned. These realities are going nowhere, but as we present our first issue of the year — still as optimistic as we’ve been for the past few months — we offer a holistic reset, a clean slate, a renewal of body, mind, spirit, and our environment.

We enter the blooming world of eco estates; pay a visit to a multi-functional eco farm; discover rejuvenating spa treatments; eavesdrop on a fascinating conversation between two Earth-loving friends; sample ethically sourced cuisine; and explore all things restorative to self and kind to the planet.

LOOK | Page through the magazine and enlarge for easy viewing:

On our cover we feature a piece by Dutch artist Thirza Schaap, who uses plastic waste harvested from the ocean to create art that pleases the eye even as it implicates all of us in an accelerating environmental catastrophe. By homing in on the possible — by multinational brands, small establishments, and individuals — we acknowledge that while where we are may not be ideal, it still has to be faced head-on, as Gostner so eloquently states: “In stopping to see the pain, to hear ourselves and each other, we create understanding. From understanding comes possibility. From possibility comes the hope to dream. And from dreams come the actions we can take to create a better world.” 

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