The Way of Imagination

My book, The Way of Imagination, appears August 11 from Counterpoint Press. Here's a brief description:

Imagination breaks the shell of the status quo, summoning up objects that do not yet exist, actions that no one has yet performed, and wiser ways of living. It powers art, science, and all forms of human creativity. My new book seeks to show how imagination might guide us through the current social and environmental upheaval, as climate heating, epidemic diseases, divisive politics, and loss of biodiversity alter our place on the planet and our lives together.

The damage to the natural world caused by our swelling numbers and unbridled appetites has been abundantly documented in books, films, scientific reports, and the daily news. Likewise, we are constantly reminded of the violence and divisions within our society and around the world. Rather than pile on yet more daunting evidence, in this book I seek to understand how we stumbled onto this path toward social and ecological ruin, and how we might change direction. Clearly, we can change direction, because millions of individuals, organizations, and communities, across America and around the globe, have chosen a more promising path, embracing conservation, restoration, and peacemaking. Unless you have been scouting around for alternatives to the industrial growth economy, you may not be aware of these hopeful efforts, because the good news about solutions to our planetary crisis tends to be drowned out by the bad news about Earth’s unraveling. The path to healing begins from acts of imagination.