ABOUT
WHO IS CASPER
Most of all, a concerned person. The challenges the world faces are overwhelming. I have been amazed at how the world works and exploring how it can be better for 36 years now. Which motivated me to study Industrial Ecology and to be an entrepreneur in education and work as a consultant. Outside of that I especially enjoy Japanese martial arts, drumming and walking in nature with my dog Fynn. In the past years I have learned to do energy work and ceremonies. Influencing the outer world through the inner world.
WHY A BOOK?
In my search for a realistic response to the global crises, I found nothing that I thought was going to achieve a sustainable and just world. It's mostly solving a problem in one system, but adding problems elsewhere in a ridiculously slow pace. Also, no system analysis shows that we can get the system sustainable or equitable with technology and policy alone. Real solutions are going to come from something much deeper than what we're doing now. I didn't have the language to talk about it and typing every day to let my story of sustainability emerge was the best way for me. It has opened my eyes to trust life and fully embrace what emerges.
WHAT IS THE ESSENCE OF THE BOOK?
The bottom line is that we are too concerned with the story we share and not enough with reality that makes the story possible. The power of people is that we can work together based on stories. As a result, countries, companies and money exist, which there is nothing wrong with, until they no longer connect to the larger reality of which each story is dependent on. Then the story has become a castle in the air. In the greater reality dwells the miracle of life. It is where our bodies, soil, breath and nature live. It is how we get better from flu, recover from a hangover, and how a plant grows. The "improvement" we need is not technology and policy, but more importantly a new connection to the miracle of life. From it emerges a new paradigm that is going to bring the acceleration we so desperately needs.
WHAT'S NEXT
WHY ARE THERE NO SOLUTIONS IN THE BOOK?
Because the tendency -to have a solution for everything- is the problem. Thinking in solutions takes us out of the magic of life and into a story about the future. First let go of solutions completely and reconnect with life itself. Then follow what emerges and be of service to it. Not taking charge, but let life lead the way. That is the role of humans in any ecosystem on the planet; to maintain the balance in everything that is. Then there is no limit to the amount of people that can live on the planet. Then we live from a new source, a new paradigm. With new ideas of success, status and love. Than there is a solution, because it is open to what happens in reality and is not fixing it's paradigm and tries to bend the world to its ideas.
Whenever I was stuck while writing I would start talking to old trees in my imagination. I would ask them a question and write down the answer. This is also how earlier versions of the book ended, with a conversation with old trees. My inspiration for this came from a tree in Iran that is 4500 years old. I did not think it was possible for trees to grow this old. When I didn't think it was possible to write a book, I came up with conversations with old trees. They made the impossible possible again. All the answers from the trees are now in the book and the conversations themselves are no longer necessary. Now my plan is to physically go to the oldest trees and forests in the world and experience how they survive this long.
This is how I hope readers will interact with the book as well, taking seriously what is touched while reading and remaining subservient to what is set in motion. Embodying Reality helps readers to let go of the old story and strengthens their faith in life itself. It is a catalyst for those who sincerely want to contribute to a better world.