So – I am in the proces of looking through my older content, some of it is crap – but it has GOLDEN moments here and there..
One of my older pieces (Humanity needs a new renaissance) was pretty spot on, here 5 years down the line. it strikes a chord with me these days, because it’s more evident than ever, that we need to create, imagine and become multi-purposeful. We need to be courageous enough to embrace being ‘a better renaissance person’ and elaborate on what that means for each and every one of us.
What if the next renaissance begins with each of us?
In my own reflections becoming a ‘better renaissance person citizen rockn’roller’ I think it’s vital for me to:
- show up for the community.
- get involved – in the different issues I am most passionate about
- see how I can limit consumption of everything not good for me, or the planet
- slow down and listen to myself and my inner guides
- Be and feel in nature – close to the forest, close to the sea, close to the mountains
These are just some of the things I can do, to wield myself as Henriette, that will benefit the community.
The renaissance era was a rebirth of knowledge, art and human potential. It was also rooted in individual awakening – thinkers, artists and rebels. Individuals (such as Leonardo Da Vinci) even became multitalents because of their innate curiousity, expose to broad fields and access to scholarly texts as well as a relentless pursuit of knowledge. Also he didn’t see any separation between art and science, he believed that they where interconnected and mutually beneficial.
The crisis of disconnection
from the people I follow online, I have heard a lot of talk about the disconnect of people and nature. I have myself experienced a disconnect between mind and body. In addition to that there’s a disconnect between identity, purpose, and community, where it’s often the community-part that is lacking for most of us (at least in the nordics), sometimes I dont think we even consider it as a part of wielding ourselves. We see it as something external, something that will happen eventually, something that doesn’t need planning or proactiveness. I have worked a lot with communities over the years, and I can teel you that it is something you need to be strategic about. It’s something you need to build, most of the times from the ground up.
Also I am pondering whether or not you could say, that the disconnect between broader fields (like art and science and and creativity and technology) is both something that is happening around us, but also something that is happening within us? So the antidote isn’t external, but internal alignment. So the passiveness most people are facing doomscrolling on their phones never takes the tools that we literally have attached to our hands into consideration for building something bigger for the world than outbursts on social media.
The inner renaissance: Wielding yourself
So how do you wield yourself as a new-renaissance person?
Its a combined practice of radical self-awareness, expression and agency. I would break it down into 3 things:
Know yourself fiercely – your identity is a living evolving truth. Keep evolving, stay inspired. Rest up. Read a lot of books, write a lot of rubbish. journal. Move.
Express yourself boldly- See your creativity as a tool for change, Speak up and connect with people and the world around you.
Stand for something bravely- your values are a compass for action.
Wielding yourself is world-centered
… not self-centered. It’s one of the things I find most inspiration in. People getting together in communities and building stuff – fx. rebuilding old community houses in rural Denmark. Enhancing what we have, asking ourselves ‘what can we do for the world, instead of what can the world do for me.
We’re all co-creators of the new renaissance. We all have to get our multi-talents going and start working, moving, building – just like the old masters.
Let’s join up – there’s an urgency in wielding yourself and get moving. There’s also a beauty of the moment, a very empowering feeling, that grows within me writing this. So wield yourself, the renaissance is waiting, rockers and we can totally create the world we want- together.
