When I was a child and later a young adult, the word business always made me cringe. It felt so foreign. I could never quite grasp what exactly it meant and knew early on that it was not for me, even though I saw others excel at it. Now I find myself deeply involved with a completely different world of business. The transformation which is currently happening across this planet is beyond my wildest dreams. The feeling of seeing this world change in its every corner in such a wondrous way no matter local circumstances cannot be put into words.
The time has come for a very different definition of business: one which is rooted in a vast multiplicity of values, exchange options and business structures – acknowledging, mimicking, amplifying and protecting natural ways of being, recognising the sacredness of life, and taking into consideration diverse cultural frameworks while leaving behind single-aspect systems of strong pyramidal hierarchy, prioritisation of money and power over everything else, centralisation, and the expectation of a standardised human being that functions in one specific, machine-like way no matter the external and internal circumstances.
We are leaving behind fixed work hours, the concepts of debt, interest rates, inflation and fixed values – monetary and otherwise – moving past scarcity and fear of our financial future, and past the need to earn our right to live on this planet with money. On the external it often does not look this way, yet those who drive the change have no doubt that it is happening at an ever accelerating speed, and pull an exponentially increasing number of people, communities and businesses with them.
Business is turning into community, with clear structures yet shared, often non-fixed leadership, respect of the rights of nature – this includes human beings – clarity of values, respectful negotiation in such a way that everyone who participates is seen, heard and responded to, equity yet not egalitarianism, and a focus on personal and community sovereignty and resilience. Resilient we will have to be on our journey of deep change and upheaval while those who used to be in power attempt to hold on, using every means they have at their disposal. Two forms of existence – one staying, the other leaving – Nature has long won. Nature – an ancient intelligence and brightness that regulates the structure of all life on Earth. Nature – which used to be embodied in all her purity by every living being, and will be again.
Business – A living being
Clarity of values is the foundation of every business, esp. in these times. What do you stand for? What do you want to see emerge, thrive and flourish in this world? Embodiment of these values, meaning their translation into form related to all aspects of the business ensures that it can function coherently, as straight as an arrow, and generating ever more care and nourishment naturally and abundantly. It comes to life, represents us – an expression of our dreams in form. Let’s look at this more closely.
A business is run by living beings which all have their individuality. In their diversity they complement each other. But what about the business as a whole? Have you ever noticed that through the collaboration of every being involved – human, animal, plant, rock, or any other type of life that is part of it – a business forms a beingness in itself with an overarching dynamic, integrity and sentience? I think many business owners who are pioneering new ways of providing what we need, and are trading and distributing their products and services with affection and care, already know.
If one thing changes, everything has to adjust, like an amoeba – ever reforming. This may require a lot of re-structuring internally at times, such as the reconfiguration of individual roles, sudden new business partnerships, or the falling away of one set of products, or one type of manufacturing while another emerges, or expands.
The most difficult bit of this current transformation is not being part of it, but grasping its core with clarity, and putting it into words which can be communicated to all members of the business. Then the winding roads can be navigated with more trust and ease no matter how much creativity, spontaneity and swift adjustment are demanded from us, by life itself.
The living beingness of a business is something to be aware of at a conscious level, and to consider in all decision-making. How does every single person, raw material, transport process, structural aspect, building used, etc. fit in with the whole? The overall structure matters just as much as the details. Otherwise variability in frequency and direction emerges, hindering, or distorting the smooth flow of Nature’s underlying current of life. Blockages emerge.
Constantly we perceive at the depth of our being – far beyond rational thinking – both: what is right, and what will cause problems down the road because it is not aligned with what we stand for. One feels like a deep, doubtless, joyful excitement, the other like a sudden internal contraction or tension. Through that flow of information processing which is innate to every human being and fed by internal – personal – as well as external signals from the world around us we continuously register what the next step needs to be, what is in alignment and what is not. Obviously this is not a calculating, or an analytical figuring out. It is much more powerful, precise and accurate.
To summarise, the most import aspect of a well-functioning, life-nourishing business is consistency. Not a consistency in the sense of no-change which would simply lead to stagnation, and quickly result in non-alignment with Nature’s ways. It is a consistency in the expression of the right values in form – an ethos – at the individual and the community level. This requires a never-ending adjustment of form. Contrary to common belief nothing is meant to stay the same for long. This is something which is often feared and misunderstood. Yet everything needed for success is innate to us.
Analysis & hierarchy
Analysis has its place in providing information that then also feeds into the stream of knowing. At the very practical level it can be a great tool for finding out what works, and what doesn’t. Yet this is only one source, or aspect of a vast influx of signals. In the system of Nature circumstances change constantly beyond what we can grasp rationally. Hence the next steps to take are often unforeseeable in advance. Yet we can register all we need to know at a deeper level, and adjust the business continuously accordingly long before we mentally grasp why these moves are needed and what is happening at the bigger picture level.
Hierarchy … People skilled at leading and delegating while grounded in values of care and honesty are needed more than ever so that the business remains streamlined, confusion is replaced with clarity, and the bigger picture stays coherent. Then there are people who are focused on detailed, or specialised work and who operate within a section of the business but do not oversee the whole. Yet they are continuously kept informed about other business sections, are included in decision-making related to the overall structure and direction, and are valued as much as any other being that forms a part of the business community. In very small businesses all decisions may be made together. At larger scales this is rarely practical, or sensible.
This type of hierarchy pertains to the structure of the business and to differences in individual roles within that structure. It does not view one person as more important than another, or as superior, or inferior in any way. Some may have been part of the business for a long time, others are new, or even still learning necessary skills. Together all these individual beings form a diverse sea of creativity, ideas, experience and innovation which is needed to complement one another and to move forward in these times. At this point it should be clear that the way in which money and benefits are typically distributed among business members requires no less than a revolution, if money even remains.
Emerging economies & the role of gifting
I understand economy as the sum of all trading activity in a geographic region, or society. It is the reflection of the world of business at a larger scale, and includes exchange via registered businesses as well as exchange between friends, neighbours and community members outside the official trading structure. At the moment there is still a separation between the two which, in time, will dissolve.
Likely for some time there will be a strong focus on local collaboration and exchange at both levels – for many reasons. Obviously if we support and engage with local businesses we support our neighbours, our communities – the society we are a part of. Local food contains what we need to nourish our bodies under the circumstances given by the environment and climate we live in. Ensuring that what we need is accessible locally creates resilience. It means we no longer depend on far-away products even though we can choose to use them. In addition, current transport and mailing systems are a mess – controlled and regulated by institutions we know we cannot trust. These structures are collapsing, and currently replacements which reflect the ways of nature are unavailable.
In alignment with the ways in which nature operates gifting will play an ever increasing role in emerging models of trading and giving. Gifting too is a form of exchange as what we give returns in some way at all levels of reality, including the material, whether that reciprocation is immediate and by the person we gave to, or not. This requires an openness to receiving rooted in integrity which is nothing to do with taking advantage of another person, or business in a negative way. It is an openness to Nature to supply us with what we need in every moment in time.
It is crucial to realise at a deep level, far beyond the mental, that the often seen inability to receive due to unhealthy forms of guilt, inferiority, or lack of confidence and self-worth is the opposite end of the same continuum that involves greed and selfishness. It is not in alignment with nature’s ways. Once more breaking through the ways in which we were programmed to think, feel and work.
We have to ask ourselves, and our communities which goods and services should be freely available to everyone, on the foundation of gifting. The answer to this question will look differently in different geographical regions, types of businesses and types of communities depending on cultural frameworks, on what is available abundantly, or not, and also on the different visions that communities and businesses may have. There already is a lot of experimenting and pioneering happening to find out what works and what doesn’t.
Emerging economies consist of businesses which enjoy to give as much as to receive, and which are here to supply us, our animal companions and the plants we take care of in our homes and gardens with what we all need to thrive. Such economies feature a bold independence from centralised institutional systems while not necessarily excluding them entirely yet.
Recognition of the increase in value of something which is passed on from person to person multiple times is one of the many things indigenous peoples can teach us about, and which is missing entirely in our current exchange systems. Whatever we give is always more than just a material object. Even when the material form changes little, or shows wear and tear over time, the depth of sentience which the gift carries and radiates undergoes profound transformation and amplification during its journey. This aspect of aliveness of everything we touch has to be reflected in the value of what we trade, whether money is used, or not.
Including elders
What a strange concept it is to build a work force of people which serve – do we know what, or who? – from young adulthood to a standardised, specified, often non-negotiable age, typically around 65, and then dismiss these highly skilled and experienced members of our societies and communities. From one day to the next it all ends. Time, passion and expertise given continuously over decades suddenly mean nothing anymore. Human beings are not machines. We are not meant to operate in such a way.
Right now I am staying at an agricampeggio in Tuscany, Italy – a campground connected to organic herb, vegetable and fruit gardens. Guests have free access to these natural foods. What I see every day – I am here since several weeks – is people in their late 60s and 70s, arriving from other countries to volunteer their time and skills in support of a project and place they believe in. No longer needed where they live and used to work, carpenters, mechanics, builders and gardeners come to find purpose for themselves and this beautiful place that they wish to be a part of.
What is the role of elders in our societies? Why are they excluded from business? Aren’t these questions we should ponder, and shouldn’t we adjust our business models to include the treasure of experience held by these people? You know the answer just as much as I do.
What we are modelling with Sun Beings
No business strategies
Strategy, or no strategy is a question to be asked – one which is still rarely considered even as a possibility. There may be strategies associated with many aspects of a business such as marketing, information sharing and finance. This also includes social media strategies. Often a plan is worked out in advance, pinning down goals, target audiences etc. which may or may not allow for sufficient room to change direction if necessary. More often than not such strategies are driven by agendas and mental fixations, and do not consider the volatility of form which allows Nature to take her path, keeping everything in balance far beyond what meets the eye.
On one end of a strategy continuum there are countries in which becoming entrepreneurs are required to submit a detailed business plan which outlines structures and strategies in advance, in order to register and open a business. The unfolding of that sentience, that living beingness has to be simulated in the head and via computer models as if we were able to predict its course in a fast-changing reality. This plan is then approved (or not) by some type of authority and has to fit in with the overall direction and mentality of the economy. The result is stagnation. Significant change towards new economies and business structures cannot happen, is not desired and not allowed.
On the other end of the same continuum Sun Beings has never pursued any strategy. This is because I have never been able to connect with this idea, esp. not in a world and at a time when everything needs to radically transform and adjust to the ways in which Nature operates. Loving pioneer work, Kate and I have simply put one foot in front of the other based on what felt like a good and positively exciting step to take next. If that can be a strategy, then it would follow the principle of let’s do it and see how it goes, and then react to whatever happens. It works for us. We love that wide openness to raw potential, and wish to model what we already know – that this is pathway which can lead to success.
We are not on social media, yet people are finding us and are sharing about Sun Beings through word of mouth and their platforms of many types. I happen to travel a lot and am often asked that typical question “What do you do for a living, or with your time?” Among other things I then explain the Sun Beings project. People check out the website and tell others about it. As far as we can tell, this is mostly how we have built our audience outside the purification space.
When an aspect of Sun Beings begins to evolve towards a direction which causes a distorted, tense signal in our bodies we discuss and decide together what needs to be altered. We have the freedom to consider any type of move because we do not operate within some type of box – mental, emotional, or institutional. Hence everything is possible. There is room for completely new perceptions, ways of expression and forms of giving. We greatly enjoy that liberty. It also allows us to swiftly react to, and include suggestions and concerns from the Sun Beings community.
A gift economy business model
To be honest in the beginning I have not considered Sun Beings a business, but simply a gift. Later on Kate and I were given the advice to develop a model of giving and receiving around our platform to set a clear example, and offer a pathway to others. What emerged is a donation system that is very much rooted in the principle of gifting. Sun Beings is there for everyone to use. The platform is freely available and we neither know, nor do we wish to regulate who engages with the website beyond those members of our community who contact us, or are featured on the platform.
Yet Nature always keeps a balance. Hence the need to establish ways in which those who benefit from Sun Beings and like our work can reciprocate the gift if they wish to, based on their possibilities. Check out our Donation page to read more about the many ways esp. in the non-monetary realm to contribute to the project.
Also in line with the ways of nature we have built Sun Beings based on what we have available in abundance. For me, not being a part of the typical work system entails that I tend to have more time to allocate exactly the way I wish to than most people. This abundance of time has allowed me to do the research needed for putting together a platform of transformative businesses and initiatives, write introductions, blog posts, poetry and more. I already had a lot of experience and skill in the realm of research and writing which I simply took to a new direction. Similarly Kate used her already existing skills in website design and art to turn offline documents into a beautiful online platform.
Business equalling community
Sun Beings would not exist without Kate who has designed the website, wrote blog posts, contributed with her creativity as an artist, communicated with employees of the digital tech companies whose services and infrastructures we use, found herself immersed in IT research and also named quite a few of the businesses on the platform. Nor would Sun Beings exist, or have any meaning without the community of people who like the website, engage with it, support and inspire the project and the businesses and initiatives featured on the platform in monetary and non-monetary ways. Nor would Sun Beings exist without me.
Kate and I constantly discuss our work and stay connected. This includes conversations about the direction and expansion, or occasionally reduction of Sun Beings, as well as what is happening in our personal lives. We give each other space and move forward as we see fit based on the time we can give and the flow of our creativity. Sometimes both of us are busy, other times we are free to move. Occasionally one of us is ready to run but the other is not, and that is fine. We work together and this may mean to wait for the other. Both of us are often immersed in local, non-digital projects too, or may spend time in places without access to the internet.
We see Sun Beings as an ongoing 2-way, or rather many-way exchange with our community. Even though both of us have put a lot of time, skill and effort towards this project our core community which in the beginning was very small, has always contributed in a multitude of ways. In fact the nature of these early community contributions have later quite naturally formed the foundation for our gift economy-based donation model. We simply put into words what was happening already, quite effortlessly. Sun Beings has become a space that Kate and I steward together with the community connected to it.
Business rooted in joy
In the very early days the reason I started working towards what later became Sun Beings was simply that it gave me meaning and joy. It was also a response to the request of friends to share about my personal research surrounding alternative health care and the sourcing particularly of food and clothing in more ethical ways. I greatly enjoyed learning about initiatives which I feel are transforming the ways in which we trade, form community, and take care of each others needs. I wanted to know how the positive changes that I sensed in my being are materialising into form out there, across the planet and connected to various aspects of life. Excited to have found a project that I really like I began to look at healthy ways of education, growing food, using money, or not using money, reviving cultural heritage and almost forgotten crafts and skills etc.
To this day that joy in exploring, watching and pinning down what is unfolding in this world gives me the passionate drive to work on Sun Beings. And I think I can say that Kate has long found meaning in this project too, is driven by the same passion, and enjoys sharing about her life with a community of people who understand why she has the need and desire to live outside many societal and institutional constructs.
The feedback we receive continues to confirm a need for the platform and gives us both: direction and even more joy. The suggestions and feedback from the Sun Beings community have had a strong influence on the unfolding of the project since its beginning. And what an elating experience it is to be able to turn something into form that is shaped and appreciated by many. Personally, there is little which gives me more joy than good, healthy team work – the kind of joined endeavour that quickly develops its own dynamic far beyond what each of us could do alone – directed by the group rather than by one person. Do we always get everything right? Is it all perfect? Of course not. Everyone is learning. But we can say with confidence that we have built Sun Beings from a place of honest passion, transparent intention, the highest levels of integrity that we are capable of embodying, and a deep love for Nature, including all living beings.
Based on that I would like to conclude that business should be something which brings joy to all participants, and feels mutually uplifting and empowering.
So what is business?
Business currently undergoes a transformation perhaps beyond recognition. Who knows if what emerges will still be called business? Nature when given the freedom to unfold without interference by another form of existence which does not belong here, is abundance at all levels. Human beings by nature enjoy to give just as much as to receive. And sourcing what we need not only to survive and meet the needs of our loved ones but to thrive in elation and prosperity did not use to involve much busyness on this planet in the past. Nature turns a single seed into millions of fruits without effort. This is simply what it does. No balance sheet. No debt. No inflation. The ways in which we trade in the near future are beyond our current levels of imagination…
Want to know more?
On the Economies of care page you can find many examples of businesses and initiatives which pioneer new ways of trading, collaborating and ensuring that our needs are met. There are also links to blog posts and essays written by those who are part of these initiatives, which discuss what works and what doesn’t, for example pertaining to sliding scales, barter systems and gifting.
Examples of businesses and community projects which have developed donation models, operate based on sliding scales, or on the principles of gifting can be found across the entire platform.
If you like to know more about gifting, its rootedness in the ways of nature and the different forms it can take, check out the blog posts Gift economies, Gift economies – Going deeper and Returning to nature’s economy with seeds – By Tessa Jane Furey.
A poem for you…
Written April 27, 2025, near Bucine, Tuscany, Italy.
Fire of sentience
Is my life about me?
No, I am one star in a galaxy of billions.
Is my life about others?
No, they seem distant even when they are close,
Submersed in their universe even when they lie in my arms.
Is my life about the Earth?
No, the Earth in her beauty is only one of my homes.
Is my life about this universe?
No, I can’t even understand its expanse.
My life is the sentience
That sets my body on fire
Carries others through the night
Gives the Earth her voice
And this universe its poise.
Please enter my castle,
I am already residing in yours.
With the lakes in my heart
Continents under my skin
Stars in my eyes
Embodying ancient cries
There is nothing I don’t know
And everything in my care –
A timeless current
Unmoving, yet everywhere.
Floating through thin air
Rooted deep into the ground
My life is about you, about all beings
And ancient sound.
Photographs: All pictures were taken by Carina Ramm in Tuscany, Italy, and counties Mayo, Kerry & Cavan in Ireland.
7 thoughts on “A changing business world”
Dear Carina,
thanks so much about your profound description, feeling, etc. about the possible & partwise already manifesting ways of business. I suddenly can see what ALL BUSINESS CAN MEAN – an amazing unfolding, opening up in my being and inner awareness.
It is so rich – incredible rich, just like all the photos & that touching poem!
This all – I feel – is so important to these times – where many (including me) „understood“ business in a Kind of rigid – old – one way of how it has worked until now, knowing very well that this is an old time(line) not working anymore; therefore, high time for seeing new business models unfolding that goes – more and more – along & in alignment with nature‘s ways & It’s & the universes‘ purity (space).
Very nice to see that now the purification space (website of OG) has been part of your blog. To me it feels it is really NOW the time to bring all these new ways of living, realizing our own being according & to an integration that is based on our own, deep pure being!
And – last but not least – what was written about people in the age of 60 & beyond – that their experience & knowledge & wisdom (partwise) shall – from a certain physical age – have no value anymore – presented and given by authorities that never had any participation in these values (ancient, older knowledge, wisdom & pure love) – I can absolutely UNDERLINE 3 TIMES 🙂
As from a physical age (I am not in my beginning of 60s) that I feel I am starting again a kind of NEW LIFE AGAIN – having shed & still shedding so many old ideas, concepts, emotions, thoughts which really feels very liberating & freeing, yet, still being aware of the fact that this is only going to continue (nothing fixed anymore!)
So thank you & Kate for this beautiful & precious platform & for presenting your lives (as well all those here of the community who are presenting their experiences)
which all is so tremendously important & supportive 🙂 🙂 🙂
THANK YOU 🙏🏾 😊
Thank you so much Heikey!
correcting a sentence in my last comment: * I am now in the beginning of the 60s (physical age)
Dear Carina,
I wrote the very same words into my latest memoir – “What is the role of elders in our societies?” As this question was included in the introduction, I realised recently that I needed to answer the question at the end! I love the synchronicity. Thank you for a thorough and indepth evaluation of what the business world looks like minus what does harm. Great questions raised and plenty to ponder. Enjoy your next role and cheering you and Kate on with all your honourable endeavours!
Love’s harmonies and avid storyteller,
Leanda xx
Thank you Leanda! I love the synchronicity too.
Dear Carina: wow! What a beautifully articulate analysis & expression of the “business world” past, unfolding present, and ever-changing-but-positive future. I too eschewed the whole idea of business from an early age based on much you say here, but there was something in me that wanted a small business, whatever that looked like, that could be meaningful to me and others. So thank you for this post and for leading by example; both you and Kate and Sun Beings (I love this name) give us much to ponder and to reconsider what we may have to offer others and the world in a way that brings joy, togetherness and nature together (and a huge acknowledgement to Jacqueline for what words can barely describe).
Thank you so much for the lovely feedback! I agree, there is something quite empowering about developing a small business that is meaningful, and increasingly we can pursue such avenues exactly the way we want. So much space for new models and ideas.