Episode 44: Kindness, Kith and Kin with Mac Maccartney

Mac Macartney is an author, an activist, and an international speaker. He is the founder of Embercombe in Devon, a centre that seeks to explore and promote the profound regeneration of land, society, and people.

Over a period of twenty years Mac was mentored by a group of indigenous elders. During this training and ever since, he has attempted to bring two worlds together – an ancient world-view that emphasises relationship, interdependence, and reverence for life with the significant challenges and opportunities of the twenty-first century.

Mac is the author of a recently published new book entitled The Children’s Fire, heart song of a people. He has delivered four compelling TEDx talks.

In this episode, we talked about:

Embercombe is a 50 acre valley on the foothills outside Dartmoor Park in Devon, UK. It has 20 acres of woods and a lake. The valley is rewilding from the field system. Embercombe is a centre to ‘touch hearts, stimulate minds and inspire committed action for a truly sustainable world and in relationship with nature’’
Mac had a leadership development consultancy and one of his clients offered him a piece of work that was likely to make a lot of money in 1996. The company was later sold to Warren Buffett for an undisclosed sum.He was offered money to bring his dream to life in 1999
When speaking to audiences, Mac tries to give people a felt experience of what he talks about
Heart-based leadership and serving higher and deeper purposes
Building and re-building community
Bringing spiritual selves into alignment with our physical, mental and emotional selves
“We are so lost as a species, that we are self-harming, and almost entirely ignorant of where we sit in the wider scheme of things”
“Being in love with life and knowing that, we too, are loved”
“The insane story of the economic model that we follow”
One of the methods to try and save the environment has been to monetise it
Cities don’t have to feel alienating from communities and nature
In the future, cities will be redesigned to enable food-growing, education, engaging older people so they feel they belong and increasing access to wild nature
The depth of perspective and insight of the past
Reverence and respect for those that went before us and won the freedoms we now enjoy
Living with wonderment
Nature is all around us
Hippos once lived in the River Thames!
The bones of sabre-toothed tiger, cave bear and hyena were found in limestone caves near Devon
Making sense of history and creating civilisation that draws on the mistakes and successes of the past
3 questions to revisit over and over:

What is it you most profoundly and deeply love?
What are your deepest and most profound gifts?
What are your deepest and most profound responsibilities?

Empowering children to help them grow and be resilient and dream
The forgotten value of what elders bring
Nature Play, Australia
Becoming frightened of nature
Unless we go into risk and the unknown, the comfort zone shrinks
Our failure to be adults is forcing the next generation to be old before their time as they compensate for the state of the planet
The qualities of play and curiosity
Self-respect as a deep respect and aligned relationship with ourselves
Responsibilities for community and society
Realising what makes life worth living when we are under threat
The garden as a place of prayer and deep connection
Tiny shrines such as houseplants and troughs on the window ledge to acknowledge beauty
Cooking as alchemy
Bringing ourselves to any activity with kindness, generosity, open-heartedness, and attention
Kith and Kin, Mac’s year-long mentorship journey
The Journey, a residential programme at Embercombe