Abundance

This is part 1 of the (anti-)work(no)shop series Against academic monocultures: rewilding the academic ‘self’ running this year (September ’25-June ’26). Sign up to learn more; you can participate in as many or as few sessions as you wish. Or, you can just follow the prompts/suggestions set out here.

What is there a lot of?

When we think about transformation, we often think in terms of lack. We tend to start from a place of insufficiency; from the perception that we are missing something, that we are poor, that there is something we need more of.

Lack shapes our desire: in the contemporary world, we are always wanting. Whether in things, concepts, objects, or qualities. Whether we want or are found wanting, we train our perception on what is missing.

What if, instead, we focus on what there is a lot of? This prompt asks you to look around you and notice abundance. Things that are plentiful. Things that are many.

Odds are that your mind is first going to go to what there is too much of. You may, for instance, observe with some irritation that there is too much trash on the pavement. Or too many people on the train; too much noise that they are making, preventing you from concentrating on this exercise.

Try, if anyhow possible, to move past this perception. Yes, it is true that for many of us there are too many distractions. Yet, to call them to mind almost immediately conjures up what we would like to replace them with: onerous tasks with moments of leisure; fools with people we love, respect, and are respected by; rain with sunshine. By doing this, we have almost automatically slid back into the perception of lack, where every element of abundance turns into something we want to have instead. Instead of this, try focusing on what there is a lot of – without deciding whether this is good or bad.

You can start from a simple exercise of counting – how many flowers are in this room? How many mobile phones? How many objects that are pink in colour? You can also perceive abundance in living environments. Are there a lot of leaves on the ground? Are there many butterflies in this field?

What this prompt enables us to perceive is that the world is significantly more diverse, and radically abundant, than we normally notice. Even more, what we perceive as “a lot” or “enough” or “too little” is, at the end of the day, a social and cultural invention (as the story of Goldilocks and the three bears, among other things, teaches us). The training of perception on “too much” or “too little” over time blunts our sense for the diversity of the world, the one surrounding us as well as the one within.

What is there a lot of within? 

As you reflect on this, over the coming week(s), you can also think about what this abundance – what there is a lot of – requires, and what it has displaced. In order to be many of X, what are the Ys, Zs, and Qs that are absent?

If you would like to share your thoughts, reflections, creations, or listen to others share theirs, here is the link to the Zoom meeting on 3 October, 2-3pm UK time.