We are not owners of the Earth.
We are guests — brief, bright, and responsible.
To live is to be welcomed;
to live well is to become a host in turn.

We believe that emotional literacy is not a luxury,
but a survival skill, a birthright, a form of peace.
We teach our children to name their anger without shame,
to hold sadness gently, and to greet conflict as a teacher.

We reject the myth of separation.
What happens to you, happens to me.
The health of the river is the health of the child.
The suffering of the stranger is the test of our own humanity.

We honor difference.
Not with polite silence — but with courageous conversation.
We meet across boundaries,
not to win, but to listen, learn, and transform.

Leadership is not dominance.
It is the ability to hold complexity without harm.
We choose leaders for their empathy,
their capacity to remain calm in storms, and kind in victory.

We grow food, not just to eat,
but to remember where life comes from.
We build cities as ecosystems, not machines.
We do not worship growth; we worship balance.

We practice reciprocity:
helping others is not a favor — it is how we stay whole.
Teaching is not control — it is midwifing wonder.
And every act of care, however small, is a thread in the fabric of peace.

We begin again, again, and again.
Not because we failed — but because growth is a spiral, not straight.
We are here to evolve. Together.

This is our inheritance.
This is our task.
This is our home.

Govert van Ginkel

This article is written by Govert van Ginkel. Govert specializes in Nonviolent and Effective Communication and is active in this field as a trainer, speaker, coach, and mediator. More information about Govert can be found here. The current training offer can be found here