Your NameMichael Bill Smith
Email Addressmichaelbillsmithdesign@gmail.com
Cohort AssignmentAmericas with In-Person Intensive in Santa Fe, Winter-Spring 2024
1. What do you see as your primary work at this stage of your life?

My primary work at this stage of my life involves selling real estate - being a trusted advisor. My title is Real Estate Broker + Architect. My largest portion of income producing work is in residential real estate and accounts for about 75-85% of my income. My architectural business is typically consulting or small projects - being a trusted consultant and accounts for the remaining 15-25% of my income.

2. What role do you see as yours to play?

From this vantage point, I see my role to play being intertwined with my motivational needs - what I love to do. Have recently acknowledged the fact that I am a Polymath which might manifest in a variety or roles. I am a Creative who receives great satisfaction from Inspiring others. I believe the role of Designer suits me well. I am also Enterprising and enjoy the Independence (Autonomy) and the Power that emerges from this motivation. I am thirsty for knowledge - have a love for learning. I am motivated by Achievement - driven by the satisfaction at accomplishing goals.

3. What goals or aims do you have in regard to the above?

I am curious and exploring what role(s) might be mine to play. From a broad perspective, I am following my nose! I am activated by:
Food (Regenerative Agriculture & Permaculture) and I enjoy preparing Food
Nature - the feeling of wellness from being in nature and the observation of the beauty of nature
Art - making, engaging, appreciating
Design - problem solving and creating beauty, not fashion designing
Learning - curiosity, wonder, and when lucky, seeing the interconnections of disparate subjects

4. Where do you feel your next arenas for personal growth are?

The next arenas for my personal and professional growth are intertwined. I feel isolated and often lonely. I know that I am energized by my interactions with other people. I want to develop pathways to connecting with others in friendship in in community, both with shared values, and pathways to partnerships and collaborations in my work. I have been moving away from the mindset of individuality (the isolated, genius artist, the myth of the lone wolf, the hero), competition and scarcity (dog-eat-dog, winner takes all), and fear. I believe that my growth potential lies in this direction: collaboration, cooperation and sharing.

5. And for professional growth?

See reply to Question 4.

6. What have you invested in to get you where you are?

WOW! Answering this question, I am acknowledging the evolution of my personal and professional growth.
The largest impact investment has been engaging with a clinical psychologist at various periods of my life to work through limiting beliefs.
One year ago, I participated in CareerShifters online program of cohorts for 8 weeks which was incredibly beneficial to my development. Most recently - over a period of 5 months, I have worked with a great executive coach for personal & professional life which I see as intertwined to a great degree.
I completed the Living Future Accreditation (LFA) and Foundation in Biophilic Design Certification through the International Living Future Institute (ILFI).
I became a Member of Latitude regenerative Real Estate and attended The Gathering (Bill Reed was there!) where I acknowledged that I am called to this work and this community. These are my people.
Am enrolled in the online Permaculture PRO Design Certification program through the University of Oregon which begins in January 2024.
Am enrolled in TRP - Here I am!

7. What fields of learning and which thinkers have been important in your life?

Field of Health - the truth about alcohol and the facts about it's affects on the brain and the body - Annie Grace, author of This Naked Mind
Field of Religion - the truth about religion - Sam Harris, author of The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
Field of Meditation - neuroscience of the brain - Sam Harris, PhD in Neuroscience and author of Waking Up, A Guide to Spirituality without Religion
Field of ART - too many thinkers to recite
Field of Architecture - Glenn Murcutt, Australian Architect
Regenerative Field: Carol Sanford, Jack Harries, Daniel Christian Wahl, Paul Hawken, Nate Hagens
Other thinkers that have been important in my life: James Baldwin, Noam Chomsky, Yanis Varoufakis, Gore Vidal, Annie Dillard, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Yuval Noah Harari, David Whyte, Seneca, Chris Hedges, Cornel West...

8. Can you frame your philosophy or cosmology of life? What role(s) do humans play in it?

To be honest, I am not sure if I have one. I was born into this world with a family in a community embedded in nature - the edge of our housing development was forested then farmland. My father had a huge garden that produced all of our produce through out summer into autumn. We fished on Fort Know reservation lakes - I caught and cleaned fish and my mom cooked the meal. I would often explore the woods, caves, ponds observing nature. After being severed from this childhood relationship to nature, I now find the strong influence of these early experiences pulling at me. I am drawn to these early experiences and believe that our role is to not only restore what has been degraded but to facilitate the regenerative capacity of living systems wherever we find ourselves affecting the life systems and ecologies in which we are embedded. This world is not here for our domination, extraction and exploitation! We are killing ourselves slowly by killing the life systems that support our existence.

Date CreatedNovember 12, 2023