Starting The Year Of The Snake
A Note From The Founder
Starting this year with a journey to Raja Ampat (a beautiful island in East Indonesia) felt like a true gift. It was a full immersion in nature’s beauty, fueling both energy and inspiration. Here, I witnessed the magic firsthand. I woke each day to a sky blanketed in stars over the asleep Earth, only to realize that the ocean was still awake with millions of bioluminescent plankton shimmering in the dark water. Beneath the surface, a world beyond imagination exists. Corals bursting with color, fish in dazzling patterns, dolphins and mantas gliding with effortless grace, and soon above, an orchestra of birds will dance in their feathered splendor.
Fitting to the occasion, as I read Life on Earth by David Attenborough my understanding of the origins of life on our planet began to expand and questions started to arise: Where did we begin? How did we become so disconnected from our nature? And how do we come back from here? I learned that corals, crustaceans, turtles, and sharks—creatures older than dinosaurs, carry ancient wisdom. They have endured volcanic eruptions, ice ages, and shifting continents, bearing silent witness to the Earth's evolution.
Swimming alongside a sea turtle, I felt its presence like an echo from the past as if it were whispering ‘I have been here for millions of years. I have seen it all and I endure’. Why do we cherish antiques, vintage cars, and fine wine for their age, yet we fail to see these living beings as testaments to our planet’s history, and by extension, our own?
The Disconnection from Nature
Since founding RAN Collectives, I’ve been exploring one central question: Why have we disconnected from nature, and how do we change that?
This disconnection shapes not just how we treat the planet but how we see ourselves within it. It reduces animals to commodities, forests to materials, and soil to mere utility. We no longer see ourselves as part of nature but as something separate and superior to it. But this illusion of separation doesn’t just harm ecosystems—it erodes our own collective well-being.
Recently, I followed a young documentary team from Bandung, Indonesia, as they explored a simple but profound question: What is water? A Balinese priest they interviewed turned the question back on them because he noticed their answers solely focused on issues such as pollution, scarcity, and flooding. But the priest, unsatisfied, said: You’re so focused on the problems that you no longer see water for what it truly is. Water is life.
That hit me. Modern society has reduced everything to objects, something to buy, measure, or control. But water is not just a resource. It is a lifeforce. Life began in water. Our bodies are 60% water. We are created in the womb filled with water. This is just one example, but it’s about everything. If we shift how we see the world, if we tell stories that reconnect us to nature, we begin to heal that disconnection.
The story that made me connect with nature
I grew up with a family shrine honoring the Buddhist deities and my ancestors, but I never fully understood its significance. During my young adulthood, I learned more about ancestral beliefs and indigenous wisdom, and it opened my curiosity to explore stories from my own life.
Before my grandmother passed, she told me she would return as a cricket, and for the longest time, I believed her. This simple story changed the way I saw those tiny, jumpy green creatures and the role they played in my life. It shaped my relationship with nature because I believed I could connect with my beloved grandmother after she passed. The living world now felt personal, something to care for, not just exist within.
This is what storytelling does. It transforms perception. It makes the abstract intimate, the distant familiar, and the forgotten remembered.
Photo by Connor McManus
Our role to play
If we see nature as our family—woven into our past, present, and future—we cultivate a relationship with it. And where there’s a relationship, there’s care. This is what storytelling can do. It can reignite our connection to nature in ways that make us want to protect it, not just use it.
As creative professionals, we play a role in reshaping this narrative. Stories influence how people think, feel, and act. So, how do we use our work and respective platforms to rewrite our severed relationship with nature? What narratives need to change? And how do we move from storytelling to real action, and inspire a global change?
What Can We Do?
If we keep telling stories that position nature as something separate from us, something to exploit, consume, and control, our disconnection will only deepen. But if we shift the narrative toward admiration, wonder, and respect, we can change how people interact with the planet and see the change take place.
This is where the creative industry plays a pivotal role. Communication, advertising, branding, and media shape public perception. What we choose to highlight in campaigns, films, and media influences how people see the world. The question is:
Are we showcasing nature as fragile and distant? Or as something intrinsic to our lives?
Are we portraying sustainability as an obligation? Or as an aspirational, joyful way of life?
Are we reinforcing disconnection? Or building relationships?
Stories create new realities. We just need to decide which ones we want to tell.
RAN Collectives: Uniting Stories, Impact, and Action
At RAN Collectives, we believe storytelling can shift perspectives, and create meaningful change. Whether you're a brand or organization looking to craft impact-driven campaigns or a creative professional seeking to contribute to a movement that reshapes our relationship with nature, there's a place for you here.
For brands and organizations, we offer strategic storytelling and creative production—crafting narratives that align with your mission, engage audiences, and inspire action.
For creatives and storytellers, RAN Collectives is a platform for collaboration and community—a space to explore how our skills can drive positive change and reconnect us with nature.
The Year of the Snake symbolizes transformation, and RAN Collectives is evolving. We are building a creative community and production studio powered by a world-class roster, partnering with like-minded brands and organizations to inspire a more just and regenerative future for our planet and people.
In our next newsletter, we'll dive deeper into how these ideas come to life through our three key pillars: Representation, Normalization, and Relationship.
Until then, have a great Year of the Snake. And if you are curious to learn more about what we do, connect with us!
With Love, Yanyie
A lucky start to the Year of the Snake—we encountered a beautiful, sleeping green python on our night walk in Raja Ampat.
