Many people find magic in nature. For some, it’s in the way greenspaces make us feel – calm, relaxed, part of something larger. For others, the magic stems from nature’s remarkable complexity, whether at the grand scale of bioregions or the microscale of DNA molecules coding for life. For me though, I find the magic of nature in a seed.

Take the seed of the white oak tree, more commonly called an acorn. It is such a tiny thing that my toddler daughter could throw it clear across our living room. But planted in good soil, with plentiful access to the sunlight and water, that little nut can grow to a height of 100 feet and live for centuries. I find that to be a remarkable force in the universe.

It's also the perfect metaphor for one of the Ray C. Anderson Foundation’s own little seeds. Nearly six years ago, we spun out The Ray to be its own nonprofit. At the time, it was little more than an idea first dreamt up by my aunt Harriet Langford. “What if?” she wondered. What if the 18-miles of interstate in west Georgia called The Ray C. Anderson Memorial Highway could be more than just a road? What if it could be redesigned and reimagined to be sustainable, if not regenerative? And what if it could become a model for the world?