3.3 "Broadening the Ecovillage Movement"

What I valued most about these readings was the running vain of acceptance and awareness of interrelationship between groups and ideologies that may at first glance seem to drastically different to relate. I have at times been turned off by the adversarial attitudes of 'movements' that claim to be the soul guardians of truth and therefor superior and more worthy then those who do not share their surface ideals. I found what I read in these sections about the broadening ecovillage movement refreshingly free of this self-contradicting hindrance to accessing the abundance necessary for real growth and change. This attitude of valuing interrelationship was especial evident in knowledge shared by Robert Gilman and Helena Norberg-Hodge.

In response to the question, "How can we mainstream the ecovillage-experience, the idea of sustainable living in community?", Gilman responded that, "The essential first step is to see ourselves in a complementary, rather than a superior, relationship with those who are leading ‘mainstream’ lives." Taking this attitude of mutual valuing seems like setting one's self, or one's movement, up for success in that if you would like to be heard and have your point of view valued it seems wise to hear and to value were the other is comming from.

Helena Norberg-Hodge talked about a movement to help to counteract the adverse effects of media that portray the "Western" way of life as unrealistically glamorous and desirable. This false portrayal of desirability is ultimately damaging in that is encourages people living native values to disavow their own cultural wisdom and instead seek to emulate the unsustainable cultural practices. this is unfortunate because globally we need leaders from indigenous cultures to hold strong and speak native wisdom. Native wisdom often leads to a lifestyle that is more sustainable and in harmony with natural rhythms then the consumerist striving of western culture. In order to fulfill this goal of healing the false pretense of media portrayals this movement takes members of indigenous cultures ans gives them tours that expose the reality of western lifestyles. This exposure to rality gives individuals a chance to come to their own conclusions and become catalysts for deeper understanding and creativity in regard to furthuring ecovillage ideals of sustainability and honoring of diversity.

3.2: A Virtual Visit to an Ecovillage/Green Education

I would love to visit Findhorn.I have heard a lot about this community and even read a book based on the gardening that was developed there. Also, I have Scottish ancestry and have always wanted to see Scotland. Visiting Findhorn would be xciting on several levels!

After visiting, I wouldn't be surprised if I wanted to move there. I am very interested in living in sustainable community. I would love to have a lifestyle that is more in line with my values. I also enjoy working and living in collaboration with others. I have had some hairy experiences in community in the past but Findhorn dwelers seem like they have been around long enough to have worked out some of the kinks!

As far as Green Education, getting a second BA in Interior and Green Designe sounds pretty awesome. I love making a space beautiful and cozy. Learning how to do this in a way that reflects values of sustainability sounds perfect for me.

Being a bit ambitious however, getting my MA in Environmental Management may be a more likely step after I complete my BA in Communication.But you never know! ;)

Anon's Beyond You and Me: Reading Respose One

I was captivated by the essay about vision quests by Geseko von Lupke called "Feeling Connected Through Being Alone".

I liked the metaphor of the medicine wheel linking the stages of personal development to archetypal stages of maturity. To see the wisdom of how these stages coincide with the seasons ans well as to compass directions, elements and colors adds layers of meaning that are fascinating to me.

I liked that this essay talked about that in order to be a wholehearted contributor in relationship to others it is important to know yourself. When we make space to get to know and value and our mythology we can become a conscious contributor to creating shared meaning with others. Also when we see the ebb and flow of our own rhythms and patterns we can have more detachment and wisdom in the face of the ebb and flow of the energies of others and the group. With this wisdom comes the ability to hold ones seat in the face of change and become an open channel for wisdom and guidance to contribute to the community.

A Little Sustainability Q & A by Anon

1. T or F the purpose of the Awakening the Dreamer symposium is to encourage the Dreamer to bring forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling, socially just human presence on this planet… T
Sustainability Sourcebook

2. T or F If you have food in your refrigerator, clothes in you closet, a bed to sleep in and a roof over your head you are better off then 75% of the population… T
Sustainability Sourcebook

3. T or F there are 1.2 million Organizations globally that a cohesive movement toward sustainability… F
Sustainability Sourcebook

4. We need to consciously reinvent cooperative and harmonious ways of living together because…
a) Peace is an important aspect of global sustainability
b) People raised in our currently hyperindividualized paradigm may find it difficult to learn the subtlties of constructive and mutually beneficial interaction that are personal contributions to peace.
c) Only b
d) Both a and b... d)
Gaiaeducation.org pp xi

Kanu Hawaii Eat Local Challenge (Extra Credit)

I Love Kanu! This is an awesome site for connecting to and staying active in the community moving toward sustainability!

My Company, Down to Earth ALL VEGETARIAN Organic & Natural, is affiliated with Kanu and a part of the eat local challenge. if you are participating, head our way for some localy grown favorites.

As I have mentioned in previous posts, our food want us to eat it local. When it is local we can trust that it is at its nutrient peak and that is will provide us with its healthful potential. There is also less of a drain on the environment and our natural resources because the pollution and fuel it takes to transport goods over long distances is cut out of the picture.

I am a little spoiled in this department because my boyfriend's parents own and operate a successful organic farm in Opihikau. You may have seen them at the farmers markets selling the most delicious lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, green beans, greens and, oh yeah, egg-free doughnuts you have ever seen! Needles to say it will not be difficult for us to participate in the eat local challenge this week and every week to fallow :)

Anon's Assignment 4: After the Crash

For this semester, realistically, I will have to stick with the behavior changes that I mentioned previously. However, I really would like to be a part of a sustainable community at some point. I was watching a documentary about rural India were people live in small farming communities. They do not have a lot of access to technology but as they put it, they are "...accident proof men." It would be cool to see what would happen if we in advanced societies, with the benefit of our wealth and elaborate technology, chose to live in these type of communities. At this point the false sense of security perpetuated by our intricate and unsustainable social practices pale in comparison to living simply and more in harmony with nature.

Anon's Assignment 3: Behavior Change

I'm a vegetarian, I grow a lot of my own veggies (with the help of the people who work on my familie's organic farm) I reduce, reuse and recycle, use biodegradable houshold products and avoid over packaged, disposable goods and it would still take 3.6 planet's to support my lifestyle! Behaviours I am looking to change include cutting down more on my imported food intake, driving less and car-pooling more. I also tend to buy more clothes then I really need. This is a habit that I am feeling really ready to break.

Anon's Assignment 2: Connecting with Nature

I was inspired by the 2nd section of the Gaia Education Design for Sustainability resource: Listening to and Reconnecting with Nature. There is so much wisdom and well-being to be gleaned from simply being outside and quieting the mind. We know this in our bones, but in this day and age of endless on-screen entertainment and online classes ;) it can take a conscious effort to continue to tap into this soul nurishing resource.

As children we are driven by our biology to connect with nature. Here in Hawaii we are among the lucky ones as little stands in the way of our inherent longing to be outside. I remember spending endless hours lost in the bushes engaged in elaborate building projects with my sister. We would construct entire communities of twigs and mud and moss, complete with multiple story houses, landscaped yards and even running water streams. All this for our little toys that we imagined imbued with life. Finding a grove of flexible guava trees we would even be able to construct dwellings large enough for ourselves. I remember also fallowing noisy baby birds to make sure they were all right and watching, transfixed, as a group of ants worked together to haul the huge body of a grasshopper in the direction of their nest. To bear witness to this balanced cycle of birth, life and death, without waste or greed, is to come to know our own right relationship with our self, each other and our world.

Luckily, my bond with nature was built up strong as a child so I seldom forget to head the call to get myself outside. One thing I’v been doing is going running most mornings or afternoons and taking little detours into the bushes to pick strawberry guavas and check out mossy enclaves that remind me of fairy kingdoms and the adventures my sister and I shared as children.

This afternoon I did just that. Standing in the green, glowing, dappled light of the bushes just off the street, the sent of moist moss filling my nose and the sounds of afternoon birdsong drifting through the air, stress and obligations drop away. I am filled with a deep sense of equanimity. Living is not always easy, there is some struggle and some pain, nothing is guaranteed and change is the most likely outcome but as I am, most deffinately, an integral part of this functioning, beautiful, mysterious balance of nature I will be better then alright.

I pray that we heed the call to take these simple yet glorious detours daily.

Anon's Assignment 1: The Choice is Ours

As Human beings each of us has precious needs for comfort, freedom, joy, love and belonging (amongst others). As social individuals it is perhaps our needs for love and belonging balanced with our needs for freedom and autonomy that drive us most deeply. Cyclically, the choices that we make as individuals in an attempt to meet these needs, compound to shape our culture. In return our culture shapes what is meaningful and normal in respect to fulfilling our individual needs.

As individuals we become very powerful and creative when we are conscious of our needs and cognoscente of the fact that we have a choice in the strategies that we choose in order to meet them. In this way we become powerful contributors to the shaping of our culture. We begin to play a creative, truly free roll in affecting the influence of our culture on other individuals and our planet. I like to call this cultural democracy, the new democracy!

Because commodities have become cultural symbols of our belonging, as well as expressions of freedom and power of choice, our culture has become unsustainable. But, having the right new stuff is no longer a viable strategy in any respect.

It’s becoming increasingly obvious that our choosing to exercise our creative right in affecting our culture, by begin to choose more sustainable strategies to meet our precious needs, is crucial to the survival of our species as well as that of other creatures that have similar living requirements.

A man commenting in the 11th Hour put it in a way that I like. He said that based on our old model of seeing natural resources as inexhaustible, and ourselves as separate from nature, growth has become an end as opposed to a useful means. We need to heal this perspective and begin to see that growth is a means not an end in itself. Quality of life is the real end and growth at a certain point actually decreases quality of life as opposed to enhancing it.

We must as individuals, and in our small communities, begin to brainstorm new sustainable strategies to meet our precious needs. We must stop buying into the current misunderstanding. In this way we will exercise our creative power to affect our culture. We will begin to change the currently delusional ideas behind the actions of our consumption. If we chooses this path we will see our culture change from a dying one based on having more to a thriving culture based on having more well being.

The choice is ours.

Com 344: Scavenger Hunt

I would really like to be a part of a group with Jessica Kirkwood. She hasn't posted anything yet but we have been friends for some time and live near one another. We have great chemistry and I'd love the opportunity to brinstorm creative developments twoard sustainability with her.

Anon's 2.2 Blog Assignment: Carson, Becker and Me

In this phase of my life I am being asked to look forward. For a long time I have been sifting through the deep, intriguing, musty mulch of my past experiences. Now comfortably planted in that rich material, anchored in the present, fully self accepting, I am ready to blossom and bear fruit. I am being called, just as Carson and Becked have been called, to speak up about my passion. I am thankful to be discovering a kindred-soul community in those who are interested in living sustainably.

I am inspired by the theme of linking education, community, sustainability and, of course, FOOD that I find in Dr. Becker’s post. I really enjoyed the links about NATURE DEFFICITE DISSORDER and LOCAL ORGANIC FOOD.

Food is my passion at present. I love how accessible food is. It is not difficult to understand, not complicated in any way. You either enjoy it or you don’t and it always feels better to eat together as opposed to alone. The more tuned into our food we become the more we want it to be fresh and unprocessed. Have you ever planted, tended, harvested and prepared your food from start to finish? That is when it really tastes awesome and has the highest nutrient content!

If we listen carefully with our hearts and our stomachs, our food is asking us to live sustainably. Our food wants to be as delicious and nutritious to us as possible. It wants to keep a high nutrient content so that it can support our physical, neurological and emotional health. It does not want to be transported over long distances because the longer it sits the more nutrition it looses. Our food wants to be harvested by us and eaten that day. It does not want to be packaged and processed and turned into alien information our bodies do not know what to do with. It wants to be loved for what it is and allowed to keep its nutritional integrity. It wants us to grow and nurture it and teach our children its secrets. It does not want to be passed through a drive through window and eaten “on the run” or in front of the TV. Our food wants us to sit down together and exclaim over its deliciousness!

Our food is asking us to realize that what is best for our bodies is also what is best for our relationships, communities and planet.

Analysis: Rachel Carson's Poetry of Knowledge

Rachel Carson’s poetic scientific writings translated technical material in a way that made it accessible to a larger audience. She said that in order to write truthfully about the sea you had to include the poetry. This insight resulted in a unification of both truth and beauty. Out of the three spheres of experience, beauty, truth and goodness it is perhaps beauty that is the most obvious, the most difficult to overlook. Carson’s unification of the truth of science and the beauty of poetry in her writings about the natural world and, how necessary it is to protect it, proved a powerful statement that has had lasting effects on our society and culture. To write SILENT SPRING, her most influential work, she compiled her own painstaking research to make an argument for a more cautious use of chemical pesticides. Carson chose the middle way by not arguing for outright pesticide bans but instead talking about the necessity of stewardship and ongoing study. These tactics, pointed at furthering ecological awareness, eventually lead to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
In Carson’s day and age books, periodicals and news papers were major forms of media. These were the venues in which her writings were featured. She published 4 books and was featured in such periodicals as THE NEW YORK TIMES, GOOD READING and ATLANTIC. Since all publicity is good publicity being published in any venue helped her cause. The only way that these venues could have been hurtful to her cause is if they had not published her. If I made an important discovery similar to that of Carson I would have access to many more media/communication venues then she did. Especially of note is that I could post online in multiple venues without having to wait for anybody else to decide that my writings were worth publishing! I could generate my own online demand that would help to get the attention of publishers and therefore get my work out to my audience through multiple avenues.

About Anon Crystal Shine

My name is Anon Crystal Shine. "Anon" is a mystical as well as practical word that has many meanings throughout many different cultures. It was not a name until I was named it, so if you have never met anyone else with this name, I'm not surprised ;). "Crystal" I got to pick for myself when my parents finally got me a birth certificate at age 6. Reasons for this peculiarity may become more evident in subsequent paragraphs. "Shine" is what my parents changed our family name to when they got married. I'm happy with this decision as I much prefer "Shine" to "Lester"! I'm a Com Major graduating at the end of this semester. I may get my graduate degree at some point. For now I am excited about using much of what I have learned at UH in my new Community Outreach position at Down to Earth.

My relationship with sustainability started early in life and is based in a simple connection and reverence for wild places and the effortlessly sustainable systems of the natural world. My parents had strong convictions not to participate in the violence and environmental degradation of mainstream society. They lived as gypsies, hitchhiking across the US, living off the land and benefiting form the kindness of others. I was born close to nature at Big Bend Hot Springs in Shasta CA and hitchhiked, with my parents to 47 states and Canada and Mexico all before I can remember! Moving to the Big Island at the age of 6 further contributed to my awe of nature and the complex beauty that resides there. This love lends itself to an intense interest in preserving that which I have so much appreciation for through practices of sustainability.

Currently I am living in Leilani Estates just outside of Pahoa. I moved out here to be with the man that I love and to help him to raise his 4 year old son. My fiances' parents own and operate a large farm in Opihikao, just down the road from us, and I have learned a lot about the sustainable practice of growing ones own food from them. I also love living close to the hotponds, tidepools and lava flows native to Kapoho and Kalapana.

From this course I am hoping to expand my knowledge of global sustainability practices and movements and make strong connections with others in my own community who may share my values and passions for protecting and learning from nature. This support lends itself to stoking the rowdy love necessary to continuing the evolution toward right relationship with each other and the planet.

I am a people person as well as a nature person. I have a lot of compassion for the human experience and have always been drawn toward understanding how to contribute to a experience of greater contentment for humanity. I am beginning to see that really what is best for us is also what is best for the planet! Health and Happiness are sustainable practices! This natural draw toward understanding contentment and harmony in relationships of all kinds has led me to deep investigations of Mahayana and Zen Buddhism (especially Pema Chodron) Nonviolent Communication (Developed by Marshall Rosenberg) and Mysticism (individual experiences of connecting with the Divine) from any and all cultures and traditions. I also LOVE to cook, eat and feed people, swim, run, bike, hike, do art projects with children and my friends and paint.

I am so inspired by my friend Jessica (also taking this course) who bikes the 10 or so miles from her house to town in order to go to work and school almost every day! Once she got a ride home and forgot her bike in town, so the next mornning she ran the whole way! She does have a car, but as she put it she is seeing how much she can "Just, suck it up!" Unfortunately I live 30 miles from town, so biking at this point is not entirely possible :(. But maybe someday! One thing I am doing is choosing to work for a company that is contributing to sustainability by being affiliated with other environmentally conscious companies, buying and selling local products and selling nothing that is not completely vegetarian. This company is a natural food store you may have heard of called Down to Earth. Choosing a vegetarian/ vegan diet is actually a step that anybody can take, with a little effort and support, towards living more sustainably. I won't go into the details here but stay tuned. Also you may see me on campus giving free vegetarian cooking demos, and providing a platform to discuss strategies for further promoting sustainability in our community. Samples of vegetarian food included!