I tried something new with my most recent vacation. I planned to spend seven days in Portland, visiting a friend, riding bikes, eating artisanal donuts and drinking craft beers. But I divided this week into two, and in the middle, spent an entire week at a silent retreat.
The basic idea of a silent retreat is to see how quiet the mind can get when you stop feeding it entertainment, conversation, and daydreams. Instead, you notice what’s happening inside you and around you, and come back to that when you get distracted. Continue reading Where There’s Stress, There’s a Story→
Can you picture yourself living a homesteading lifestyle?
Waking up early to milk the cows, release the chickens to scratch the barnyard, collect their eggs and then update your blog before your stay-at-home family rises. The rest of the day you do chores aimed at delivering an authentic human experience for people you love. You produce high-quality food and happy healthy humans. You have independence and security but still enjoy the fruits of modern convenience.
The most effective change-makers in our society aren’t waiting around for a new president to make their lives better, they’re planting seeds, quite literally, and through the revolutionary act of gardening, they’re rebuilding their communities while growing their own independence.
Every four years when the big election comes around, millions of people put their passion for creating a better world into an increasingly corrupt and absurd political contest. What if that energy was instead invested in something worthwhile, something that directly and immediately improved life, community, and the world at large?
The simple act of growing our own food directly challenges the control matrix in many authentic ways, which is why some of the most forward-thinking and strongest-willed people are picking up shovels and defiantly starting gardens. It has become much more of a meaningful political statement than supporting political parties and candidates. Continue reading Gardening More Meaningful than Voting in a Rigged Political System→
