Reinhabiting

A vision of communities within communities within communities … beginning at the heart, expanding out to the farthest reaches of our universe ….
Creating small self-sustaining communities out of the already populated parts of our region is a major goal of this project. For those of us who look to community for a practical tool to realize change, will not find that moving “to the hills” to create these communities is still an option. We must work with what we have, and by doing so we will hopefully draw our neighbors and friends into the mix, thereby utilizing their energy to “reinhabit” our life places. The first step to reinhabiting is to begin to change our views of the places we inhabit, to ground our ideas of place in that which is inherent in the natural systems around us, to become once again a part of the systems of which we must foster instead of exploit if we are to ever see harmony in our lives.
The next step is to begin to fulfill our needs in a sustainable manner. Humans have needs like all of the rest of the natural world, and we are therefore subject to the same cycles of consuming. But we can be aware in this process, and we can consume in a way that is not exploitive, but that creates as much or more “calorie output” as that which we need to survive. This includes all of our necessities - food, water, shelter, medicine, companionship … and all of the systems that foster these - farming, economy, resource extraction, health care, entertainment, etc, etc ….