Fill Your Soul

I guess the only way to start this blog is to say outright that I live in a world where I don't acknowledge obstacles that others live by. Someone recently told me that “you can't have a garden in your front yard” and I wondered what law, what book of status quo that comes from? There is no such book. There's also no rulebook saying that I have to drive a car or use a credit card or own a TV or be in debt. There's no rule that I have to work in a job that brings me down, or give my time to things that aren't worth it. 

Instead, I've been successful at patching together income from doing what I love. I think that doing meaningful work and having sufficient income (some of it in dollars) goes hand in hand. I think that gardens and beauty and forests and local fresh food should be a part of every day, and not just a treat on the weekends or a treat for the rich. I think that my neighbors and my city are more interesting than television. I think all of us should have time for what is important and not have a conflict between short-term necessities and long-term sustainability.

What I'm trying to do is make a world where it's easier for anyone who wishes to to achieve the above, and perhaps to find that what we want, really deeply down, is exactly what the earth needs us to have.

A lot of you may have heard the term 'ecological footprint.' If we consume less and choose wisely, we'll use less of the earth's precious resources and have a smaller 'footprint' on the planet. I take that to heart by studying and teaching permaculture design. Permaculture is a design system for creating sustainable human habitat. That's all of it: food, water, shelter, energy systems, economics, etc. Permaculture folks form a global community and shared language concerning the question: “How do we do All of it sustainably?”

Since I apprenticed in this craft 10 years ago, I've created gardens around me wherever I am. I can't help it. According to my time, access, and resources, I've also amped up water systems and shelters and waste systems and energy systems so they're more and more sustainable. Wherever I live I'm always thinking of the 'next project' to push the edge. However, I don't own land, and forces outside of my control have caused me to live in numerous places in this valley I call home. And with each new home I start over again. And learn a lot.

In the town of Sumner where I currently live, I can't help but dabble a bit with sustainability on a larger scale. Sumner has a highly walkable downtown and encourages community. It comes so dang close to what I call a 'village.' But, it isn't quite.

When people think of downtown as a cute place to go, or a fun place to have an event, I get it, but I kind of cringe inside. Downtowns like ours can be so much more if they're Real places, necessary places, not just cute. A sustainable design has a downtown that is the lifeblood of the community, a place we need dearly in order to buy, sell, see each other, help each other. In an uncertain future, a viable downtown (or lack of) can make or break us. I'm deadly serious. I have been to disaster zones, post-Katrina and post-Haitian earthquake, and when people know and care about each other, in a real sense not just in a 'cute' sense, it makes all the difference.

Why should an environmentalist care about downtown? Because when a community can fill its economic needs in a walkable compact way, that means that the area surrounding town can grow food and do forestry, and surrounding that it can just Be. It's about reducing our ecological footprint. Luckily, compact downtowns are cute (!), so we face no ethical battle. We like it, the earth likes it. I like Sumner.

A recent comment on a Patch article got me thinking. It wasn't directed to me by the way, but said something like “if you want walkable communities then go move to the city." I was taken aback. It's great that cities get the whole 'Urban Village' concept, but can't our small towns answer with a 'Village Village' option? Do people really move to East Pierce because they want to drive instead of walk? I find that hard to believe. I think people live here because they want both Main Street and nature, and the urban sprawl that we unfortunately give ourselves lacks both.

 So along this theme and more, I'm sure I'll have plenty to say. I look forward to conversation and real talk and respectful disagreements. I make mistakes, and accept that everyone does, but I also think we learn more by sharing them than by keeping them secret. Some phrases lately:

“The world is run by those who show up.”

“If we're not disagreeing, than we're either not working hard enough or we're lying to be nice.”

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” -Winston Churchill

With this, I invite you to step into my world. In my world, the day ends and begins in the garden. To me, each day is filled with walking, biking, rain, birdsong, and sunshine. In my world, 'hard work' is physical labor that achieves beauty and abundance. All day long, I join conversations everywhere about social justice, sustainability, community, and soul care. My world is rich in geeks of all  'crafts': farms, herbs, building, solar, forestry, water harvesting, homesteading. I look forward to sharing this world with you.

And below I offer lyrics to a song I wrote many years ago, contemplating my vision of what this valley could be. I call the song "Fill your Soul"

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Through the forest by the river we are walking

To the shire, to our loved valley town.

Through the fruit trees I hear children they are calling

Shouting out through the gardens all around

CHORUS, (sang twice each time)

And may love fill your soul

Till you are overfull

May love guide your hands,

help you do no harm

O'er the colors of the market birds are flying

People talk as the sun is setting low

In the evening by the fire we'll go dancing

Or watch salmon in the midnight river's flow

CHORUS

In the plaza there's an old woman telling stories

Of the old crazy world she used to know

She says “Remember, everywhere on Earth is sacred,

Beneath the asphalt wild roots begin to grow.”

CHORUS