Five Questions

Do I believe in the autonomical* marriage unit?  I believe it exists extraordinarily rampantly, unfathomably to my own thought processes.  But, no, I do not believe it is the best way to live.

*The word “autonomy” is confusing in the context of marriage, since marriage is “a self governing community” and it’s members do not have “independence or freedom, as of the will or one’s actions: the autonomy of the individual.”  I suppose the collective marriage theoretically has an independence or freedom.

Do I plan on creating children?  No.  (Note the intentional wording of the question.)  To be perfectly honest, I think it would be irresponsible for me to introduce new life to this place.

Let me elaborate.  If I can not find a peaceful unison between the vast majority of society and the idealist tennants of ecovillage life, while maintaining my own ideals, then I don’t think it’s fair for me to bring another into the messy equation.  It’s kind of like saying, “I can’t finish this huge T-bone steak, I’m stuffed, give me a another side of mashed potatoes and green beans… maybe then I’ll be able to finish the T-bone.”

Do I plan on returning to an ecovillage?  I fully intend to return to an ecovillage-ish way of life.

Why?  I often view this question as filled with an abundance of ignorance.  I feel it is like asking, “Will you ever attempt to eat food again?”  Seriously.  To elaborate, let me break the question down into many lesser questions that the one question encompasses:

“Does the use of solar energy make sense?”

“How about the use of a solar powered golf cart as a main means of transportation?”

“How about the fact that a solar powered golf cart can sufficiently be your main means of transportation?”

“Does community make sense?”

 To elaborate further (and apparently change my font)…

My community is currently dealing with the issue of “people not mowing/cutting their lawns in a timely manner.”  This utterly baffles me.  It presupposes that people A) have grass, B) do not have a use for it and C) continue to grow it – at their own expense.  This would NEVER be an issue at an ecovillage.  At ecovillages, people do not grow grass because of some vain and silly tradition or mark or class, or whatever idiocy propagated this and many other actions currently present in the vast majority of the American psyche.  Grass that is present at ecovillages is eaten by cows, sheep, goats (although they’ll tear out the roots if you’re not careful) and whatever other animals the grass was grown for.  It is used.  That’s why it is there.   Traditionally at an ecovillage (what a mix of words), there is no grass present for aesthetic reasons.  Although, ironically, grass has been used for aestheticism to appeal to “visitors.”  (Luckily, all grass is used to feed animals.)  However, the irony is thick.

Am I ridiculously and constantly baffled by the World?  Yes.

There’s Gold in Your Poop

No, I’m not referring to some specialty gold-speckled poop brought to you by the maker’s of the Swiss alcoholic beverage Goldschlager. This is no special poop. I’m talking about your everyday, run-of-the-mill, ordinary poop. Common poop, if you will. Or feces. Seriously, there’s gold in them thar feces. The popular term for what I’m referring to is humanure, combing the elements “human” and “manure.” After all, that’s what it is – manure of humans. And it’s worth something. Continue Reading >

What a Refreshing Chain of Events

Ahem…

(LIVIN clears the throat…)

I find myself sandwhiched between polyamory and a spy.  As a person who seems to be allergic to the same-old-thing, I find this rather refreshing.  Refreshing like finishing a novel, traversing the landscape of 3-D animations to better visualize writing, rebooting, no longer needing training wheels, dancing again for the first time in a week, clearing up allergies or moving far away only to return?  Perhaps.  But, I was thinking more like travelling across country or living at an ecovillage for half a year – both of which I’ve done.  The latter, more recently.  It was a new beginning that led to many other new beginnings in the chain of changing events that is my life.

This spring, I started a blog for the first time, which I’m currently typing on a new laptop that I purchased a week ago.  In a matter of months, I plan another move of locale, which should kick start another chain of events resulting, hopefully, in many happy new beginnings.  But, first, I would like to express my _______ (play a Mad Lib in the comment section) for Polyamory from the Inside Out (you’re gonna make my blog favorites, heck you’ll be my first).  It’s refreshing to hear people talk about what is often not considered okay to talk about.  Thank you.  I had many similar experiences when i lived at an ecovillage last year (similar to the refreshingness not the polyamory).   Although, if the experiences did wander into the realm of polyamory, I suppose I would not out the community, so to speak.  After all, that would be like being a spy in the house of love.  Appropriately enough.  So, here’s to spying and writing.

(I do not know why pages can have page parents and posts can not, but my assumption that this post could have the blog chain page as a page parent was, apparently, short-sighted.  There is where you will find all the blog chainers.)

The Commitment of a Blog

Due to the overwhelming commitment of a blog, posting to this blog has been delayed until further notice.  Until that time, please enjoy the following picture, but, remember, if you use the picture for non-commercial gain please attribute it to this blog.  If you intend to use the picture for commercial gain, then don’t.

Marrying Capitalism and Environmentalism

It’s a tall task to take to town, but it’s on my mind and I’m thinking about writing an article about it.  I spent six months livin in an ecovillage in 2007.  Beforehand, I never considered myself much of a capitalist, but like Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) mirroring Jack’s (Edward Norton) shortcomings in the great movie Fight Club, some of the ecovillagers aversion to capitalism was a wake up call, especially when I contracted Hepatitis A and there was a scare with the health department.  Money’s necessary and while saving the Earth is probably more necessary, it is not as seemingly imminent.  And, therein lies the rub, along with years and years of systemic, built-in tradition and ways of living.  EDIT (04-17-08): In fact, I wrote an article on this titled, “The Environmental and Capitalistic Teachings of Living at an Ecovillage Intentional Community.”