Shake the Hand That Feeds You
Date: 2009-04-10 Author: Emma Olson
As Gandhi showed us, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind," but the system of bartering can actually serve to reconcile our relationships with regard to our daily interactions. We have become disconnected: from each other, from our community, and from ourselves, and by reverting to a direct, trade driven society we can help rekindle the connections and appreciation we've lost.
Montana
Date: 2009-04-04 Author: CBC
Hello from the glorious place known as Montana, where there is wood to be chopped, land to grow food on, rivers to kayak, mountains to climb, fresh air to be breathed, silence to be enjoyed, and above all, community to be experienced. Here, there are active people who are inspired by life and engaged socially in the community. Even at the slowest time of year, March - when there is a lot of hibernation going on - this is by far the most socially active and interdependent sense of community I have ever experienced...
Laying One Brick
Date: 2009-02-03 Author: CBC
The secret to happiness and abundance, even in these tough times, is to invest in and grow ourselves through serving each other, and thereby expand our awareness of what's possible for us.
A Bright Countryside
Date: 2008-11-04 Author: CBC
Everything is vivid and vibrant on the porch in the light of the winter sun. With a full bank of windows on three sides, the longest wall facing west towards the sun of the early afternoon, the porch is the perfect day time sitting room. On an unusually warm and sunny day (by Upstate New York standards) in January, I am watching little Joey stand directly in front of a space heater, holding his shirt up as he sways left and right like a penguin walking in place. Dazzled by the brightness and richness of the color of the day, I look around at the rest of the room and consider how precious this messy, tobacco smoke-stained porch is to me...
A place sublime
Date: 2008-10-03 Author: CBC
I am on the central coast region of California, where I'm doing stone work and inching towards forming a new non-profit. I don't recall if I told you, but I'm a journeyman brick and stone mason and did that kind of work for years. So, I arrived here Sunday afternoon and will be staying for 10 days to do some of their stone work here on a volunteer basis, having turned down work in San Francisco so I could come here and do this in this remarkable place. How I came to this auspicious meeting of nature, people, and opportunity is another story, and would require a short essay of its own....
After meeting up with an old friend
Date: 2008-02-03 Author: CBC
Looking at an old picture, it occurred to me that throughout the years of my life, I have been an outdoors person of my own sort. Many hundreds of times I've wandered off on my own into the woods or swamps to experience the damp chill, the glint of sun on cottonwood leaves, the soft clatter of bare tree tops in the winter, or the trickle of water. However, while a good part of my time in the woods has been alone, any lover of nature sometimes needs a partner with whom to share the experience.....
