How does nature replace the biggest trees in the forest?
We can break down even giant old systems when enough of us come together in small ways. We don’t have to wait for The Man to save us. We can decompose old systems into their most essential parts and rebuild new systems that create flourishing for all.
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“If everyone demanded peace instead of another *television set, then there’d be peace.”
— John Lennon
*Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO subscription
Let’s start with Why
Between the social and environmental crisis we’re facing today, it’s time to do some real adulting as a species.
We’ll highlight a few major pain points on this page, and you can learn more here.
Social & Environmental Crisis
Blue = underwater, red/pink = indirect impacts of sea-level rise (climate migrants). source
“13 million U.S. coastal residents are expected to be displaced by 2100 due to sea-level rise.” Bloomberg
“An estimated 100 million people will migrate into and around the country over the coming century. ‘Most demographers expect an increasing share of these people to live in major cities.’ To accommodate them in high-density places like New York City, we’ll need 12 new NYC-sized cities; the same population will require 68 lower-density places like Phoenix.” Bloomberg
We like to blame cars for most of our carbon problems but actually, our built environments have a much larger impact.
If we build our buildings to be carbon-negative and net-positive (already possible), and not so spread out, that would eliminate most of our carbon emissions.
“It’s naive to pray for peace if we’re not going to change the form in which we live.”
— Godfrey Reggio
No justice, no peace.
The way we see it
Our built environments are embodiments of our beliefs. When we believe we are all separate from one another, we make worlds where we are separate from one other and nature—creating problem after problem. Current research on human flourishing seems to boil down to this: we are flourishing when we are connected to ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
Healing literally means making whole. In most languages, the word for peace also means wholeness.
Trauma, on the other hand, means an unhealed wound, which is basically any separation from the whole.
Add to this our Computer Age where we seem to believe all systems work like non-living machines rather than living organisms and, well, we make dead systems.
A Disconnected Machine World
trauma = disconnected/seperation
A Connected Living World
healing/flourishing/peace = connected/whole
We tend to think our big systemic problems are too big to solve—and they are when we look at the macro scale. But they’re not too big to solve at the micro scale. In fact, redesigning systems in small local, specific places on the earth is the only way to heal the big problems.
And what would it look like to go all the way? To not just put some bandaids on our community systems, but to really heal them—make them alive and living?
It’s crucial for some people to work out ways to salvage the messes we’ve made where we’ve already “developed” the land. But given the population growth and the number of climate migrants anticipated in the coming decades, we’re going to have to build on a lot more land than we have so far. Some of us need to work on prototyping much better ways for us to live on and with the land and each other from scratch.
Let’s create the things we wish existed.
Place-based healing
Together we can create a more beautiful and just world where we can all flourish—one place at a time. If we all gave a little, we could get to work building new living systems now. Vote with your wallet or let us know if you’d like to contribute in another way.
Our Plan
Our solution: Build villages & monasteries.
We can only heal the whole by healing one small place/system at a time.
Build Villages
There will probably always be cities. But we believe at least a large part of the future is rural—a new kind of rural. Indigenous wisdom, the sciences of flourishing, placemaking, and ecology lead us to believe in the human-scale, decentralized, integrated, reliliant ways of living with each other and the land we see in villages. How can we blend the best of the past and present’s wisdom and technology?
A healthy community is a diverse community.
This includes people of all economic statuses living together.
Our 8 Guiding Questions for flourishing communities:
What do the people here need to flourish?
What does the ecosystem here need to flourish?
How can we design circular systems that get the entire job done?
Would I be willing to step into the life of any person here despite their race, gender, sexual orientation, wealth, age, religion, etc.?
Can everyone play? Does everyone have the time, energy, resources, and emotional safety to be able to play and enjoy life?
How can we do things more beautifully and more aligned with life?
Does everyone feel heard?
How can we build in a way that will make this place better in 300 years?
So…monasteries?
It sounds pretty out there, we know. But it’s the best solution we can come up with for the low/no income housing part of a village. Right now, it’s basically illegal in most places to build anything that’s not status quo in all the normal, problematic ways. We’ve got to get creative to incubate new systems of wholeness and connection within our current zoning, codes, and laws.
Residents of a monastery can live well without having money. Careful attention is given to set them up to flourish. They can contribute meaningfully as builders, makers, artists, artisans, teachers, childcare providers; through gardening/farming, food service, admin, hospitality work, groundskeeping, housekeeping, etc. Residents receive free housing, food, health insurance, childcare, and some wages in exchange for 25-50 hours of contribution per week to the community.
Within our current systems, we can legally make complete communities for people without money to flourish IF they are called monasteries. (Or communes sometimes, but communes often aren’t as welcomed.) Ok then. Let’s make monasteries. What is a monastery if not affordable co-housing? Tested across time, cultures, and geographies, monasteries have proven themselves to be durable organisms.
In order to be considered a monastery, residents just have to take “a religious vow.” If that’s the container we need, then let’s make a religion that aligns with our goals.
Start a religion? Really?
Sure! It kinda makes sense in a lot of ways… People define spirituality in a lot of different ways, but so many people see spirituality as a part of life—it makes sense that it needs to be an integrated part of the whole, too.
Good news: it’s easy to make up a religion legally. Bad news: a lot of us bring a lot of baggage to the word religion. But as Fr. Richard Rohr points out:
Religion originally comes from the words re and ligio, which means to re-ligament or re-connect.
Sounds a lot like a systematic attempt at healing, flourishing, & peace, right?
If we can embrace that meaning, why not make a new religion/container that is simply about reconnecting and flourishing for all? The “religious vow” can be something simple and inclusive like: “While I am here, I will prioritize the flourishing of myself, my community, and the natural world.”
No robes, life-time commitment, celibacy, or kool-aid required.
And oddly enough, we may be able to get further legally with ecologically-minded building practices under the banner of religious freedom than simply as citizens concerned about destroying the planet and each other.
The How
Gather people who want to make new kinds of places where we can all flourish. Everyone chips in—resources, ideas, dreams, talents to kickstart the process.
Buy a large piece of rural land (at least 100 acres to get past zoning issues but the more the better to create a future network of ecologically conscious villages).
Observe what the land wants and needs to flourish.
Siteplan win-win solutions that honor what the land needs and what people will need to also flourish there.
Begin tending the land/water and regenerative agriculture.
Make onsite clean energy and building materials.
Build the first village for about 150 residents (Dunbar’s Number suggesting how many people you can care about). Includes a monastery/free/affordable housing, middle-class housing, and some upper-class housing in a variety of sizes. Also includes a boutique hotel with a top-notch spa, restaurant, and event venue that generates income for the community. The land is shared by the community.
Build a sister village near the first one. These villages can have independent personalities and specialization but share resources (like a micro-school) that are better suited to a slightly larger population.
As these initial villages develop enough to not only support themselves but create a surplus in resources, they can help fund building the next villages.
Spread. Once the model is made, we can make more communities around the country. Being careful to not overpower the non-human ecology around each village and maintaining wildlife corridors.
(Image by Ruth Hogben, with edits)
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We’re gathering people who care about creating flourishing for all. There is strength in numbers.
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