Sustainability in the Neighborhood Cooperative

One of the gifts I have been blessed with is the gift of paying attention. From when I was very young to the present, I just seem to see little things that others miss. Most writers have this gift as do artists. I read somewhere that "God" is in the details - and as I look around that seems to be true. The small Zennia bud bursting out of the green foilage. The birds flying back and forth from branch to bird feeder. The mother swan tilting down her wing so that her baby can crawl back on her back. The vegetable seedlings poking their little arms and heads through the soil. The sheets on the clothesline blowing in the wind. You would be surprised how many people do not stop to pay attention or as they say "smell the flowers".

When you are paying attention, hopefully in a non-judgemental way, many facts seem to be revealed to you. Which brings me to the next point. The more I look around, listen, study history and connect the dots, the more I know that the next step for us is to come together in a sustainable manner in regards to smaller communities. How do we rely on each other for what it is that we need? What is the best way to do this? How can it be fair and all -inclusive? These kinds of questions are something that I am asking myself and hence will begin to study and formalize as the answers are being revealed.

When I was younger, everything I let go of had claw marks on it. No matter how wonderful the new way might be, I was going to do it the same way because, well at least it was familiar. I came to believe by paying attention, that change is a good thing. We have wasted alot of time trying to keep things the way they are, even when they don't work. Our society has become increasingly myopic not seeing what the end result will be. And even though throughout history, the same mistakes were made, leading to the demise of very healthy cultures, we still haven't learned much.

I think the world is going a little wonky (that is putting it mildly), but it is too heartbreaking and really impossible to wrap my arms around "the world". All I can do is deal with what is at my front door or if you will, my neighborhood. If I/we can set an example, a model of what is possible, this can be a template for not only us but the neighborhood that is next door, and then, one that is next to that neighborhood and one that is next to that neighborhood....

In the next month, I am going to interview and visit other cooperatives so that I can have some sort of guideline to begin this. If this is a concept that appeals to you, please feel free to call me or stop by.

Let me say, that there are no politics in what I write about. I really am a political athesist. If someone like Ghandi or the Dali Llama would run for President, then I would go into action. But in the meantime, I will put my faith into something a little less human and a little more divine -like Mother Earth and pray to something bigger than me that we come to rely on and love one another.