Recently as I’ve pondered moving to the eco-village, I’ve been think about putting a considerable amount of my retirement money into community or would I pay a monthly amount while retaining the balance in some interest bearing fund. Then I looked seriously at the stock market, and the investment opportunities in this current economy, and realize that I have been affected by this sense of wrong headedness that we have been inundated with over the last number of years. Indeed, while spending time at Findhorn Foundation in 2007 doing a month long training on Eco-Village Design, we were told by many of the presenters, particularly one who told us that he was buying land in the south of Europe, in Greece or Italy.
As I spent more time in reflection, I could not help but remember my childhood on the farm, where there was never much money around, but we always ate very well, we had lots of room to run and play in, water to play in and to wash with, trees for climbing, and to pick apples from, and a garden with lots of fresh vegetables. Many of those foods were perserved for use in winter, and we enjoyed the benefits of this life on the land whether money was available or not. Of course, we had horses, so were not dependent upon oil either. In the dead of winter, I have a vague memory of being taken to church with the horse and cutter warmly wrapped in a buffalo robe. I’ve actually had that memory challenged by family members who can’t believe that I would be able to remember being driven in the cutter, but I have a distinct memory of the dusty smell of that robe, so I think it is a valid memory.
Now why am I reflecting upon life on the farm when I contemplate life at the Lanark Eco-Village? I would say that a serious investment in land, particularly land, where I can have an environmentally-friendly home placed in a cluster with other similar homes, where we would all have our little herb and salad gardens at our back door, be close to the main garden, where we will all spend time weeding and watering, breathing fresh air, having a rich social environment, and in general, just a totally wonderful opportunity to know that those needs I have, physical, emotional, spiritual and financial will all be met, not because the economy is doing well, or that interest rates are going up, but simply because I share a piece of land where we are all interested in a sustainable life where we can co-exist in peace and harmony.
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