Right Livelihood
by Jean Schanen I am convinced that the world is past the peak of oil production, and that the planet is inexorably growing hotter and hotter and more and more unstable in terms of rain and water availability. We might…
Critical Self-Reflection On the Road
by Karen Sliwa When Guy asked us to write about our experiences because we chose to “chase a different carrot”, and leave our jobs to learn how to be more self-sufficient over the last 18 months, my husband Mike (who…
The slippery slope of community
by Elaine Kost Seeking community once meant that others were looking to share housing, resources, skills and fun, not because they had to but because they wanted to. Some were ingrained with the idea of “waste not, want not”, and…
Let Go or Be Dragged
When called a quitter in somebody's first-time comment in this space, my initial response was to serve the name-caller a big warm cup of ShutTheFuckUp. Then I gave it a bit more thought. One result is this essay. Contrary to…
Non-attachment in the realm of attachments
by Robin Datta This essay is a response to ulvfugl. Then substitute yourself, or Buddha, or anyone, or ‘a human’ for x, and substitute ‘other’, or ‘world’, or Earth, or biosphere, or ‘life’, or ‘my brother, sister, son, daughter, wife,…
Lifelong Learning: Thoughts on the Journey vs. End Results
by Jennifer Hartley This is the third essay in a series on the topic of why our family is homeschooling (Part I is here and Part II is here). Focusing on the journey, rather than any final achievements, seems to…
The 2012 India Blackouts: A Great Example of How our Education System and Media Coverage are Leaving us in the Dark
by Pepper Givens This summer, hundreds of millions of residents in India endured two days of stalled productivity, traffic jams and pretty much chaos as the country endured back-to-back power outages. Suffering the largest blackout in the planet’s history, the…