Happy New Island

In the coming year, we hope to report and promote the rising of a better way of life on Manitoulin Island. Some of these reports will delve into the details and circumstances of emerging practices here; others will point to resources for learning about the larger context (the state of the planet), or about new ways of living emerging elsewhere, which we could adopt or adapt to our life here. But first we should acknowledge where it's all coming from – the Manitou or spirit behind it all. We live here because it is a sacred place. This doesn't mean that other places are not sacred; indeed some ways of connecting with other people and other places are sacred too. All i mean by ‘sacred’ (or ‘spirit’) here is a sense of connection – if you like other words better, use them instead. The point is that this place is a Manitou and not a mere commodity for us to own or use up. Think of it rather as using us to express itself. Let us become the Manitou's mode of recreation. We love this place because it is far from the hustle of urban life. It's more attuned with the rhythms of nature. As a relatively remote island (insula, in Latin), we are relatively insulated from many of the global systems which are now collapsing. For instance, the ongoing financial ‘meltdown’ may not be so catastrophic here because we never had much of that kind of wealth in the first place. But we are only relatively insulated. Food prices are rising here too – inevitably so, as you can see if you have an eye on the global economy. But we also have another eye, which can see this as an opportunity to become more connected with local food sources. This is one of many ways for the Manitou to recreate itself. In short, we need to keep two eyes open: one for the Manitou and one for the world. One for the spirit animating us all, and one for the information we need to recreate ourselves. This blog is intended to serve the purpose of keeping both eyes open. As always, feel free to comment, suggest resources or future directions, etc.