Wherever we are now, living in these bodies, in these cities, towns, villages, in these stories, these imagined futures, these will always change over time.
Those changes may happen as a result of external circumstances.
Global changes in the ecosystems, violence that comes from other communities may force change upon you and me and the ways we live now.
We can also choose to make changes, in the ways we feel, live, love and act and shape new communities.
It is hard, or even impossible to imagine a community based upon sustainability and social justice and no longer based on concepts of ownership and dominance. And that doesn’t stop me from setting out in that direction.
What would our species and and our planet look and feel like after several generations of youngsters are born into communities that are based upon trust, self awareness and an awareness of the connections between all those whose live and reproduce here on this shared space we call earth?
I am aware that many of my understandings and behaviours and thoughts and feeling are shaped by this modern, extractive and hierarchical culture we might call capitalism, consumer culture, the patriarchy, a power based oligarchy, toxic male dominance, white body supremacy.
And, I have been lucky to be born into family and communities that have encouraged me to question the usefulness and validity of these modern life limiting cultures.
So, this is the online space that I use to share ideas, thoughts, feelings and help develop projects that I am a an active part of with others. I am not looking to generate an income or sell anything here, I am retired and have a pension that just about covers my living costs.
I take this space as a place I can utilise to create small steps that move me and others to practical actions that continue to build new ways to create and share and promote communities that are breaking free of the old systems that reduce and limit us all.
If you feel there are ways we could be living that are based upon mutual trust and an awareness of our responsibility as stewards and carers on this planet, and express that feeling in any creative way at all, or would just like to know more about what goes on for me here, get in touch and share your story, I love and live for hearing and understanding stories from others as they always offer me new and broader perspectives on living with meaning and curiosity.
I once heard Bayo Akomolafe, the writer and thinker and all round wonderful person say;
For the slaves of the North American colonialists, the act of escape was not a move towards a guaranteed future, but a leap into a void where new possibilities, however precarious, could emerge.
That is my take on the words he shared with me a few years ago, and that moving towards uncertainty, moving away from the certainty of oppression and injustice keeps me focused on the path towards different, odd, weird, queer, generative, wonky, open, non binary, wobbly, honest, scared, cosy steady uncomfortable and loving… and keeps me endlessly curious and active in taking back my agency in contributing to better futures for our children and great great great grand children… and for me too.