Relocalization and Reconnection

Wed, 2007-07-04 17:17 — Dave Ewoldt

The root cause that has created the state in which we find ourselves today is our disconnection from the natural world, the nature that binds us to one another, and our very own inner nature. This disconnection has allowed the rise of force-based ranking hierarchies of domination and separation, and the subsequent belief in the myth that this reflects the natural order.

It can be easily shown that this is not the way that life works when left to its own devices, free of manipulation and imposed control strategies. Life works to create more life. The prime activity of living systems is to self- organize for the creation of mutually supportive relationships that strengthen and diversify the web of life. We can find supporting evidence for this in modern physics and biology, the social sciences, and in ancient wisdom traditions.

The antidote to our disconnection is to reconnect all 53 of our senses to their roots in the natural world in order that our senses can meet their natural expectations of fulfillment without reliance on addictive substitutes. These substitutes only serve the self-interested ends of a small group of elites who have become unaware, or are in active denial, that they're also just bozos on
this celestial bus we call the Earth.

A process to reconnect is readily available, easily learnable, and easily teachable. It is known as the Natural Systems Thinking Process (NSTP) and has been developed and refined by Dr. Michael Cohen and his students over the past 40 years. In an interconnected and interdependent world, we must simultaneously, actively, and responsibly participate in healing the Earth and our selves. The NSTP helps us remember that we must, and can, do more than just rationally understand, but also sensuously experience our connection to that seamless whole we call the web of life. A documentary on Cohen has just been released, and you can find a link to the trailer here: .

Our commonly held values--that cut across political and cultural boundaries--are those articulated by the Earth Charter: ecological integrity, respect and care for the community of life, social and economic justice, and democracy, nonviolence and peace. If you're looking for a political party that embodies those values, you need look no further than the Ten Key Values of the Green
Party.

The goal, which embodies and builds on these foundational concepts, is also available. It's called sustainability, and this goal can be reached through the process of relocalization. Relocalization provides a practical methodology to implement the principles of bioregionalism, permaculture, and a steady-state economy as we become self-reliant (not self-sufficient) at the local level in
providing our food, energy, and governance as we head into a post carbon world that's coupled with climate chaos.

Sustainability can be found by deeply examining and experiencing a healthy, vibrant, and resilient ecosystem. An ecosystem thrives by following four natural systems principles: mutual support and reciprocity, no waste, no greed, and increasing diversity. Since humans are a part of nature, and naturally embody these principles, we can use them to create lifestyles, organizations, and communities that display the same degree of sustainability as a climax
ecosystem.

It comes down to a simple choice of which human tendencies and traits do we desire to focus our attention and energies on? Which do we truly value more? Which makes us feel more alive and fulfilled? Cooperation or competition? Compassion or aggression? Love or fear? Creation or destruction? Global warming, Peak Oil, and corporatism are all direct outcomes of the reliance on
exploitation, waste, and toxicity that dominator control hierarchies have used to create the Industrial Growth Society and its system of economic cannibalism.

We have the capability to become the first species in history to use our intelligence to reverse our course as it becomes impossible to any longer deny we have taken the wrong path. We can create (or more accurately, recreate) a partnership society built on a foundation of ecological wisdom and social justice that meets our present needs, provides increasing opportunities to reach our potential, and ensures that future generations can actualize their potential instead of cleaning up our messes.

Reconnect and relocalize. It's all that's required to come back to life.

Originally posted here:
http://www.relocalize.net/relocalization_and_reconnection∞