A Catalogue Of Sustainable Achievements
Hello from Vancouver!
Having grown up in this beautiful city, I am back again (from a 14 year absence)! Let’s play SuperForest VC! Any SuperForesters out here, please comment and let’s get together a SuperForest SuperSummit (Vancouver).
Oh and by the way, GO CANUCKS GO!
love,
J
Every month SuperForester Jordan “rediscovers” a literary gem from the vast treasure trove of an art form that, in our technological age, has become largely under-appreciated and “lost”.
Some men there are who find in nature all
Their inspiration, hers the sympathy
Which spurs them on to any great endeavor,
To them the fields and woods are closest friends,
And they hold dear communion with the hills;
The voice of waters soothes them with its fall,
And the great winds bring healing in their sound.
To them a city is a prison house
Where pent up human forces labour and strive,
Where beauty dwells not, driven forth by man;
But where in winter they must live until
Summer gives back the spaces of the hills.
To me it is not so. I love the earth
And all the gifts of her so lavish hand:
Sunshine and flowers, rivers and rushing winds,
Thick branches swaying in a winter storm,
And moonlight playing in a boat’s wide wake;
But more than these, and much, ah, how much more,
I love the very human heart of man.
Above me spreads the hot, blue mid-day sky,
Far down the hillside lies the sleeping lake
Lazily reflecting back the sun,
And scarcely ruffled by the little breeze
Which wanders idly through the nodding ferns.
The blue crest of the distant mountain, tops
The green crest of the hill on which I sit;
And it is summer, glorious, deep-toned summer,
The very crown of nature’s changing year
When all her surging life is at its full.
To me alone it is a time of pause,
A void and silent space between two worlds,
When inspiration lags, and feeling sleeps,
Gathering strength for efforts yet to come.
For life alone is creator of life,
And closest contact with the human world
Is like a lantern shining in the night
To light me to a knowledge of myself.
I love the vivid life of winter months
In constant intercourse with human minds,
When every new experience is gain
And on all sides we feel the great world’s heart;
The pulse and throb of life which makes us men
Superforester Zoe posted this in the forums the other day and I wanted to share it with the rest of you!
I saw this quote recently (I think it was on one of the awesome pictures Matt has been posting) and it has really gotten my brain ticking away: “Sometimes late at night it just hits me: this is my life, and I can do whatever I want”. I find the power of this statement to be AMAZING. It seems obvious, right? But if you really sit down and examine your actions and decisions, I bet you will find that many of the things you did or did not decide to do were based on the opinions or decisions of others, as opposed to simply acting on your own impulses and desires. Even more often, we ourselves are the ones standing in our own way – we come up with ideas that we think are great, only to dismiss them with endless excuses and reasons why they are impractical and won’t work.
My personal example: cell phones. I have had a cell phone for quite some time now, though I have never owned one that does more than call and text. I will admit, I use that texting function quite a lot, but I’ve never really seen the need for me personally to have a phone that can do more than that. I have often thought about how cool it would be to just get rid of my cell phone and live like we used to back when people had a landline and nothing else, but then I bog myself down with excuses, such as “What if I get lost and need to call someone for directions? What if I’m running late and need to tell my friend? What if a cute boy wants to send me a funny text but he can’t because I don’t have a cell phone?!?!?” etc. etc. The list is endless, and it is very easy to quickly talk myself out of de-cell-phoning my life.
Recently, I moved into a new home with three fabulous roommates, two of whom are planning to ditch their cells this summer and get a landline for the house instead. When they asked if I wanted to join in this plan, my first thought was “That’d be so cool!” but it was immediately followed by “But with my busy work and social life, it would never work”. I was bummed, but what could I do? I NEEDED a cell phone! However, the more I thought about it, the more I came to question that basic assumption – that a cell phone was something I HAD to have in order to function. I went without a cell for 3 months in France and still managed to make friends and meet up with people just fine, and I also went without one for a week when I was visiting Vancouver for my graduation! If I could do it in those places, then why not do it the whole summer in Portland? Eureka!
The first two friends I excitedly shared my news with did not share my enthusiasm. They responded with things like “I’m never going to be able to get in touch with you” and “How will we be able to contact each other if we are running late or our plans change?”. I can’t say I blame them, as these were thoughts I’d been having up until recently as well, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed by their lack of support. It’s a bummer to be excited by an idea only to have some of your closest friends take the wind right out of your sails. In the past, that may have convinced me to rethink my plan, but not this time! I did my best to assure them that with the multitude of technologies out there today, such as Skype, e-mail, Facebook, and a good old fashioned land-line, there would still be plenty of ways to get in touch, and we would just have to make sure we made plans and stuck to them more solidly!
I guess what I’m trying to say here is that the realization that you really can do whatever you want is a very powerful one, even if it leads you to something as minor as turning in your cell phone for a house phone. If it’s something that you want to do, then DO IT! I already feel like a huge weight has lifted off my shoulders, just by taking this one small step to get a little closer to the person I wish to be. The more steps I take, the happier I will continue to be! I want to do my best to dream big and stop talking myself out of those dreams before they even have a chance to become a reality.
Hello SuperForesters Everywhere,
How are you? I hope you had/are having a lovely day :) Today I’d like to talk to you about an amazing book!
If you go back into the SuperForest Archives, you may find some mentions of a book called “Manual for the Peacemaker: An Iroquois Legend to Heal Self & Society” by Jean Houston. A while back, few of us started reading this book together and began the journey towards healing and self discovery through the context of becoming better peacemakers. As we made our way through the book, we were guided by two transformational figures in Iroquois history, Deganawidah and Hiawatha.
At this time, we are just about to complete the last chapter and process of the book and I am feeling so grateful for this journey we have been on. I am also excited because we get to plant a tree of peace in the final process!
I decided to write this post because I want to encourage anyone who is interested in going on a healing journey of self-discovery to do it! One way to do so is to find this book, gather a group, and go for it! (Note: you can also do this journey solo). If you do gather a group, it doesn’t have to be a large group, nor do you have to be “in person” with your group members for each process (although that is ideal). We used Skype, phone and email communication as well as a little bit of in-person interaction, and it has all worked very well.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this experience since it was my first time doing anything of the sort, but I have been pleasantly surprised, and like I said, extremely grateful for it. In attempting to describe it to a friend, I said, “It’s kinda like group therapy, with an Iroquois legend as your guide!” For some of us, “therapy” has been a scary word, but if you replace it with “healing”, it doesn’t seem so scary, does it? Words are very powerful things!
Through these processes, I’ve learned a lot about myself and have begun to cultivate friendships and connections with my group members. One of the most powerful aspects of working in a group (especially one where you do not know the other group members very well at the outset), is that you will begin to learn so much about yourself by seeing yourself through their eyes.
Because of this experience, I have noticed a shift in my confidence, my self-love, my respect for others and my habits and behaviours…and my overall SuperForesty-ness! At times it was difficult to share personal thoughts and feelings with people I have only known a short time, but the freedom that comes with allowing yourself to be that vulnerable is amazing. No risk, no reward. Plus, your group members are also sharing with you, so you’re not out on a limb alone.
I have always been a ridiculously self-analytic person, always pondering the meaning of life and my place in it; the essence of who I am and what my purpose on earth is meant to be. However, it was only until I started this book/process that I was truly able to see myself in ways that revealed my deeper truth. I’m still a work in progress, as we all are, but I have a clearer vision now and I want to offer my deepest gratitude to my group-mates as well as the amazing Jean Houston.
To create peace in the world, we need to create it in ourselves first, SuperForest.
“I take hold of it. I embrace it.”
Yours in healing,
SuperForester Heather
SuperForester Jenni sent this my way awhile ago, but I haven’t gotten to posting it until now! This video is super powerful! Thank you Jenni for passing it on!
Changing the world through me, and through we.
SuperForest,
A few weeks ago I came upon this video that told me I had been doing something I considered simple and easy the wrong way my entire life! I did not know how to tie my shoes, and this man has taught me the right way:
Wow! Right? And trust me this really works, my shoes DO NOT come untied. Ever.
This video has been one of many a thing recently that has blown my mind. The past year has been a strange one, and I feel I have gotten more lost than usual. It was almost like my life was a drawing by a one year old:
Something Like This...
Totally INSANE! Every direction at random, never having a true heading or understanding of where it was going. Which I suppose is just how life is, but it felt more random than it has in the past. At times I have found myself really detached from the world around me, and really stuck in my head. Other times I felt detached from my head, simply floating along. But along this journey, like I said, my mind has been blown. I have seen and experienced amazing things, and I am constantly trying to retune myself into being in gratitude. The strange thing, at least to me, is that my head says this past years experience should be scary or something of that nature, but in fact I feel it was actually serene. Many emotions have flown through my system in the past months, many that have seemingly bogged me down, confused me, and trampled me. But I also have had just as many that have lifted me up, made me soar, and that have given me a smile.
One of the patterns I have seen in the past year is that I have pulled myself away from this little blog. Stopped writing to myself, to you, to it. I got more involved in the physical world, and less involved here. I reallocated my energy to different people, and now I am here writing my mind to all of you. I devoted my love and time to those things and people new in my life, and now it is time to bring it all back in. Perhaps their is a trick to balancing it all while continuously adding more, but I haven’t found it yet. And perhaps part of me never wants to find that trick, love exists because we have loss and pain. It is a beautiful system of constant giving, where we must constantly divert our attention to that which is freshly given, or choose to remain focused on what we already have. Hmm..many a interesting thought here.
As always thank you for giving me your time, it constantly astonishes me that I am given it. It is a true gift, thank you. And I have sincerely missed you, SuperForest. I haven’t even been good about reading everyday, which I something I used to pride myself with. I would open my computer, and if there was a new post I would read it, no matter what else I had going on. Now I find myself saying, I can read that later. Well a old saying reawakened me to that note, “Treat others as you wish to be treated.” If I expect people to read and enjoy my writing, I must also enjoy theirs! The result? I enjoy my writing more! So, I make my mark once again on these pages, which journal the growing community of love minded individuals.
Sadly I only have a few more weeks of guaranteed internet, as I soon leave to work in Mexico for Simply Smiles, our dear SuperForest friends. So, I hope to make more of a mark in those coming weeks, and then tell you all about the experiences I have! Until next time, Constant Reader. Keep giving all that you give SuperForest & SuperForesters, it keeps inspiring me beyond belief.
Until next time,
M
We would like to introduce you to some of the remarkable families we have met on our travels, families that prove that The Revolution Starts At Home! We previously posted about Richard, Michelle and Gracie, who have been inspiring us through their work in sustainability and natural health, and who will be traveling around the world for their project, (Im)permanence: A Film about Global Solutions for Perennial Living.
Currently, we are staying with an amazing family near Quito, Ecuador who are growing their own veggies and meat, constantly welcoming travellers into their beautiful, loving home. They are in turn inspired by the indigenous families of this region who keep their cultural heritage alive, which includes age old planting wisdom and a sense of community. We are seeing more and more of these diverse but sustainable ways of life sprouting up all over the world.
Today we share with you the story of our dear friends, the Steens.
The Canelo Project: Desert Strawbale Love In Arizona, USA
We met sun baked, deep Indian red Benito in northern Thailand on a sustainability tour, with a straw hat and long cigar in his mouth, pencil through an earlobe, casting mud bricks shirtless, in his canvas pants. At the tender of age of eighteen, he was teaching adobe and strawbale building workshops with open heart and mind. The offspring of a celestial couple granted time on earth to help humanity in its dire times of need, we were instantly curious to meet the combination which gave us Benito.
During our 6 month long Road Trip around the USA, the opportunity arose. In a National Park, the heart of the desert, we found Benito and his family, the Steens, creating and loving in Canelo, Arizona. Strawbale builders for over two decades, Athena and Bill Steen revolutionised strawbale building in the US, teaching workshops and writing books, collaborating both locally and internationally to create their muddy straw masterpieces.
Athena’s open soul and hunger for life are reflected in the enthusiasm with which she accepts everyone and thing. Ready to understand and explore the new and unknown, we felt her love in the lifeboat they call home base. If ever we have witnessed unconditional motherly love – Athena embodies it all.
Our time with Bill was as precious as clean air and water, serving us just the right amounts to keep our minds from spinning out of control. With godlike, nimble hands applying earth brown adobe plaster rhythmically in mindfulness, his “Don’t think so much. Just enjoy and relax”, silenced us every time the urge came to leap into complex spiritual dualities and paradoxes. Always the exact phrase word and syllable in place for us to understand on every level.
Their three sons, Benito, Oso and Kalin, are perfect examples of what wise, loving parents who are truly invested in their children’s lives can achieve. From the school of “No School” (as Bill put it), they are articulate, highly intelligent, full of common sense, well versed in philosophy, aware of the wide world and with practical talents to boot. As a young teenager, Oso was already running his own car repair and woodworking businesses, while Benito is an accomplished blacksmith, among other things. Kalin is not yet a teenager but is a genius in many ways who has absorbed the wisdom of his parents. All of them have been surrounded by natural building since birth and to them, it is second nature, along with their inquisitiveness and their open hearts and minds, untarnished by the job- driven scholarly institutions much of the world is prey to.
Their home is a testament to their strawbale and natural plastering expertise, and they continue to run popular workshops. They grow some of their own food and spend their days in the pursuit of learning new skills, sharing them and co-creating a spiritual, joyful atmosphere that permeates all they are. Their work with particular groups in Banamichi, Sonora, across the border in Mexico, is only one example of how huge their hearts are (link).
The Super Steens: Benito, Athena, Kalin, Oso and Bill
A truly inspiring family that changes lives and enriches the world community with their wisdom.
Check out The Canelo Project and the blog, The Canelo Chronicles. New website coming soon!
Recently, in Colombia, we had the blessing of experiencing Yage/ Ayahuasca/ Waska, the spiritual Mother plant. We would like to share the power of this Divinity with you all!
“Some describe the experience as the death of the ego, as well as the death of the body and subsequent resurrection. In folklore, the experience of taking Yage is described as dying a death more severe than the little death we experience every night as we fall asleep. But not as severe as exchanging this life for the next. Like the ego being pounded under the hammer for pretending to be our BFF and then leading us away from Universal Truth.”
Delving Deep into Spiritual Life
Taita Florentino Agreda
Read more about this life- changing experience at our blog, Embodiments of Love.
Namaste
Love and Light
Niel
Embodiments of Love!!
Some inspiration for all of you on this fine, lovely day!
We met the co-founders of the Ampersand Project, located in Madrid, New Mexico, when we drove through Santa Fe last year.
Andy!
Amanda!
Amanda and Andy Bramble are an inspiring couple in their late 30s, who have worked and lived in several cities across the US. Their home and learning centre, Ampersand, is both impressively designed and well executed. Enigmatic, confident and motivated in all areas of their life, they are striving to build a better world, to be a nucleus for sustainable education, teaching workshops in natural building and alternative technologies.
Pay them a visit if you’re in the area!
Love and Light!
M
Hey SuperForest!
I wanted to send a shout out to one of our favourite bands, Luc and the Lovingtons! They are in the process of making their next album, and need support! If you haven’t heard of these guys before, go check them out on youtube! Also check out some of the previous posts about them right here on SuperForest (here! & here!)!
Here is a link to short video they also put together! HERE! At that link you can also donate anything you are willing to make their second album come to life! Thank you so much SuperForest! Your love spurs on more love, and there is no better way to do this than support these cats.
Much love,
Mathew
This was day one, eating soursop under a tree in the fruit orchard. We could use some help eating all this food, SuperForesters. Who wants to come play?
Love,
Jackson
SuperForest is a positivity blog.
SuperForesters are all over planet Earth, all united in exploring how to redefine "environmentalism" and "sustainability" to encompass every aspect of our lives. Everything you find on this website has been personally created to uplift and inspire you.
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