Beginning

Summer Solstice. It's a perfect day to start a blog.

When I was a teenager, what I wanted to do was change the world. I still do.

Meanwhile, I've changed. I went from teenager to new-ager to nonviolent revolutionary; I've been a libertarian socialist, a communitarian anarchist, an ecofeminist, an oppression-liberation theorist, and a social justice advocate. I'm constantly taking on new identities, but I seldom let go of the old ones. I'm pretty much still all of those things; except, of course, a teenager--and I'm sure there's still part of that teenager somewhere in me.

I've done therapy, counseling, personal growth work, and meditation. (I still do counseling and meditation.) I've lived in co-op houses and built an intentional community. (I'm looking to build another.) I've lived in Detroit and Philadelphia, but I grew up in the Boston area and I'm a avid New Englander. I'm back in Boston now but when I lived up in northern New England a while back, I discovered things like Peak Oil and the Localvore movement.

Changing the world has gone from revolution to social transformation to social alchemy. These days I'm happy to find other people who want to build change in the neighborhood. That old truth about thinking globally while acting locally is finally sinking in and I am discovering relocalization. Any change, revolution, social transformation, or social alchemy, has to be built from the ground up and it has to be a cooperative, community effort.

My mother once complained that she had more ideas than she had brains. I know what she means. I'm filled with ideas--but they won't get me very far. I'm looking for people--any way that I can find them: on the internet, by going to meetings and gatherings, and accepting invitations when they are offered. I'm a classic introvert. I have to drag myself out the door and off to things. But I'm going. And going, and going.

Meanwhile I figured that this could be a place to put my ideas, my experiences, pieces of various writings and projects, reviews of books I'm reading, maybe some commentary on other blogs, etc, in the hope that some of this might be useful to someone. I don't expect anything to be very profound. Mostly these blogs will be relatively bite-sized. My goal is to put out a lot of the 'tools' that I like, and that means wide-ranging but shallow columns with the idea that if you want more depth, you can pursue the subject elsewhere (and I will supply links and references).

Feedback is always welcomed. (I will, however, moderate the comments. You don't need to agree with me but you do need to be civil. I will not post a comment that contains attacks, abuse, profanity, or things that are provocative for the sake of being provocative.)

I'm especially interested in hearing from people who want to build a new society/world/community/region/your_choice. I'll be glad to think with people who are struggling. And if you're in New England and wanting to do change, I'd really like to hear from you.

If you'd rather email me than leave a comment, my email address is up on the right. I will write back.

And I plan to have a new post every other day, so check back frequently.



Quote of the day: "My religion is kindness." - the Dalai Lama
Word (or phrase) of the day: Relocalization
Hero(es) of the day: Audre Lorde