Changing the World

Even as a writer, I’m having trouble finding the words to describe what I’m most passionate about. My highest excitement in life isn’t something I can snap a picture of and explain; it’s a vision for a way-of-life that I’ve been longing for since my very first breathe. If you can hold on throughout this rollercoaster of hopes and dreams, you may find that this life is calling to you, as well.

I shook myself awake, and then the longing began.

Nearing the end of 2016, I had a sort of awakening. I don’t remember the exact moment, but it seems like I woke up one day and started longing for a life I didn’t even know existed. I was in a toxic relationship –one could even say abusive. We were approaching our 3-year-anniversary, and while part of me wanted to hold on, just to say we’d made it 3 years, the newly emerging part of me just couldn’t picture him in my future anymore. Suddenly, the wedding we had been dreaming of, and the house in the suburbs was completely gone from my mind; it was replaced by the image of a little log cabin, deep in the forest. To this day, I’m not entirely sure where that image came from; but I am forever grateful that I found it when I did.

It’s as if I became a whole new person, overnight. I shared my new dreams with my abusive partner, and thought he would rationally accept the fact that we were growing in different directions. After about a month of the same conversation, over and over, I was finally free of a relationship that had beaten me down for so long. I was finally free to live my life in the forest.

I had allowed someone else to control me for so long, and I had finally given myself permission to take back my own power and learn how to be independent. Everything in life seemed a little brighter without that weight in my heart. It may have seemed like I floundered for a bit, as I dropped out of University and began studying with a less conventional institution. What may have been viewed as flailing, I saw only as freedom and exploration. I was beginning to follow the whispering of my heart, and it led me down winding paths that didn’t seem to connect.

And then, they connected.

I had begun to realize that my vision for a cabin in the woods was much larger than that, I just wasn’t able to see the entire picture, at first. The image became clearer over time, and I saw more and more cabins, spread throughout pristine forests and open fields. I realized that I didn’t want to go off into the forest alone; I wanted to find others who were longing for a new life, and create a new world together –a community!

For some time, I believed that I would win the lottery one day. With millions of dollars, I could buy a bunch of land, pay to build off-grid houses and cabins, and any other building required in a small town. I knew it’d be a big endeavour, but I believed if I was working with the right people, it would all fall into place.

And then, it all fell into place.

That vision for a community lived in the back of my mind for a while; I could feel my heart flutter whenever I thought of it. Then, one day, my sister sent me a link to a website and said, “I found a hippy commune for you, and you’ll get to stay close to the family!” I followed the link, and she read to me from their website. That was the day I first learned about Talking Trees’ Holistic Community, and I instantly fell in love.

Talking Trees is a collaborative group of passionate individuals creating a truly Holistic Community where all are free to follow their passions and labours of love to create a life of joy and abundance.

Those were the first words I heard, and I already knew that I had found my home.

As I fell in love with the vision I was beginning to integrate with my own, I also fell for the man who had shared that vision. It should be no surprise that I already felt connected to those who were creating the life I had been longing for. I finally found the people who helped me feel heard, seen and understood; I was finally able to create the dream I had been dreaming.

But then, they said no.

Who would want to stop a dream like this from coming to fruition? Who could possibly think that a natural, balanced and passionate way-of-life could be a bad thing? If this life is not enticing to some, it still is for many others, and we should all be free to live the life we desire. However, over the last 3 years of creating with Talking Trees, I’ve come to realize just how many people want to stand in our way.

Whether it’s building inspectors, bylaw officers, or Joe Bloe from down the road, there seem to be many people who are afraid of the life I am working to create. I’m sure they have their reasons, just as I have my reasons for never stopping. I can't stop, and I won't stop –I’m here to build this community.

So I just keep saying yes.

I choose this life every day, and I can honestly say that it’s not always easy. I live in a 32’ fifth-wheel camping trailer, sharing a bathroom and kitchen with someone I had met only once before I moved here. My drinking water freezes in its bottle in the Winter, and it’s almost impossible to get comfortable in the Summer. I let go of the comforts I used to have, so that I can create a life of sustainable comfort.

I live this way because I believe whole-heartedly in the vision I have for my future. I believe that I will move my trailer from the city to the forest. I’ll build a Holistic Home and raise my children in a world that will nourish and support them. I live this way because I believe I have the right, and the duty, to create my own future.

If the powers-that-be were able to create this crumbling world, I can create something even better. And these words are for those who know this is possible.

I'm here to change the world!

My passion in life may seem a little abstract, but I hope I was able to convey the vision in my heart. And in an attempt to make it abundantly clear… My passion is CHANGING THE WORLD!

Talking Trees’ Holistic Community is the most Revolutionary Community Design in the world, because it revolutionizes the way we view the world, ourselves, our homes, and our relationship with the Earth. We build Earthship-Inspired Holistic Homes that are absolutely saving the world, and the community design around them will change it!

My other submissions for Vocal Media's Members-Only Challenge:

• Follow Your Highest Excitement (Part 1)
• Making a Life, Not Earning a Living (Part 2)
• Revolutionary Community Design (Part 3)