02 Aug Chapter 2: Our Vision

A Place Where Life Can Flourish

Our vision begins with a simple dream: To create a place which is aligned with our values and a blueprint for others.
A place where all life can exist and live in abundance, harmony and symbiosis.
A place where we experience a world of oneness, freedom and paradise on earth.
A place where the earth and the human way of life regenerates.
A place where we take care of ourselves, the planet and share fair.
A place where we can live our full potential and optimal health.
A place where our community shares, dances, sings and laughs.
This place is not an escape from the world.
It is a response to it.
It is an experiment in how we could live if we consciously designed our surroundings around what human beings and the living Earth actually need.
It is a place where we can be, live, grow and flourish.
And ultimately, it is a place that does not belong to one person.
It is a space from the community for the community.

Closing the Gap Between Humans and Nature

At the heart of the vision is the desire to close the gap between nature and humans.
We have created a way of life in which nature has become something outside of us. Something we visit. Something we use. Something we protect because we understand intellectually that we need it.
But nature is not outside of us.
We are nature.
Our bodies are nature.
Our food is nature.
Our breath is nature.
Our emotions move in cycles.
Our lives move through seasons.
We are born, grow, change, age and die.
Nature has always been our best guide.
She works holistically.
When we are lost, we can find shelter in her presence, because we can always connect with nature. In nature, the collective and the individual are balanced. Even when it may sometimes look as though nature is losing her balance, nature can never go wrong.
Our intention is therefore not to dominate the land or to impose a perfect concept upon it.
It is to listen. To observe. To learn.
To interfere with the land and nature as little as possible.
To do no harm, but also to connect ourselves and everyone who enters this place more deeply to nature.
This means creating a way of living that is aligned with nature and the laws of nature.

Permaculture.
Living off-grid.
Natural construction.
Zero Waste principles.
Plant-based living.
Organic and biodegradable materials.
Healthy soil.
Biodiversity.
Renewable energies.
Water self-sufficiency.
Food self-sufficiency.

These are not isolated sustainability measures.
They are expressions of a different relationship with life.
A relationship based on respect, reciprocity and stewardship.

A Holy Nest

We imagine this place as a holy nest.
A place where life feels safe enough to unfold.
Where people can arrive as they are.
Where they can be, live, grow and flourish.
There is something deeply human about wanting a place to come home to.
Not only a physical home.
A place where you have your own space, privacy and silence.
A place where you can cook your own food or you share food.
A place where you can wake up surrounded by nature.
But also a deeper home.
A feeling of belonging.
A feeling that you are part of something.
A feeling that you do not have to do everything alone.

Many of us have experienced some form of disconnection from family, community, nature or ourselves.
We have learned to become independent because we had to. We learned how to manage our lives, make money, build careers and take care of ourselves.
But independence does not have to mean isolation.
We can create a culture where independence and togetherness exist at the same time.
Where people have their own homes and privacy, but also have a community.
Where there is space for solitude and space for connection.
Where people can disappear into the forest for an afternoon and then return to a shared dinner around the fire.
Where we can be alone without being lonely.
Where we can belong without losing ourselves.
This is the kind of togetherness we want to create.

The Community

We cannot know ourselves without others.
Community is therefore not simply a practical arrangement of people living close to each other.
Community is part of our human development.
It is where we meet ourselves through others.
It is where we learn communication, boundaries, responsibility, cooperation, forgiveness and trust.
It is where we experience joy together.
We want to create a community where people support one another and where knowledge, skills and resources are shared.
A place where collaboration and cooperation become more important than competition.
A place where local interconnections are strengthened.
A place where different generations can meet and learn from one another.
Where the wisdom of our ancestors is not lost.
Where a grandmother can teach someone how to sew.
Where an older person can share their knowledge of repairing things.
Where younger people can support older generations with new technology.
Where children can learn by participating in real life.
Where everyone has something to contribute.
This is how community becomes alive.
Not because everyone thinks the same.
But because everyone brings something different to the whole.

A Place for the Whole Human Being

Our vision is not only about creating sustainable buildings or growing organic food.
It is about the whole human being.
Body.
Mind.
Soul.
Heart.
Relationships.
Purpose.
Creativity.
Spirituality.
Nature.

We want to create environments where these parts of ourselves do not have to be separated.
Where health is not reduced to the absence of illness.
Where we can explore optimal health and our full potential.
Where we can reconnect with our bodies and intuition.
Where feelings and emotions are allowed to exist.
Where movement, dance, yoga, breath, meditation and body work can be part of everyday life.
Where we can explore shadow work and trauma release.
Where we can develop our inner senses and our awareness.
Where we can experience joy.
Where we can create.
Where we can express ourselves through art.
Where we can make things with our hands.
Where craftsmanship has value again.
Because becoming fully human requires all of these dimensions.

The School of New Consciousness

Within this living ecosystem, education has a special role.
We want to create an educational and learning space: a School for the New Consciousness.
Its purpose is not simply to transfer knowledge.
Its purpose is transformation.
The School promotes a new awareness of being human and of human evolution in harmony with nature and the laws of nature.
This new awareness is brought closer to people in order to prepare them in the best way possible for their important task.
The courses are for individuals, but especially for caregivers and teachers who can spread the knowledge further.
Because a new culture cannot be created simply by changing the structures around us.
We also need human beings who are able to embody it.

The School therefore brings together three main areas:
– Sustainable Living.
– Holistic Healing.
– Development of Potential.

These are not three separate subjects.
They are interconnected.
How we live affects our bodies.
How we feel affects how we relate.
How we relate affects our communities.
How we treat the land affects our own health.
How conscious we are affects every decision we make.

The School therefore creates an environment where knowledge can become lived experience.

Sustainable Living

Sustainable living begins with remembering that we are part of nature.
We learn about permaculture gardening and how to grow food.
We learn what it means to live off-grid.
We explore natural construction and how we can build with reclaimed, natural and renewable materials.
We learn Zero Waste principles: refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, rot.
We explore the laws of nature and cosmic cycles.
We learn about health and nutrition in harmony with nature.
Plant-based living and cooking. Fermenting. Food as medicine. Plant and herbal medicine.
But the intention is not to collect information.
It is to experience another way of living.
To get our hands dirty.
To grow something.
To cook something.
To repair something.
To make something.
To understand where our food, water and energy come from.
To experience what becomes possible when we take responsibility for our basic needs again.

Holistic Healing

Healing is another essential part of the School.
We explore healing and self-healing techniques.
Heart connection.
Intuition.
Joy.
Feelings and emotions.
Shadow and trauma work.
Mindfulness and meditation.
Breathing as healing work.
The principles of life energy and their practical application.
Expanding the inner senses.
Structures and levels of consciousness.
Body and energy work.
Movement such as dance and yoga.

The intention is not to tell people what their healing should look like.
It is to create the space for people to reconnect with themselves.
To listen inwardly.
To feel.
To become more aware.
To understand their own patterns.
To experience their body as a source of information rather than something they need to control.
To remember that healing can also happen through joy, connection, movement, nature and expression.

Development of Potential

We believe every human being carries something unique.
A vocation.
A gift.
A way of contributing.
A particular expression that cannot be replaced by somebody else.
Our culture often asks people to adapt themselves to existing structures.
We want to turn this around.
What if our structures were designed to help people discover who they actually are?
The School therefore supports people in finding their individual vocation and true fulfillment.
We explore self-expression.
Expression through art. Craftsmanship. Creativity. Purpose.
And the question: What wants to be expressed through me?
This is not necessarily about finding a career.
It is about discovering what makes us feel alive.
What we naturally want to contribute.
What we can create.
What we want to learn.
What we want to share.
And how our individual potential can serve something larger than ourselves.

Learning Through Experience

Education in this new culture does not have to happen primarily inside a classroom.
The garden can be a classroom.
The kitchen can be a classroom.
The forest can be a classroom.
The workshop can be a classroom.
The community can be a classroom.
Our relationships can be a classroom.
Our own body can be a classroom.
We want to learn through doing.
Through observing.
Through experimenting.
Through making mistakes.
Through asking questions.
Through sharing knowledge.
Through experiencing.
This is why the physical environment matters so much.
A yurt, a dome, a natural building, a garden, a communal kitchen, a workshop, a sacred silence space or a place around the fire are not simply facilities.
They are learning environments.
They shape the experience.
They communicate what we value.
They make another way of living tangible.

A Living Blueprint

The place itself becomes a teacher.
People should be able to arrive and see how sustainable living can actually work.
They can see the garden.
The water systems.
The renewable energy.
The natural buildings.
The communal kitchen.
The food.
The workshops.
The shared spaces.
They can experience what it feels like to live close to nature.
They can learn how to create something similar themselves.
This is why the project is intended to function as a role model and blueprint for others.
We do not want to create one perfect place that remains isolated.
We want to demonstrate possibilities.
To share knowledge.
To educate.
To inspire people to take what resonates with them and create their own version.
A new culture will not emerge from one location.
It will emerge through many places, many people and many experiments.
Our place can simply be one of them.

From Knowledge to Embodiment

There is a difference between knowing something and living it.
We can know that nature matters and still live disconnected from it.
We can know that community matters and still isolate ourselves.
We can know that health matters and still ignore our bodies.
We can know that love matters and still be afraid of intimacy.
We can know that freedom matters and still live according to someone else’s expectations.
Information alone does not change culture.
Embodiment does.
This is why the School and the land belong together.
The teachings become tangible through the way we live.
The garden teaches regeneration.
The kitchen teaches nourishment.
The community teaches relationship.
The body teaches awareness.
The land teaches patience.
The workshops teach creation.
The silence teaches listening.
The celebrations teach joy.
And everyday life becomes the curriculum.

The Life We Want to Create

Ultimately, our vision is very simple.
We want to create a life the human heart and psyche aches for and the planet thrives on.
A life where our basic needs are fulfilled.
Where people can be, live, grow and flourish.
Where humans and nature are no longer separated.
Where we can live our full potential and optimal health.
Where we take care of ourselves, one another and the Earth.
Where knowledge is shared.
Where generations meet.
Where people create with their hands.
Where food is grown, prepared and eaten together.
Where healing is part of life.
Where learning never ends.
Where work has meaning.
Where beauty is part of everyday life.
Where there is space for silence and space for celebration.
Where our community shares, dances, sings and laughs.
A place where we can experience freedom.
A place where life can regenerate.
A place where love becomes visible.
A holy nest.
A blueprint.
A beginning.