Father-and-son time climbing a mulberry tree

The post It Takes A Village appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

This fall marks a new beginning in the life of educational programming at Earthaven. Two of the village’s educational organizations have merged. Culture’s Edge and School of Integrated Living (SOIL) are now one. Read on to learn more of their histories and how the merger evolved. 

 Culture’s Edge was founded in 1996, two years after Earthaven. Early Earthaven members studied the skills needed to develop an ecovillage and then taught those skills at Earthaven. Culture’s Edge became a regional leader in permaculture, natural building, and healing arts training, attracting students and apprentices from around the world to study at Earthaven. Culture’s Edge continued offering workshops over the years, though the number declined over time as instructors moved away and new organizations started providing educational programs in the region. 

 In 2013, NikiAnne Feinberg and Lee Warren co-founded School of Integrated Living (SOIL), an educational organization and social enterprise that teaches whole-life skills for a radically different and sustainable future. SOIL aims to populate the world with empowered, skilled, and conscious leaders dedicated to creating regenerative change and healthy relationships. 

 In 2019, Culture’s Edge started rebuilding its board after Earthaven’s restructuring process was complete and more community energy was available for creative educational endeavors. Over the years, the idea of developing online education had been swirling in the village as a way to more diversely address Earthaven’s educational mission and boost the local economy for community members. The revitalization of Culture’s Edge couldn’t have come at a more apropos time to pursue online education.

 In this COVID-19 era, SOIL had to cancel all of its 2020 in-person programs and the outlook for 2021 is still uncertain. With the strong team that SOIL has cultivated over the years and a new website equipped with the technology needed for online programs, plus the fact that several people were involved in both organizations, the obvious question was…why not consolidate resources and efforts by placing in-person and online educational offerings under one roof? So they did. 

 With the merger, Culture’s Edge continues to be a non-profit organization focused on Earthaven’s mission and SOIL is the educational face of Culture’s Edge. Educational opportunities at Earthaven are poised to reach audiences further afield. The casting of a wider net couldn’t come at a better time, as the sustainable way of life at Earthaven is becoming more relevant in light of many of today’s systemic challenges.

 Stay tuned for the rollout of SOIL’s new website, as well as its newest programs: a free audio podcast, new online workshops, and virtual tours of our village. 

 In the meantime, check out SOIL’s in-person 2021 programs by visiting the current SOIL website or sign up for the December 6 Virtual Village Tour on the Earthaven website. To get the latest news about SOIL’s programs, subscribe to SOIL’s newsletter.

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Steve Torma laughs when he remembers his first exposure to nonviolent communication (NVC), the system of compassionate human relations developed by psychologist Marshall Rosenberg. As a fresh-faced 25-year-old at the Hippocrates Health Institute in Florida, he attended exactly one afternoon in-service program about the practice. “I thought that I knew what NVC was after that introduction!” he recalls.

But it wasn’t until 2007 that Steve truly began to understand the transformative potential of NVC. After an eight-week intensive course by one of Compassion Camp’s facilitators, Jerry Donoghue, he saw that the practice went far beyond a way of talking with others. “It’s a postmodern understanding of what all religions basically talk about at their core, which is the Golden Rule: Love thy neighbor as thyself,” Steve says. “For me, NVC has become a spiritual path.”

Since that revelation, Steve has founded The REAL Center and 10,000 Love Letters, two projects for spreading the word of NVC, and has instructed nearly 600 people in the practice. He brings that mission to Earthaven in partnership with School of Integrated Living (SOIL) through Compassion Camp, taking place August 15-18. Read Steve’s interview on the School of Integrated Living website, where he shares more about the camp, the power of NVC, and its value to sustainability advocates.

Compassion Camp is a four-day event for adults and children where we create a community of people who learn, play, and celebrate together, empowered to send each other back into the world to spread these seeds of justice and love. Our time together is designed to foster community among the growing number of people who are passionate about living and promoting compassionate consciousness. Be inspired, empowered, and connected.

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On November 14 & 15, a cluster of our village family and friends joined over a hundred people in Asheville for a Grief Ritual with Sobonfu Somé, sponsored by the School of Integrated Living (SOIL). Sobonfu is a gifted spiritual teacher from the Dagara tradition of Burkina Faso. This was the second time we were able to work with her.

It was especially enriching this year to share the ritual space with over 20 people from our extended village. We have woven together a life complete with broken dreams, shared losses, the hardships of living together, and the collective longing for a better world.

Sobonfu led the drumming and song that announced it was time to grieve. We created three altars: one for the ancestors, one for forgiveness, and one for grief. Each of us placed something on the grief altar to symbolize our grief. While grievers mourned, witnesses stood near and supported each one, as did the musicians and singers. Together we became a village with specific roles that made the grief ritual as powerful as it was. All in all, the message was—we cannot do this alone.

During the day, some of us reached out to each other, feeling the comfort and safety of being held in another’s arms. Being witnessed as we grieve is a powerful medicine, which breaks the spell of entrenched isolation and separation in modern culture that so often keeps us from reaching out. At the close of the ritual, Mana McLeod and Chris Farmer, both of Earthaven, had the honor of burying the grief bundle. I burst with emotion as the group thanked and welcomed them back in. It left me dreaming of a time when we are all welcomed with the same collective gratitude!

At the close of this ritual, my heart was so open; I felt such gratitude for the experiment called Earthaven.

Kimchi Rylander is an artist, deep ecologist, and permaculture activist who has been Earthaven’s Firekeeper for the last two years. Her grandest artistic endeavor is building a resilient ecovillage with 60 other cultural creatives at Earthaven. When she is not chair caning, you’ll find her in the forest harvesting a fresh batch of nettles and chickweed. Connect with Kimchi by email at kimchi-at-earthaven.org.

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Some folks work for companies located at Earthaven, including Useful Plants Nursery and the Southeast Wise Women. Others work for the community doing maintenance, bookkeeping, or office administration. A few skilled builders and technicians help keep our systems running, while a few folks work outside the community – commuting or consulting.

Many of us provide goods or services for each other, including farm products, baked goods, herbal medicines, elder care, window washing, and recycled or upcycled goods.

These goods and services are exchanged informally and through our Tuesday morning Coffee and Trade Hour, and at special events, such as the Bizarre Bazaar, which is highlighted in this newsletter.

Neighbors and residents are always brainstorming cooperative strategies they hope will morph into essential parts of the local economy. In this newsletter we present two examples: a Farm & Ecovillage Immersion program called SOIL, and a new landscaping company.

 Some of us are looking to 2014 as the year of the entrepreneur, so if you’ve been thinking of setting up a business in a community setting, let us know what’s in your idea box and we’ll see if we have any collaborative ideas to share.

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