Pro tip: There aren’t any forces against us.
Most of us in the United States and other developed countries have tremendous latitude in how we choose to live our lives. Our choices affect how much damage we do to the biosphere. We can choose to consciously minimize that damage or we can choose to ignore our impact on the world around us. We even have the freedom to choose a regenerative way of life to try to repair damage that we may have caused or to go further and repair damage done by others. We can reach beyond our immediate personal lives and help others in a regenerative way. This has been my goal and focus for this past year. I feel I’ve only begun on a regenerative life path, even though these ideas have interested me for decades. This year I’m finally taking it seriously, largely due to the climate reporting here on DK from Pakalolo, Meteor Blades, birches, mikeymikey, and others.
My regenerative projects include Local ecosystem restoration and food forestry in San Antonio, continuing the Climate Resilient Kitchen Garden at my home in the Hill Country, construction of Wicking Garden Beds from repurposed materials to more efficiently use irrigation water, implementing Greywater Management off the kitchen sink, and expansion of food gardens at my project in San Antonio. I’m also practicing Minimalism by drastically reducing my purchases this year, and trying to give away about half of my possessions. This has been an extremely challenging year of change in my life, with major health problems affecting my family and myself while I’m attempting to implement these regenerative practices in ways which will benefit my family and others. But I can’t say moving toward regenerative living has been difficult. It’s actually been easy and very fun.
The person who has inspired me the most in my regenerative life journey is Robin Greenfield. Rob takes on extreme life challenges in order to show what is possible if we take our lives in a regenerative direction. He doesn’t expect other people to be as extreme as he is; he encourages others to do what they can and move forward at a pace that’s comfortable for themselves. This is what I advise also; make life changes gradually as one is able, but keep moving toward the goal of regenerative living.
Here are some links to inspire those who are interested in transitioning to a regenerative way of life:
Robin Greenfield videos
Life in an urban forest
What is a food forest?
Suburban food forestry
Regenerating the urban desert
8000 forests
The Minimal Mom
A to Zen Life
