Never a stranger...

Euan: "Isn't it interesting that we can come from opposites sides of the Atlantic, meet in a place that isn't even supposed to be inhabited by people, and start chatting only to find out that we have the same ideals?"

Many of you know that I am currently on the other side of the world, staying in a place that closely resembles the age of dinosaurs -- New Zealand. While visiting and working on farms, I have met someone who will remain a lifelong friend. His name is Euan and he is from the U.K.

After numerous late night talks while working at the Earthship together, Euan got out his journal. I found his writing colorful and insightful, not to mention it paralleled my ideals. Since I have been so intrigued, I wanted to share. So after little convincing he is letting me post one of his journal entries that he wrote while WWOOFing at an eco-village... Enjoy!

Awaawaroa

There is something here in this eco-village community that I have not come across before in my time. That I have not seen with my own eyes. I feel an enormous sense of freedom and well-being just being here and have never found such instant comfort around people who are strangers to me. I have to say then, that those who live within the realm of the ideals which you seek cannot be strangers. It's an unbreakable cohesion and this is a magical place.

The cicadas sing relentlessly in highs and lows, rhythmically in sync, building to almost deafening crescendos that then fall to silence like a shattering glass that's been teetering on the brink. Oh I ponder at the irony when I watch flocks of cheeky sparrows that flit around this beautiful garden who know nothing of their cousins' plight on distance shores, where they should prosper in harmonious abundance according to Nature's laws. Across the water in the antipodean countryside and urban sprawl the sparrows cease to call and the trees stand silent. No longer can they be content from their provision for all those who dwelled among their many tears of refuge.

In many corners and vast expanses across, our planet has risen: the age of fast-paced unconsciousness, of greed, war, and uncompromising consumerism. Beneath the grind of machines, effervescent glow of bright lights, pounding thuds of all night parties, and shrieks of drunken girls lingers only one thing -- silence, unbreakable silence. Many things hang in the balance and Mother Nature stands divided. We are her tyrant.

Human nature has risen and keeps on rising with all its many vices and they do prosper by corrupting the young and exploiting the weak and persecuting all those who stand in the way of ultimate power and it's bleak. Like an addiction, fades to nothing, falls to dust.

We must not though have mistrust of humanities' ultimate virtue -- love. And from that love comes faith and the faith that forges with the power of love. Love for all beings and lifeforms and love for all that is. We are as is all life a miracle and we have a calling from the true powers that reign in the infinite unknown. As we stand high on the top rung of the ladder of life, we presume ourselves entitled to domination over all else. We of course must not forget that it's all else that foots the ladder and prevents it from slipping beneath. Destruction cannot lead us to prosperity when bloodshed is used to boost economy and this becomes a mask over trust and honesty.

We are Nature and we must be natural or else our future will become written. The day we cease to be bitten by those that fly and those that crawl, will be a day too late to make the call. If you don't want this fairytale to have an end, then unite and strike the pillars of greed. The forest is our temple which we must love and defend.

By: Euan TW Storrar
February 14, 2010