We have arrived early at Findhorn Park to attend the conference on Communal Pathways to Sustainable Living and are shown our communal house
with plenty of time to settle in before lunch.
It is a lovely house, which we share with 5 other people. Steve and I have a room to ourselves with a
shared bathroom. The fridge is stocked
with breakfast food and we will be eating in the house. The other meals will be served in the
community centre and they will all be vegetarian. The food is cooked by members of the community,
who also help clean up. As part
of our experience of living here, we will take our turn at KP – Kitchen Patrol, helping with the cleaning up after each
meal.
We have booked in for a 3-day Findhorn Taster, before
the commencement of the conference. It
will give us taste for how this community functions and enable us to
participate in some of what happens here.
After lunch, we gather in the legacy room to commence our experience and
get to know some of the other conference participants as well as to learn the
history of the place we have come to visit.
The Findhorn Foundation as I understand it is a spiritual
community, eco-village and centre for holistic education. The community here is striving to create a
more sustainable way of living and to manifest their values and beliefs through
the choices they make. The Foundation is
a charitable trust, which was formed 10 years after the founders began living
and working here in a quest to demonstrate ‘love in action’ or as they state to
bring heaven down to earth!
It all began in 1962 when Peter and Eileen Caddy and Dorothy
Maclean came to the caravan park not because they wanted to start up a
community but because they were following their own spiritual path. People were initially drawn here because of
the abundance of the garden they planted to supplement their diet. The area is adjacent to the ocean so people
were curious about the huge vegies (40 pound cabbages) being produced from
crops grown on the sand dunes. The community that came here primarily to practice their
spiritual beliefs began to realise that their beliefs could not be divorced
from the way that they lived and today living lightly on the land is very much
a way of life here and the the eco-village we see is a result of that.
Findhorn is now known the world over for its sustainable
practices. Many different types of eco-houses
are spread around the park but they also use renewable energy systems and
implement various environmental measures such as recycling and waste water
treatment. The Ekopia Resource Exchange
is another example of community power at work.
The community bank has about 180 members and supports local
business. In 2002, they launched the Eko
– a local currency which can be exchanged for Pounds which can then be spent
locally at a number of places both here at the park and the nearby village. This encourages people to support their local economy and the community can earn interest on their cash in the bank.
We have come here to learn about sustainable living. Some of the spiritual practices will be
challenging. On our first day of introductions
we are introduced to the concept of Angel
Cards. I think the beliefs
surrounding these cards is that it is a way of connecting to your guardian
angel and each card has a unique positive word that is meant to encourage
you. We are asked to introduce ourselves
by mentioning our name, where we are from and to say something about the word
that you have received.
My word is Vision,
which I find interesting. Having a
vision for my life, for my future has always been important to me especially
now that I feel I am once again at another crossroads in my life. Steve and I also share a common vision for
our future and we believe it is a vital component of our relationship. We both acknowledge that we don’t necessarily
want the mainstream life we’ve led. Personally,
I no longer want the stress of trying to balance my life and work but rather
feel that my life and work must be more integrated. This is what the community of people here are
trying to achieve. I have already met
many interesting people who are so inspiring and are living sustainable, meaningful
lives. I know this week will be full of
surprises and learning opportunities that will help us grow and give us new ideas for our own future.
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