Author: Patricia Mikkelson

Tent Living to get started

Patricia Mikkelson

One of the biggest obstacles to creating an ecovillage is simply the act of getting started. We have land, but at this point there are no buildings we have that would be suitable for living. There is a yome that can be pretty easily restored, and I am going to look into using it. More about that later.

Here is are some articles about tent living that really inspired me:

Living in a small tent: The art of tent living

http://candicehill.theworldrace.org/?filename=the-art-of-tent-living-part-one

This article was both inspiring and practical: 4 Off grid advantages of living in a tent

http://www.offthegridnews.com/how-to-2/4-off-grid-advantages-of-living-in-a-tent/

This tent looked pretty good for an individual dwelling place. Hey, if it is good enough for the special forces, it should be good enough for ecovillage living:)

http://www.usmilitarytents.com/new-products/mobileflex-tent

Doesn’t this tent look cool? I could not figure out details about it.but maybe someone can do that. It is inspiring. https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Winter-military-dome-tent-for-outdoor_60447677860.html?spm=a2700.7724857.0.0.f2HKnj&s=p

wow. I just didn’t realize there were such a variety of beautiful tents out there. Here’s a beauty–but they are out of stock:

https://www.amazon.com/Hasika-waterproof-lightweight-18×18-Teepee/dp/B01H1UI5QW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&dpID=41hFZhQcFEL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL320_SR320,320_&psc=1&refRID=4GAWMQXY7NGVRGHK0Y5N&linkCode=sl1&tag=shsh0a-20&linkId=832783e6797aa4f7371035fb030c7642

This website called Livable Tents has a lot of great tent reviews and suggestions as to how to find them.

http://livabletent.s3.amazonaws.com/index.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ideas for a website to promote veganism

Patricia Mikkelson

Have easy ways for people to volunteer from home or in community

Help people connect with their local vegan meetup, DXE group, etc.

Create regular social media campaigns like one million moms where people commit to spreading the word regularly about selected issues so that a lot of people focusing can make a difference.

have conference calls and webinars that really support people and discourage negativity. Unfortunately, some people who are vegans get judgemental and focus on the negative in ways that could discourage interested people.

have cameras showing animals so people can watch them live.

People can donate to feed the animals.

link to all the best vegan websites

 

 

Imagining A Day in Wellspring Ecovillage

Patricia Mikkelson

Writing as if I am actually in the future helps me to imagine the possibilities and presents to others a more vivid picture of the dreams I have. I love doing this because my right brain has fun and it is easy for me to get even more in tune with the vision that I want to be part of. So here goes!

I woke up this morning feeling so refreshed, in part due to the fact that I have achieved my life-long goal of sleeping outside. I have a screened in porch outside of my tiny house which is attached to the 40 foot dome that serves as the common space for our amazingly beautiful ecovillage.  I look outside and see the medicinal herbs, fruit trees, berries, flowers, and a host of other plants that thrive in the permaculture designed landscape that cover every inch of the land that we steward.  The smell of jasmine wafts through to me and I breathe in the fragrant scent gratefully, knowing that nourishment comes to me even through this means.

I feel so much at peace as I gaze upon the beauty surrounding my sleeping area which I often use as a place to journal, meditate and write. I love this space where my solitude is nurtured.  To think that I ever lived anywhere besides with this amazing group of people seems like a distant and sad dream. Finally, I am living the life I was made for and which I envisioned for all of my adult life.

I hear the distant clucking of chickens,mooing of cows, gobbling of turkeys, grunting of pigs  and bleating of sheep.  Contentedly, I muse about how each of these farm animals were rescued from local factory farming sites. Some of the rescues were ones that I participated in with the local Direct Action Everywhere chapter that we started and continue to support in Fayetteville.

The adventures we shared in going into one of the countless Tyson farms and Butterball production facilities in order to expose the cruel treatment were both exciting and heart breaking. Taking pictures of the sordid conditions and rescuing a few of the animals was a way of telling a story of both the ugly side of factory farming, and the uplifting part of rescuing animals and helping to restore them to health as well as a happy existence. Having an animal sanctuary as part of the ecovillage was a no-brainer when it came to planning our community.

For a long time it has been my custom to lay in bed for a long time to pray and slowly return to full consciousness. I have the time to do this since because of my super healthy, plant-based and natural life style I need only 4 hours of sleep. I do some journaling as well because I almost always wake up with new insights and ideas about what we can do to transform the earth into the garden of Eden it is destined to be.

The resonant sound of a clear, lilting bell gently interrupts my writing and I happily put down my pen. It is time for our daily morning meditation, yoga and devotional time. Still in my  pj’s (after all, we are like family, the members of the community are) I meander out of my door into a small entry room that serves as storage and a barrier to sound coming from the dome, which is commons space. After all, as much as I love being with people, I like my quiet space.

I open the door and see others emerging from their tiny houses which are connected to the dome. Each door is different, as is each tiny house, for people helped design them according to their needs. One couple has two children, and so they needed a small space. Two other attached dwellings serves as  dormitories for interns. With 8 attached living spaces, we efficiently house the core-group and their families. We are 12 people who work closely together as a team with complementary skills, outlandish abilities to dream big  and shared values to achieve goals that most people thought we could never do.

You see, within one year of moving in together, we were able to inspire a critical mass of people to adopt a vegan lifestyle, and the world is well on its way to becoming a planet where animals are treated with the compassion, love and respect that they have always deserved.

The group meditation that we share helps us to synchronize our brains with each other. The yoga helps us stretch and maintain youthful bodies with maximum energy. We sing songs that celebrate our ecumenical spirituality with harmonies that are heavenly in the dome which has the optimal environment for singing. We even have a time of prayer which often includes weeping as we get in touch with the suffering of animals and the earth which remain to be liberated.

I love this daily time of connection which leaves us all feeling closer to the earth, to each other, and to our goals. We have a quick meeting to check in with each other, share our thoughts as to what we want to do that day, and figure out how we can help each other optimally. Since we use the governing system Sociocracy 3.0, this way of coordinating our efforts makes it so we can achieve our shared goals and visions with utmost efficiency and intelligence with zero hierarchy and total egalitarianism. I knew that any group I worked with needed to have this system in place which has worked in large companies as well as intentional communities.

Some of us choose to have the green smoothies which have been prepared by our food preparation staff headed up by a master nutritionist who makes sure our diet is optimal. Eating the fruits and vegies grown on our land, as well as being purchased from farmers who practice nutrient-dense farming methods, insures that we get maximum nutrition. We also grow the miracle plant, moringa, and get our B vitamins and other essential ingredients for radiant health.

Barbara and I head over to the media department which is one of the many earth ship dwellings built into the hill side. We plan on producing yet anothe her youtube video which will be viewed by millions of people who have grown to love our news shows. Not only do they appreciate the information about all the useful things they can do to live a completely harmonious and sustainable life, but they enjoy seeing how Barbara and I interact with our deep friendship and infectious laughter. Sometimes we cry as well. Sharing troubling news about animal experimentation, persecution of animal rights activists, mistreatment of animals and the violent resistance to change that owners of factory farms exhibit leaves us in tears. And we know that is okay. We are non-conformists, and don’t believe we have to be completely objective and feelingless. But we do aim to be accurate and armed to the teeth with facts and documentation. Thousands of people have written us and said that our news show inspired them to go vegan. Now that is satisfying.

We finish the production in record time thanks to our great production crew. It’s time to take a break for lunch and volleyball. We are all into volleyball, and have exciting games that give us a good workout as well as fun. Our cooperation during the game is just a reflection of the cooperation we share as a team that is doing powerfully effective things to help save the planet.

Conversations are lively and varied as we eat a delicious mostly raw vegan lunch. Our ability to be prolific in such things as:

creating the most visited vegan site on the web that effectively supports people to adopt a plant-based diet i a spiritual way

designing a clothes line that is totally organic and sustainable as well as promoting the message of veganism

concocting super healthy nutrient dense and plant based meat, fish, sauces, snacks, treats and cheese to satisfy even the pickiest of eaters so they can easily make a transition from being a carnivore to being a vegan

Growing moringa and plants that help resolve many nutritional deficiencies

having the farm animal sanctuary

having a factory that produces everything from free energy devices to solar panels to sustainable building materials.

permaculture  growing  that produces enough food to feed our entire county (not to mention our community)

a cancer treatment center that not only is affordable has yielded 100 percent cure rate with everyone leaving a vegan, and staying that way.

The list is endless, and the conversations around how people can work in their areas of interest and expertise help everyone to gain even more momentum. Momentum is our key.

By living together in such close proximity and harmony, we gain a momentum that just about every other social movement has lacked. The efforts of William Wilburforce and his friends to abolish slavery in his life time (which happened) were attributed in a great part to the fact that they all lived in the same neighborhood and shared their lives in many ways. The next step is living in this 40 food dome with attached dwellings where our consciousness could continue to really align with each other and with the universal force that wants only good for all life. I attune to Jesus, others to nature, others to Buddhist philosophy, but we all respect each others beliefs immensely-another key to our success.

The laughter in the dining hall is contagious. Both paid staff and the core group which comprise the pioneering visionaries of Wellspring Ecovillage share meals as equals. We do pay many staff members so that we can do those things which we are best at, and we thus can be a positive influence on people as well as provide jobs. We have built a co-housing community where 50 people, including children, can thrive in an atmosphere of safety and love.

We use our beautiful dome to conduct classes and workshops both for the local s and for people who come from long distances for our retreats which we hold frequently. At least every other 2 weeks, we bring together the brightest minds in various area to create a think-tank like environment where we focus on solving a specific problem. For example, one two week period was designed with the goal of reaching thought leaders to inspire them to be vegan. The ideas that emerged were practical and yielded so far 500 leaders in all areas of expertise to become committed vegans and they are now spreading their message to their readers and followers.

Another 2 weeks was spent creating a full length dramatic film depicting the life of Will Tuttle, author of the World Peace Diet. He and his wife, Madeline, where the stars! This will be breaking in theatres everywhere soon, and we hope for this to have a major impact in inspiring people to embrace veganism.

After lunch, people disperse to do some more intense work for a few hours, and then everyone breaks for a siesta. Everyone shares a meditation. Then some read, others nap, others get massages and foot rubs or soak in the natural hot tubs. We even have a clay bath where people can lay in warm clay and soak up the healing vibrations as well as let go of toxins. The earth-based cultures would tune into the natural rhythms of our bodies which slow down between about 3pm and 5pm, showing that the siestas of other cultures made sense.

After siesta time, we all do gardening, or some other physical exercise like walking, swimming in the beautiful 40 acre lake which is part of the larger Living Springs neighborhood, kayaking, climbing trees

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10 Day Pure Energy Challenge by Tony Robbins

Patricia Mikkelson

I am thrilled to see that an influential leader is advocating a plant based diet. He does give permission for people to eat a small amount of high quality fish, but he doesn’t encourage it.  I am going to see if I can get some friends and family to do this program with me. I love it because he is not promoting his products, except for some greens that he recommends. Anyone can do this, and it is based on universal principles that I have found to be true in my life experience.

The 10-day pure energy challenge