Culture Artist Newsletter May 2008

Culture Artist Welcomes the Ada Herald!

The Culture Artist newspaper column is now available in the West Yellowstone News, in West Yellowstone, Montana. The West Yellowstone News is available online at: http://www.westyellowstonenews.com.

Welcome aboard!

Progress Notes on the Forest Moon Sustainable Community

We’ve had a lot of ups and downs while planning a Sustainable Community. We just haven’t been able to achieve the ‘critical mass’ necessary to make this happen as a group. I was almost to the point of giving up, when fate threw me a curve ball and things changed direction!

The original idea for the Forest Moon Ecovillage was to form a co-op to pool resources for the ecovillage. That didn’t happen, after almost two years of effort. But things changed recently.

As many of you know, I will be graduating from Converse College in August with a degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. I have recently taken a job at Pavillon in North Carolina (www.pavillon.org). This location in Western North Carolina is perfect for an ecovillage. In fact, there’s already one there, called ‘Earthaven’ (www.earthaven.org).

The area is in an isothermal belt, meaning that there’s not a lot of temperature variation through the seasons. This means that homes can be heated and cooled more efficiently. It also means that straw bale buildings would work well in the environment.

The point of all of this is that a group of therapists from Converse are working towards establishing a Green Therapy center near the Lake Lure area of North Carolina. If you’re unfamiliar with Lake Lure, the movies Dirty Dancing with Patrick Swayze and 28 Days with Sandra Bullock were filmed nearby. This Green Therapy center would be a retreat for couples, families and individuals to connect with nature as a means of therapy. So what does this have to do with the Forest Moon Ecovillage?

The plan as it stands right now is to purchase land for the Green Therapy center. We are looking to buy enough land so that the ecovillage could also be added at a later date. Instead of building the ecovillage as a co-op, parcels will be available for lease or purchase by individuals and families through the Forest Moon Green Therapy Center. The ecovillage itself will be incorporated as a separate entity once enough interested parties are involved to develop a Board of Directors.

At that time, the Forest Moon Ecovillage would then become a separate entity from the Green Therapy Center.

The Forest Moon Green Therapy Center will offer one or two week retreats based on Green Therapy. This would include a ‘wholistic’ approach to therapy. Some of the things our group has been discussing include: Drum Circle Therapy, Art Therapy, Music Therapy, Dance Therapy, Drama Therapy, Therapeutic Gardening, Mindfulness Meditation classes, yoga classes, massage therapy, and of course, Green Therapy.

The Green Therapy Center would be built first, and after it is established, we will begin offering parcels for sale or lease. The target date to begin construction is Spring of 2009.

If you would be interested in conducting a workshop at Forest Moon once it is completed, please email Chuck at chuck@cultureartist.org with your name, contact information, and title of your workshop.

Website of the Month for May 2008

Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist, and author. Starting at age 20, he dedicated his life to sustainability and changing the relationship between business and the environment. His practice has included starting and running ecological businesses, writing and teaching about the impact of commerce on living systems, and consulting with governments and corporations on economic development, industrial ecology, and environmental policy. Visit Paul’s site, Blessed Unrest, at: http://www.blessedunrest.com/video.html

Do you have a website on sustainability or green living you’d like to see featured here? Email your suggestion to: info@cultureartist.org!

News Items of the Month

The meditation CD, Mindfulness, has been doing well! If you’re interested in hearing samples, visit: http://www.cultureartist.org/Mindfulness/Mindfulness.htm. The response has been so positive that I am now working on a new CD for pain management through meditation. This CD should be available in August, for those of you who may be interested in a natural alternative to pain medications.

My latest book, Invasion of the Vegans! Will also be available in late Fall/early Winter of this year. When it is published, you will be able to purchase it at www.cultureartist.org.

The Culture Artist Organization is now available on Youtube! I’ve posted several videos on sustainability and earth-friendly spirituality at: http://www.youtube.com/user/cultureartist.

Feedback

Do you have a topic of interest you’d like to see discussed in the newsletter? If so, email us at: info@cultureartist.org!