Planet of Possibilities is a place for dreaming and envisioning, but also for sharing good ideas, and for practical, grounded action……. Continue reading
Ten days ago my Dad passed away. He was not very well, but the death came unexpected. He was 75.
I have felt grief and deep pangs of loss; of missing the familiar presence of his large physical form, even though it had been an uncomfortable dwelling place for a number of years. But what has surprised me is how this experience of death has been so rich with gifts. It has felt like an enormous cleansing wave of energy, bringing much heart opening and light, connection, and deep deep gratitude and love. Continue reading
This year is showing itself to be a big juicy exciting one in my world. Projects and ideas that for years have been slowly forming in my mind and heart are now becoming firm realities on the material plane.
I started this blog nearly four years ago, as a way to start sharing my passions, and finding expression for how I see the world. I wrote in my Welcome post:
Eventually, I envisage PoP becoming involved in the realisation of actual projects, by bringing together sources of funding, expertise and creative ideas. So this blog is also a work in progress and journey of discovery towards that. Continue reading
I read in a newspaper recently that the UK government is committing to spend another 160 billion pounds on military hardware, machinery for wars and death.
This provoked me to write about a few things regarding our relationship to our current economic and political systems and their unending support of violence. Whether it be the manufacture of weaponry, the destruction of ecosystems, the exploitation of vulnerable people, or the polluting of the planet, it seems that those that destroy, pollute and kill are the ones that are most rewarded and valued in our current system.
Conversely, those who are involved in the well-being of people and planet, are often struggling financially and reliant on donations.
I want to question my, and your, relation to this situation. Continue reading
A few days ago I spent the whole day in what will become my local village.
Since 2006 there has been a project ongoing here, called Centro de Convergência (Convergence Centre), initiated by GAIA a portuguese environmental NGO. They describe the project as follows:
“Centro de Convergência is, above all, a unique working methodology aimed at bringing dynamics to a rural area, by hosting projects from different fields (environment, sociology, art and culture, research, permaculture…). While sharing a common space, people from different backgrounds can create new ideas, concepts and solutions. All projects have a strong relation with local population.” Continue reading
At last I have taken the big leap and made an offer to buy some land. 34 hectares in the hills of rural south-west Portugal.
There is an abandoned orchard and vegetable garden in the main valley, lots of cork oak forest, including a lot of fairly recent planting. Lots of olive groves. Some eucalyptus. Some steep slopes of worn out land with hardly any soil, growing mainly cistus shrubs with a few olives and young oaks. There are huge areas covered in brambles. There is a well, a water tank, a ruined house, and another small ruin near the well. It feels vast and exciting. I am happy walking around there for hours, discovering more and more. Continue reading
After a long break I am excited to be back here on my blog and posting again….
Over the past 6 months I have been looking at moving to Portugal, and have spent a couple of months there. I wish to buy land, grow food, plant trees, have fun building healthy, functional and beautiful dwellings, and experiment with clean sources of energy. But most importantly, to create a space for people to come together, to support each other in letting go of our tired old stories of limitation. A place for exploring connection and intimacy between human beings, and also between humans and other living beings, the entire natural world of plants and elements, and the wider universe. A place for slowing down and observing, breathing, sensing, opening to life. Continue reading
News programmes start with dramatic music and an air of seriousness. The message is that the world is a bad, dangerous place, so you need a government, a big army, and strong-armed police force to stop the terrorists, rapists, child molesters, murderers etc away from your door. The nature of reality is struggle, pain, war, fighting, drama. This is interspersed with gossip and opinion to keep people diverted from thinking too deeply, or feeling too much. We seem to be addicted to drama and suffering, that’s what sells the newspapers and keeps people glued to TV screens. It is accepted as normal. Continue reading
I have been predicting a global financial collapse since I was at school. I remember learning about both population growth, and world resources and how they are used, and came to the obvious conclusion that a system that relies on ever-increasing consumption of finite resources, by growing numbers of people, was clearly doomed. And that’s without knowing anything about our debt-based economy.
Many years on, it seems like we are always on the brink of total economic meltdown. But governments keep on pumping more hot air into the bloated system as it teeters and stumbles along leaving a trail of destruction and gigantic mountains of debt. They throw out news of ‘economic recovery’, but with the US economy in more debt than ever ($14 trillion as of end of last year) this ‘recovery’ sounds completely absurd. Continue reading
Whilst browsing through the newspaper yesterday, I came across a few things related to university education. In the UK its a hot topic at the moment, with students protesting about higher fees. I read that there are also plans to reduce the number of places available.
I get the point of the protesters – that these plans seem to discourage young people, and particularly the less wealthy, from embarking on higher education. But maybe its also an opportunity to open up and question the value of a university education and if it’s really worthwhile? Continue reading
I’ve been doing some research lately on the topic of education. I am not a big fan of mainstream education systems, and the whole culture of school, although from what I see, there are kids who are fine and can thrive wherever you put them. They are able to maintain their own inate intelligence and self-worth. However I think these kids are the minority.
The whole idea of education needs to be looked at and questioned as we move forward into a more intelligent way of living on the planet. It needs to reflect new priorities, to treat children as intelligent human beings, and listen to what they have to say about their own education and about the world they inhabit. Continue reading