When Bob
Banner and I began discussing how to cover local
events for HopeDance we indulged ourselves with
dreams of spawning new, locally focused inserts that
could be published with the magazine.
We
wanted to keep the local flavor. Already Bob had
received comments that HopeDance seemed to be moving
away from its local audience, covering more and more
geographically diverse regions throughout California,
and even some parts of the world.
HopeDance's
last edition on "Sustainable Living
Arrangements," in fact, featured an item from
the Crystal Waters permaculture ecovillage in
Australia. We were later fortunate enough to meet
Evan Raymond and Morag Gamble, who came to the US to
talk about their experiences in that community.
Their
July workshop in Ojai, sponsored by the Santa Barbara
Permaculture Network, made it clear that the world
itself is a village, one with many inspiring examples
of how to recreate the places where we live.
Morag
and Evan showed us the possibilities that arise when
creative and committed individuals pool their talents
and resources to live move sensibly on the planet.
We
can make a difference, they seemed to be saying, but
the work requires a vision and the commitment to make
it happen. Now, after more than 25 years, nearly 200
people live in a community that produces most of its
own food, generates its own power, recycles all of
its "waste" and is virtually
self-sustaining.
Their
presentation also made clear the fact that HopeDance
brings together - both in its pages and in the events
it sponsors and supports - a lot of wonderful people
and resources from diverse locations and communities,
not only from San Luis Obispo County or even Southern
California.
I'm
amazed at the quality and character of individuals
and groups that have come together through Bob's
efforts: imaginative, talented and caring people who
are actively making positive changes in the world.
More
than 35 people from San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange
County and other parts of the state attended the Ojai
workshop. They brought all kinds of resources and
experiences with them, collectively seeking better
ways to live lightly on the Earth.
These
individuals formed briefly as a community largely
because of the network HopeDance has established
through its readership. Connections and liasons were
made, information exchanged, hope and wisdom shared.
In
such desparate times, we need these links - both
locally and globally - with creative individuals and
communities. More particularly we need their
practiced wisdom in putting our ideas to work.
HopeDance,
therefore, will continue to seek models of
sustainable living from communities spread throughout
the US and the world. Only in that sense, perhaps,
has HopeDance really moved from its home base.
HopeDance,
then, can serve as a point of connection for people
everywhere, including San Luis Obispo County, who
seek a more friendly world in which to live.
We
hope that readers from this area will value these
connections that can be made with other communities.
Additionally,
we wish to stay rooted to the ground from which
HopeDance sprung its first shoot. So, for now,
beginning with this issue, we're adding this section
to the magazine, focusing on activities in San Luis
Obispo County.
As
HopeDance matures, it will continue to draw wisdom
from around the world and seek to place that wisdom
into your hands, which, as you know, are the best
tools for local action. And we hope that your hands
will be joined by pairs of other hands in a shared
vision of sustainable living and positive solutions.
I
know that Bob is committed to keeping his roots
intact, maintaining strong connections with the
magazine's home base.
And
I know that he cherishes your continued support as he
expands his vision for the magazine, part of which is
to embrace solutions from vaster sources of wisdom
and understanding.
He
certainly wants you to continue to be an active part
in the growth of the community that HopeDance has
built over the last five years.
HopeDance
celebrated its fifth anniversary in August and
recently picked up its fifth national distributor. It
appears that HopeDance's vision of sustainability and
of finding real solutions to seemingly intractable
global problems appeals to a lot of people.
We
want to share the message of HopeDance with more
people. We want others to know there are solutions to
a world driven by consumer values and corporate
oligarchy.
And
we want you to be inspired by examples from the
widening circle of communities who share your vision
for positive solutions and sustainable living.
Stacey Warde
Editor of the SLO HopeDance section
