No Culture?

That has always been one of my biggest concerns with a movement "back to the land"--so much culture is in the cities. Urban environments happen to breed art, music, poetry, dance; it's a confluence of ethnicity and flavor, a fondue pot of rich cheeses and chocolates--of guitars and metaphors and colors galore. But all of this art somewhat arises as a reaction--if a song is not about love it's usually about what's wrong with our society today.

Here at Findhorn, I can see four huge windmills through the windows of the art museum that is almost near completion. The garden that grows tomatoes, lettuces and broad beans for the whole community is about 100 yards behind the Blue Angel Cafe, where I performed a song and a spoken word poem at an Open Mic night tonight. Yes this is reality--I have to remind myself every day. It is all a dream and it is all a reality. Someone once dreamed it and now it is in flesh. Self-expression and sustainability have fallen in love.

The Blue Angel Cafe is in the upstairs part of a giant and dynamic performance space, used for theatre, dance, music, and anything you can think of, really. There have been Bushmen dancers (who performed a few months ago) and comedians, celtic musicians and chamber orchestras--next week the show "Strangeface" is coming through. There is no denial that self-expression is a vital part of human sanity here, almost as vital as food and sustainable energy production.

The Exterior of Universal Hall

The Interior of Universal Hall

Universal Hall seems to be a cultural hub of the surrounding area here in Northern Scotland. There are towns within the surrounding 10 miles and a lot of people who live in those towns are in some way connected to the ecovillage. On Friday night, I and the other FCS students (Findhorn College Semester) were asked to partake in a Victorian/Recyclable Fashion Show to raise money for a women's organization in India. Every day something radically new is happening here and it is not an accident. There is an awareness of the need for cultural fulfillment. The multi-dimensionality of human beings is fully acknowledged at Findhorn, from physical to intellectual to spiritual.

I felt an excitement in my whole body as I performed a poem tonight at the Blue Angel Cafe. I called it "Alphabetitis-an addiction to diction" There were about 25 people in the cafe and one woman had brought all types of drums and tambourines and maracas, so I encouraged people to make a beat for me while I recited the poem. I felt a surge of energy rush through my body as I spoke; a middle-aged man with long brown locks beat on a drum while a young woman in the back softly shook her tambourine. I never could have imagined I could get this--here. This culture, this music, this art--here. But here it was, in what I no longer call "the middle of nowhere." This is the middle of everywhere. New people come in each week to experience Findhorn and to think about what this means for the rest of the world. I'm starting to see Findhorn and other ecovillages as perhaps the keystone in the bridge that must be built between where we are now and where we need to be.

More and more, I'm realizing the importance of the idea that sustainable isn't just logistical. Yes of course there is farming and alternative energy and composting involved, but there is a mental space that is calling out for help as well. I'd say many people agree that our exterior situation is unsustainable, but have you ever thought--is our interior situation sustainable?
The news reports every day on crime and war and debt but,
why no news reports on depression, anxiety and fear?
Why is external reality more traumatic than the internal?
How could they be perceived as so distinct from each other?