Sovereignty and Community
I often hear people talk about what their ‘word(s) of the year’ are going to be, but I have never really connected to what my ‘word(s) of the year’ were until each year is done. I guess one of the benefits of 2020 and 2021 seamlessly bleeding into one another is that I know for certain that this year is going to be a continuation of the growth and journey I (most of us) started last year. 2020 gave me more clarity than I would have ever expected in a lifetime, and through this clarity came the rock solid knowledge that the need for Sovereignty and Community are paramount. I started to create both to a level I would never have dreamed possible last year, and without doubt 2021 is the year that I solidify them.
What does this look like though and why is it important?
Sovereignty
When everything you took for granted is stripped away and you are confronted with the reality that so much is actually completely out of your control, it makes you step back and really think about what is of fundamental importance to you. Then where you can, and absolutely should, you work to ensure you can always be confident you have those things, no matter what anyone else says or does.
For me those things are simple, and to be honest, I suspect (hope!) when it comes down to it, are what we would (will?!) all end up fighting to maintain for ourselves and our loved ones.
Food - how to successfully grow our own so that we will always be nourished (and, as it stands, as I spoke about in a previous blog post, How to Stock a Health Pantry).
Water - have the resources available to always have pure and clean water to hydrate our bodies.
Financial Security - follow our passions and find ways to be free from having to take handouts from the state, that will always come with conditions attached, however extreme.
Health - know that health does not come in a bottle of pills or a jab, and is not something that can be outsourced, but instead comes from real food, clean water, chemical free living, movement, sleep, reducing stress, fresh air, sunshine and laughter (I of course acknowledge that modern medicine is life saving at times, but it is not where health starts, only where it may possibly end up if all else fails, and will never be true health wherever it enters the picture).
Education - ensuring that our children’s minds are cared to the same extent we aim to care for their physical bodies - that their education comes with the ability to think freely, expand to whatever extent and in whatever direction they are ready for, and fundamentally that their emotional health is put at the forefront all of the time - there will be no fear taught to my children!
The Right to Choose - my body, my choice - there is nothing more to be said here.
Community
I have realised without question that all of these are not only easier, but far more fulfilling when they are shared with other fellow human beings. 2020 brought us as a family the most incredible people into our lives. We moved to York for the Steiner School. Our children spent 6 months there before March 2020 hit us all like a tonne of bricks, and, as many of you know, they have never gone back (you can read more about our journey to Homeschooling here). And yet some of the families I met there in those initial months, and more extending from those, have become like family to us since the Spring of last year. We have found ways to be together, to support one another, and to plan and organise for the future of our children together. It is these people now that tie us to this place, and are the reason for which I know we were supposed to move here.
Local community is going to be paramount as we move forward into 2021, and as much as possible I would recommend you create your own if you haven't already (feel free to email me for ideas how). However, as well as this I am feeling really called to create national and global community. I am looking at the areas above that I am seeking to cement sovereignty in and thinking about how I can connect with others across the world to do the same. Where there are not already obvious ways to do so, I am going to create them. Social media has become a strange place, and it is increasingly becoming difficult to share naturally minded ideas on there with others, but platforms such as Telegram are rising in numbers, and I am excited to be creating community pages on a new website I am building.
I am holding the space for a future where community plays a huge role, and technology plays a positive part. Whilst many of us definitely felt that our addiction to technology was pulling us away from other humans, I think most of us felt it was almost accidental, and certainly within our control. What last year taught me was that it was not accidental on behalf of those who created many of these things we are addicted to, and more and more, with more controls coming in around what we can and cannot do in those spaces, I am realising we are far from in control.
By creating community locally first and foremost we can return back to the ways of our ancestors (not so distant) and spend time with real people. We can support one another with hugs, food, trading skills. We can watch our children play together as we sit around the table drinking tea and laughing. We can be there for one another when times inevitably get hard.
We can then take this and extend it out to the world globally. We can share in our online communities things of value and worth. I am holding the vision for technology to play the role of connecting us in our quest to grow our own food, educate our children in meaningful and heart centred ways, partner with Mother Earth to ensure the sustainability of both her and humanity, how we create financial freedom for ourselves, and support others to do the same, and share the wonders of what it is to be a free and sovereign being. I am holding the space for the Freedom Airway to become a reality and for us all to come together with our wisdom and our stories face to face, heart to heart.
So now I ask you, as you read this, if we are not yet connected around the above, please be in touch. I am determined to find a safe space for us all to be connected in, and I know I am not alone in this quest. I am going to be sharing more of how I work towards these things in this blog space, and in my stories on Instagram (whilst I remain on there, which for now feels OK compared to Facebook for me). For now though pop me an email and start the conversation. I would love to know how you are currently carving out more Sovereignty and Community in your life.
Times may be challenging right now but I am grateful to be living through them. We are born into these times for a reason and we have the opportunity to create something wonderful together.