Forget the Great Depression - This is the Great Inspiration

I have a dream - it's a dream not only for myself and my family but for everyone else out there afraid of what is to come, what is happening in the world right now. When my family first realized what a scary time we were entering, we did what everyone did - we panicked. We fought with each other and we looked ahead to a future of doing without, of our dreams being squashed under the weight of what this really meant. But then something happened. We started to plot and plan, figure out things we'd barely paid attention to before. We'd never really had to band together like this and something amazing happened. We became inspired - not afraid. We looked at all our habits, all our stupid belongings with fresh eyes, and we started to research - what are other people doing? How would we handle the worst-case-scenario? And we found that when you face these fears, they aren't really as scary as they seem out of the corner of your eye.

In one month, my son (and possibly grown daughter) and I will be embarking on an exciting new adventure: we'll be purposefully homeless - buying an RV and traveling to new areas to set up Abundance Trees - an ephemeral, interactive art installation that we hope will inspire the lost art of giving and collaboration in the communities we will call our temporary homes. We'll be learning to live frugally, to make money without jobs, to volunteer regularly - to give. And we'll share here the preparation that got us to this point, as well as our adventures along the way.

We're looking forward to a future in which we can live and not work our entire lives away for a corporation - where families, friends, creativity, and collaboration matter. The world is waking up to the limitations of competition, to over-production and wasted hours and lives. The world is waking up to what is important. This isn't a Great Depression - this is the time that we would like to remember as The Great Inspiration - if only we can all agree to make it so.

This may seem idealistic, and it is. It's easy to get cynical and dismiss idealism, but what are we left with when we do that? We're each faced with a decision: we can go backward in fear - retreat and lick our wounds, accept that there is nothing we can do and scrap everything we've learned, or we can go forward with hope and commitment and inspire each other to find creative solutions. My family is heading toward our future and sharing it here for anyone else who can benefit from our story. I hope to make this a place where you can share your goals, ideas, and inspirations as well. And where we can move together to find the silver-lining embedded in our current situation. We'll be sharing all of the interesting people, places, and ideas we come across, which of our experiments work, and which do not. We'll be tapping all of your great minds for advice and keeping the faith when times get tough. Welcome, friends!