I have had a dream for a long time, maybe all of my life. It involves creating a place which nurtures the soul. As a child, I was always escaping into nature and pretending that I had to find ways to survive there. It made me feel calm, powerful and creative. Now I work as a counsellor and sense more and more that this is the state we are lacking, this is what we all need.
So I am now in the process of creating an eco-retreat centre, called Terrealuma, with this in mind. Terrealuma is in the south east of Poland, it consists of 40 acres of beautiful land, meadows full of healing herbs, wide open views, sunny south facing slopes, woods, streams and hidden ravines, inhabited by plenty of wildlife. Some of it is being used as a permaculture farm, the rest left wild. We are building an infrastructure and some natural buildings, some set into the grassy slopes and others small free-standing hemp adobe houses, to accommodate guests for healing, meditation and/or creative retreats.
The idea is to create a place where people can regenerate from the root, and rediscover eating truly nourishing food, drinking fresh water, lighting fires, living in buildings made of natural materials, that breathe, properly dark skies... all the necessities of life which have come to seem like luxuries, and then to give their own feelings, thoughts and spirits some attention, healing from the disconnection and disturbance of everyday life. Then hopefully we can emerge from the cocoon ready to take action and change the systems that have so depleted us.
If the idea resonates with you, please have a look at the video and visit the site. All contributions are gratefully recieved - there is a lot of work ahead of us. But the vision is nourishing me already - and I am in a hurry to pass it on...