If you are motivated by the desire for a deeper connection with nature, words are not enough. Finding plants that can help you heal, that feed you, or provide materials for making useful objects or inspiring art–all of these activities, because they are about more than words, and because they create a relationship between you and the plant, can open up the opportunity to experience this sense of connection and harmony with nature.

When we gather for a week …we propose to form ourselves in an exemplary life together, the sort of life we would wish for the whole Earth in the centuries to come. Some Native American peoples have set up what they called “ceremonial villages,” villages not meant to be lived in permanently, but set up temporarily for nurture, educational, and motivational purposes. This is a good image for what we intend to be in our seven-day encampments.

My life has been very rich because it has been so intertwined with the Water and bioregionalism. Recognizing my part in the Water cycle, thanking the Water and being present to the Water have made changes in my consciousness, ones that I believe must occur for us to share Water and use it wisely. Water is living, and it wants to be known.