Connection is the Key to Changing the World

We are at a critical time in history. It’s the exact right time to be making changes in your life to improve the health of the planet and the environment around us. It can be a daunting task. But what if we looked at it in simpler terms? What if changing the world could begin with connection? By connecting with our neighbors and our community. By making a collaborative effort in how we grow our food and take care of our surroundings. We could start a ripple effect that would slowly but surely spread. 

We could change the world together.

On a recent episode of The Darin Olien Show,

I sat down with my buddy Stephen Brooks. You may remember Stephen, from the third episode of my Netflix show Down to Earth, where Zac and I traveled to Costa Rica. Stephen helped create Punta Mona, one of the oldest and most bio-diverse permaculture education centers in Central America. Punta Mona is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever had the privilege of visiting. And I’m not just talking about physical beauty.

Connection

In Punta Mona, everyone works together to build their homes, grow their food, and take care of each other. The concept of permaculture is living and breathing in this exceptional community.

“I want to be surrounded by people that love this earth,” Stephen explains. 

“I want my neighbors to care about the things I care about, so that together collectively, collaboratively, we can make this world better.” 

This may sound like a far-off fantasy dreamland, where a bunch of hippies want to create their own utopia and leave us normies in the dust. It’s not! The concept of permaculture isn’t as fantastical as you may think. Stephen describes permaculture as a “design philosophy” that prompts you to ask the question, “How can we meet our goals and use less energy?”

Who Do You Give Your Energy To?

Now Stephen isn’t talking about the energy needed to power our electricity here, although that is part of it. He’s talking about our physical energy, our emotional energy, and our mental energy. Anytime we spend any ounce of energy on taking care of our community or providing food for our family, we’re connecting with that source. 

Who are you giving your energy to? Is it the big box store across the highway? Or is it the small farmstand on the corner? The connection to our food source is a powerful one. Stephen says once we start “merging where we live with what we eat,” we can begin to see the bigger picture.

It Starts at Home

We all can’t move to Costa Rica (even if we may want to). So, how can we bring some permaculture to our own communities? Connection! 

Start small. Stephen suggests planting a garden at home and encouraging your neighbors to do the same. Trade crops, share tips, give baskets of vegetables to neighbors who may not have the ability to grow their own gardens. Or start a garden in an elderly neighbor’s yard and take care of it for them.

Stephen strongly believes that when we treat the world around us as an extension of our own bodies, only then can we grasp the concept that we’re all connected. And by cherishing this connection and nurturing it, we can then begin to save the planet—one garden at a time.