when we are flush with good things –

on the natural sharing economy

when we are flush with good things from the land, which in spring-time looks like an abundance of eggs, the sharing economy circulates in all its vibrancy.

the state of the world increasingly renders us more vulnerable, makes vivid the web of support we all depend upon. on the health of the land, the stability of the climate, the fitness of our bodies, the steadiness of our home-life, the strength of our communities, the resilience of our systems. if the forecast shows anything it is that future resilience will depend on our collective strengths at a local level.

in a thriving community, there’s no need to track the flow of reciprocity. it has a natural rhythm. we’re blessed with helpful, generous folk who seem always to give more than we could have imagined. an old window from a renovation at a friend’s house becomes a coldframe over here. our dear friend pops by to help with the winter pruning. a cuddle with our kid goats or advice about chicken care may well echo in a lift to the hospital for a test. it doesn’t matter. no one’s counting.

being there for each other is the essence of our mutual thriving, a neighbourliness formed by the sort of indebtedness that is the beating heart of community-building bonds. interdependence. symbiosis.

if our governments were wise, they’d enter into a social contract patterned on this exchange. one that acknowledges that no one should want for the basics. that we are all deserving of enough, and from needs met flows greater collective wellness. universal basics could reset us all to go forward in increasing health, and from there the circulation of abundance flows.

this is nothing new. it’s the pattern of all living things. the plums will be flowering soon, there will be too much fruit, so the geese, hens, goats, ducks, wild birds and bugs will collect the windfalls. we’ll preserve the harvest, our neighbours will swap for bountiful vegetables. the rest will compost down to feed the roots of another season.

we never put a price on the fundamentals. are we reimbursed for labour and birth? would we refuse to cuddle a crying baby because we were not paid to? would we withhold speech from a toddler working out the words? do we count up each family dinner and demand a wage? some argue that we should.

it matters when we turn to each other for help, when we give it freely. we can find other pathways toward thriving than the act of rendering all interactions transactional. we can practice a pattern of collaboration, not competition.

i would love to live in a world where everyone who can pitch in, does. where no one goes without, no one is deprived nor overworked. where enoughness is the requisite, neighbourliness the practice, symbiosis the pattern we seek, in all things. it isn’t radical to be well cared for, well fed. it isn’t asking too much to have enough.

this is the stuff of a life-practice i like to call ‘the small work’. in case you missed it, the film short made last spring at appleturnover by a documentary crew, on neighbourliness and the way i’ve been seeking to live in symbiosis, is here.

thanks for reading, thanks for subscribing. your support really matters ♡