Have you heard of the sustainable living movement? Land ships? Yes, those fantastic alien-looking houses in faraway places. Most likely you have. Land ships may be arriving in a nearby neighborhood and it could be sooner than you think.

Today we think of our homes as “traditional”, but are they really? I say “traditional” in quotes because it is the Earthship which is a traditional house; in harmony with the earth, the environment and the climate. My goal and dream is to reside on a land ship sometime in the near future.

I had the opportunity to visit the birthplace of Earthships outside of Taos NM. It was a visit that changed my life. One of my goals is to make one of these magnificent homes my home. It sounds easy? It may be easier now, but it was not always like this.

Founder, architect and engineer Michael Reynolds has made sustainable living his life’s work. For 40 years, Reynolds has been fighting legislation, government, and big business for the right to freely build and live in sustainable communities.

Definition of land ship

A land ship is defined by having the following 6 principles; Thermal / solar heating and cooling, solar and wind electricity, autonomous wastewater treatment, construction with natural and recycled materials, water harvesting and food production.

With all this technology available, it becomes a question of why more land ships are not being built. Without going into all the political and governmental issues and restrictions, I think the answer is the struggle for power.

Power balance

To live in harmony, individuals must give up the “need for total control.” When the need to have total control, or to have power, has been put aside; then balance, harmony and association will occur naturally.

It is true that in many situations the balance of power is skewed or weighted in one way or another, a natural progression that goes both ways depending on the situation. This is a natural balancing act. Think of a stream and how it winds through the landscape. Sometimes the stream is more powerful due to heavy rains and the landscape gives way to excess water. The opposite also is true; when the stream dries up or has less water flowing, the landscape stretches its boundaries, grass, flowers and so on. The stream and the landscape are associated with each other, each allowing the excess of the other when necessary.

The power struggle I am referring to is the absolute need for control even though there are better solutions available; being in control by simply being “right”, in other words.

Living with and in a land ship is like the stream and the landscape. The land ship and the individual live in association with the climate, the earth, the environment, and each other. By its very nature, Earthship is a biosphere that requires management to thrive.

Stewardships …

Whether we know it or not, we are all administrators of the area in which we occupy. It does not matter if you live in a house, apartment, city or in a rural area; stewardship remains constant. Tea quality Stewardship changes as we change.

The power to make changes!

Residing within each of us is the power to make changes. My dream is to live on a land ship and that will happen. It may not be someone else’s dream. No matter what your dream is, you can still affect and enact change. Promote change through recycling, education, and choosing alternative transportation modes. Get involved in activities that support harmony.

The phenomenon of the hundredth monkey

If everyone made small changes when becoming aware, this new awareness is communicated from mind to mind when a critical number is reached. The number is not exact in all situations, but the phenomenon is constant and is known as “the hundredth monkey phenomenon.”

When only a few individuals know of a new way that it remains with those individuals … when transmitted, even to just one other person, the energy field opens up and is accessible to all. Be the POWER OF ONE!