April 23, 2023
All beings need a home.In the wisdom traditions it is taught that we all have 3 homes that we need to love as much as we can. The first home is our earth . The earth is feeding us , and feeling all of our actions.As I sit to write this article I am very aware that spring is slowly coming,I can see life returning in the buds on the trees, in the birds that are arriving daily and in the garlic, daffodil, leeks and other bulbs poking up.Each of us has to contemplate the choices we make and if they come from love.Every small action adds up.A second home is our body. This vessel of love is a community of our muscles, bones, tendons, ligaments, organs, fluids all held by our birthday or “skin suit” that we are born in.I remember in my yoga teacher training course many years ago the instructor said to us “if this home wears out, where are you going to live?”In other words, take good care of yourself for heaven sake. You can buy a new car, but you can’t buy a new body.And then there is the home where we live perhaps alone, with family or friends or pets. We all need a place to love and feel safe, warm, relaxed, protected, healthy, strong, connected and secure. I cannot imagine what it would be like to not have a home or be able to afford one. We all love our homes and everyone deserves to have one.When Jim and I were in Tobermory last week we hiked to a lake to see if the eagle nest that we saw last year was still there.We were excited to see that the nest was still there, and there was a female sitting on her eggs again. At one point 2 more eagles flew in, one bringing her food and one hopped around on the branches.We stood quietly for a long time just watching.Yesterday Jim and I did our annual bird box cleaning at Barnum Creek.We opened 10 boxes and found nests from chickadees, blue birds, some wasps and one had a squirrel's nest we think.Each box was a little home. A couple of weeks ago I attended a meeting hosted by the not-for-profit organization “Places for People.”Their volunteer board of directors focus on creating and managing quality, affordable housing in Haliburton County so that their tenants can thrive.They currently own and manage 12 units and are planning to expand.Housing is essential to the wellbeing of our county.If we want to attract and keep people from all professions, if we want young people to stay or return, if we want to be a county that looks after each other and helps one another, we need affordable, and well managed housing. I know my home is my refuge where I can rest, rejuvenate, look after myself and then go out into the world to contribute. Everyone deserves a refuge. There are so many ways to support housing in our county. For more information about Places for People check out placesforpeople.ca.