My husband and I are young professionals, and we've grown increasingly mired in and disillusioned by the trappings of the industrialized and globalized world - we cringe at the debt that has become so customary and casual for people in Western societies (debt that we are all too familiar with), the seeming lack of choice for young people, and the lack of beauty (or rather, the lack of the pursuit of beauty) that plagues our society.
We have had conversations with so many of our peers, friends, and co-workers lately regarding their desire to return to the land, to live a life free of debt and excess, to rediscover the simple gorgeousness of life through good food, beauty, art, music, honest work, and genuine pleasure. We have a desire to start something, to foster some sort of rebirth in our generation, culture, and world.
We want it, our friends want it, and Detroit needs it.
Detroit was once the backbone of America and the very life-force of our industry. What is it today? What does it desire? Is this once-mighty city very different from the 22 year old who graduates with $100,000 in school loans from a private school, who recently was brimming with optimism but has been rejected by countless potential employers? Is Detroit so different from the 28 year old teacher who was laid off last year because of a budget deficit?
Detroit was once the backbone of America and the very life-force of our industry. What is it today? What does it desire? Is this once-mighty city very different from the 22 year old who graduates with $100,000 in school loans from a private school, who recently was brimming with optimism but has been rejected by countless potential employers? Is Detroit so different from the 28 year old teacher who was laid off last year because of a budget deficit?
Detroit is hungry for a new start. You are hungry for a new start. But you can't move to this odd sort of promised land- this frontier- because you worry about your bills. You don't have the luxury of worrying about how you could help, how you could thrive, how you could finally own a house, learn to cook, volunteer, build a community, or seriously decrease the amount of time you spend staring at your computer in a given day. You think about your debt.
That is not living- and it's also not working.
We have a vision. This vision involves young people -in age and at heart- who want to commit to important work, aspire to change and help, who need assistance in getting out of these trappings that society has so willingly handed them but who are so capable of helping society in return. We are preparing a multi-faceted plan and approach which involves financing, government support, benefactors and sponsors, and a whole host of energetic and capable people who can begin the important work of revitalization.
How do you fit in? What are your talents that the world could benefit from. If you didn't have to pay whatever you're paying for your monthly debt, what could you do? How could you help? How would this change help you grow and settle into happiness, peace, simplicity?
We have a vision. This vision involves young people -in age and at heart- who want to commit to important work, aspire to change and help, who need assistance in getting out of these trappings that society has so willingly handed them but who are so capable of helping society in return. We are preparing a multi-faceted plan and approach which involves financing, government support, benefactors and sponsors, and a whole host of energetic and capable people who can begin the important work of revitalization.
How do you fit in? What are your talents that the world could benefit from. If you didn't have to pay whatever you're paying for your monthly debt, what could you do? How could you help? How would this change help you grow and settle into happiness, peace, simplicity?
What would a clean slate mean for you?
