Bioregional? What the heck is that? Well, I wrote a post about it a few years ago HERE and it has been simmering in the back of my mind for all this time. I even have a poster board on my wall that says “Bioregional Life…Embrace your Place.” Ya, it’s a thing for me.
What Bioregional means, simply (though it’s not simple) is the overall system of ecological and cultural connections of one place. I like how it is described in the book Urban Homesteading, by Rachel Kaplan,
Bioregionalism teaches us about the specific ecological and cultural relationships happening around us, engaging a process of asking simple questions about moonrise and moonset, about soil, about air, and wind, about where our water comes from and where our waste goes.
Rachel Kaplan
It is about our home. It is about how we fit into that home and play a part in its story. Who came before us? What did they do while in this place? How did they mold it and how will I? As we look into the same sky they looked into, the same moon, what did it mean to them? How did they use it to mark time? What did they do in each season? We are not just passing through. We leave an imprint with every step we take.
A Bioregional theme this year!
I’m going to be talking a lot more about this in the coming months. It is the theme of this year for Garden Variety Life. I suppose the bees have impacted me most in this, which isn’t surprising. When you start to keep bees, you begin to see your space differently. You want to know more about what is growing in your neighborhood, what the weather is day by day, and even when the sun rises and sets. These are things that matter to the bees, and so they matter to you. It is part of your bioregion. In my next post I am going to be going into the bioregional world of honey. That is going to be sweet!
Get to know your Lunar Cycle
For now, I wanted to leave you with a bioregional gift. It is something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time, and never really sat down to do it. This year I’m going to keep track of all the Full and New Moons. I want to see how they affect the bees and planting. I’ve read many things about that, but I want to see it for myself. I also think it’s a great way to set goals and impart gratitude. The New Moon is like an empty bucket or new start, this is when you set a goal. The waxing of the moon (from new moon to full moon) represents progress and the consistent filling of the bucket. The waning of the moon (from full moon to new moon) represents reflection and letting go of things that hinder your goals.
Print this page out and keep track of goals through the year, and then use that moon up above as a marker for your progress. Perhaps those before us did the exact same thing.
