“The people of our culture are going to figure out how to live sustainably - or they’re not. … If there are still people here in two hundred years, they won’t be living the way we do [and] they won’t be thinking the way we do. … What we must have - and nothing less - is a whole world of people with changed minds.” - Daniel Quinn, The New Renaissance.

The Fireweed, Epilobium angustifolium, is a perennial, herbaceous plant native to the temperate northern hemisphere, and particularly common in the boreal forests like those of Alaska. It is a ‘pioneer species,’ first to move into an area after fire, and is considered by many as a symbol of ’starting over.’ It is for that reason I’ve chosen the fireweed as the icon for this website.
The Fireweed’s mission is to contribute, in any small way possible, to a new renaissance, a complete overhaul of humanity that is surely necessary if we are to not consume our species out of existence (along with the other 200 species per day of collateral damage we leave in our wake). And though that renaissance can not come quickly enough, it is something that must happen over time, through the changing of minds, not of laws. “No undesireable behavior has ever been eliminated by passing a law against it.” People do what they think, so to change what they do, you have to first change what they think.

It is my hope that the Fireweed will become a respected venue, indeed community, for changing minds, through the sharing of socially- and culturally-relevant knowledge, story, and spirituality. Here you will find poetry, ’scholarly’ articles, rants, indeed anything and everything that is relevant to healthful peoples, communities and societies. Everyone is invited to share.

We will talk about food, god, art, sex and power, though not necessarily in that particular order. In doing so we will be kind to one another, because as brothers and sisters we are in this together, but with passion, because these issues are the most important issues we shall ever face. These conversations must be political because the problems we face are political, social because our neighbors are the ones we must be able to rely on, free because power is relative and fleeting, liberal because there is truly no “one right way to live,” and nevertheless conservative and humble because elders know much more about life than we do.

Good luck and godspeed.

“Changing people’s minds is something each one of use can do , wherever we are, whoever we are, whatever kind of work we’re doing. Changing minds may not seem like a very dramatic or exciting challenge, but it’s the challenge that the human future depends on. ” - D.Q.

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