It has been nearly 5 months since my last post (Bless me Father, for I have sinned?), so I am long overdue. Thank you for pushing me to update when I run into you around town, my loyal/local followers.

The crowd-funding campaign wrapped up in July. We raised $2300, with which we were able to hire a small crew for a week (gotta love a developing economy!), to do some much needed repairs & painting at Terra Nova. Thanks to all of you who purchased private aerial lessons from her, RaRa also raised funds towards building a small treehouse from which to launch her Circus Arts school on the grounds. Who wants to learn how to swing from the tropical trees?!

From the campaign updates:
To give you an idea of how far your money goes down in Ecuador, with the funds we have raised so far we have been able to: repair our plumbing, install a simple hot water heater in the shower (no more cold showers!), screen in the windows & patch up the yoga loft (let's keep our neighborhood critters outside), and paint the roof white (reducing heat absorption in the loft). It took a crew of three men nearly a week, but they got it all done, for under $1000! Some pictures on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/TerraNovaDeCorazon (Please "like" us, if you haven't already.) 
Some of the things we plan to be up to at Terra Nova: yoga, meditation, spiritual growth, personal development, hospice, death midwifery, home funerals, green burial, aerial lessons, circus arts, clowning, organic gardening, raising chickens and goats, building bicycles, custom-made clothing, voice over, natural home & body products, etc.! Your support is so greatly appreciated.

I spent July touring the upper midwest, visiting friends and family in Minneapolis, Duluth, and the north woods of Wisconsin - enjoying the moisture and the green.*

Work-wise, August was great for me. I did 5 spots for CVS, after which, the client made a comment about wanting to use me, "for everything." Oh, do not tease about such things. I did a series of spots for SuperCuts where, in addition to talking, I got to voice a bunch of sound effects. What fun! Also, I believe my United Health, Subaru & Yellow Pages ads are still running, as the residuals are still coming in. (Y'all let me know if you hear my voice. I never watch TV nor listen to commercial radio, so I rarely hear my own work!)

September, I had plans to tour Eastern Europe by bike & train with a girlfriend, but she landed a full-time gig just before our tour was to begin. Instead, I spent the weekends with her, in Warsaw, and spent weekdays using BlaBlaCar to get around the country (Gdansk, Płock, Plonsk, Grudziadz). I'm not much of a picture-taker when I travel, but here is a snap of my ($10/night, barely post-communist) hotel lobby:

I also passed a week on Patrycja's family's farm with her (non-English-speaking) folks, fishing and mushroom hunting. Smacznego!

I had the good fortune to miss three of the four heat waves we experienced in SoCal this year: in May (I was in Ecuador); July (MN/WI); Sept (Poland); Oct (I suffered a few 100-degree days in my A/C-free Hollywood cottage). *Did you know we are in a bit of a drought here?

Before you get too smug in your moist little easy chair there...do you know where the majority of food is produced in the US? You got it. We have used up over 80% of our groundwater, and aquifers take thousands of years to replenish. In other words, Cali isn't going to be friendly to large mammals much longer. I wonder where I should move...

Speaking of Ecuador, the Rastafari family has left Terra Nova and returned to The States. I guess things didn't work out the way they imagined. Life in a new (less developed) land, with a different language, and three children to mind has got to be quite a challenge. If anyone is interested in living on the land and being some of the first members of our intentional community, please drop me a line. I would especially love to find community-minded folks with gardening/building/repairing/maintaining skills, as well as some Spanish fluency.

I was planning to spend this winter down there, overseeing construction on a simple cottage I would like to build for myself on the land. However, since this is likely my final year in LA, I realized it is much more prudent of me to stay here and drum up as much work as possible. Once I am living in the Southern Hemisphere, my income will drop substantially. I intend to live a much simpler life (I know - I'm already such a bad American Consumer!), requiring much less funding. But, the more I can invest in Terra Nova before then, the better life will be for all of our guests, and the more charity/donation-based work I'll be able to do.

I'll try to be better about updating at least monthly, to keep you abreast of our goings-on at Terra Nova. Thank you all, for your continued support.

Our crowd funding campaign has launched!

https://dana.io/terra-nova

Dana.io is a brand-new crowd-funding platform, and Terra Nova was chosen to be one of the first twenty campaigns to launch it! In honor of my annual 40-day Spiritual Festival, in preparation for Guru Purnima (it's like yoga New Years!), I am doing a 40-day campaign (along with 40 days of dedicated hatha & meditation). That gives us over a month to get the word out about Terra Nova, and hopefully generate enough funds to build what I am calling the The Dorms - although they may end up being individual cottages (and tree houses!) - as well as install solar panels, fencing, a graywater system & solar oven, rescue some farm animals, launch the organic community garden (need so many tools!), etc.

In summary, for those of you new to this blog:

Over the past few years, I have been feeling a calling to work towards an alternative to the (highly developed) lifestyle to which I have always been accustomed - namely, to minimize my dependence on fossil fuels and The System to provide for my daily needs. After some research, I discovered that - because of legislation, corporate control, and the greatly depleted state of U.S. soils - the land & lifestyle I am looking for are no longer available here in North America. So, a few months ago, I purchased a small orchard in Ecuador - full of mature fruit trees, on a river, with wells and generators, just a few miles from the ocean. Now, I am working towards moving my life down there over the next two years, learning Spanish (muy importante), developing living skills, and building community.

Terra Nova de Corazón is a sacred space where people will come to teach, learn, and heal; a sanctuary for those among us tired of participating in industrial civilization and all its culpability. We will be an outdoor schoolhouse where one can learn traditional living skills, such as growing organic food, tending to animals for milk and eggs, and building solar ovens; a spiritual retreat for yoga, meditation, music, writing and deep personal development. We are working towards being able to accommodate 12 people long-term and many more short-term.

Ever since crowd-funding began, I have said, "Yes," dozens of times to supporting projects of friends and strangers alike. Yesterday, we launched our own crowd-funding campaign. I hope some of you will consider sharing our vision.

The websites to contribute/be involved/follow us are:

Crowd-funding: Terra Nova de Corazón | dana.io (If you are unable to contribute at the moment, please forward to someone who may be interested to be involved. If there is a gift you would like to see offered, please message me and I will do my best to fulfill your wish.)
Blog: Terra Nova de Corazón (Enter your email up top to receive updates)  
FB: Terra Nova de Corazón (Please "like" us!)

Thank you for your continued love, interest and support,

Catherine Campion

			Terra Nova de Corazón Terra Nova is a sustainable community, founded by Catherine Campion, in Ecuador. A family of...
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Second trip to Terra Nova: setting up house

Back in Hollywood and it's been nearly two months since I posted. I have been swamped with preparing for and taking my trip back to Terra Nova. And thank goddess, I am even more in love with Ecuador now!

I invited several friends to come down to check out our new space +Rachel Carlson +Sean Hurdle  +Mary Campion +Joseph Bedford +Sophia McFoy  +Guy McPherson & his friend, +Pauline Schneider - not to mention the Harrell family of five, who are the first to be occupying the land.
So we had quite a group.

I offered to help Guy put together his Climate crisis/Economic collapse presentation while he was down there - so he could reach more international folks with his message & perhaps raise some donations to cover his expenses; and also a mini trial run of the grief technique he recently learned with Pauline. I spent several weeks creating flyers and promoting the weekend anywhere I could reach English speakers in Ecuador. Still, the turnout was small (mostly just friends and family), but the passion was high.

My primary purpose for going (and how I was able to justify the $2k expense) was to help get the (non spanish-speaking) family settled in, but also to shoot some footage of the land, for the crowd-funding campaign Pauline offered to help me with, on Dana.io. (Still working on this, but you will be the first to hear!)

We: purchased a refrigerator, a stove, several hammocks; repaired a plumbing leak.
Upcoming projects are:
Install a solar water pump, to supplement the electric & gas powered pumps we have;
Paint the water tank black, to raise the water temperature for showering & washing clothes & dishes;
Give the bathroom a fresh coat of paint;
Install a lip in the shower, to prevent water from running out into the rest of the bathroom;
Put screens in the bathroom window to keep the bats (and their guano) out;
Hang a mosquito curtain around the open-air kitchen, to keep out buggies at night;
Fill the old well, which is currently a hazard for people walking by it;
Get a bed for the guard tower, in case we get any AirBnB guests;
Prepare a massive organic garden, that can feed up to twelve souls (yeah, Ty!);
Install lights in the front gate & a sign reading "Terra Nova de Corazón;"
Move the kitties - India & China - from La Libertad to Manglaralto;
Cover the blue-roofed yoga loft with a thatched palm roof, to reduce internal air temperature, like so:

Getting there at the end of the rainy season, we were disappointed to learn that it had barely rained this year, so stuff was not as lush and green as I had foretold. The riverbed was completely dry! Thank goodness we have deep wells.
I'm not much of a picture taker, and am annoyed by the process of moving my photos from my phone to my blog or FB, so... https://www.facebook.com/TerraNovaDeCorazon/photos_stream (Please "like" us, if you haven't already)

Months ago, I mentioned that I am in the process of becoming a certified death midwife. Part 2 of the 3-part course, through Sacred Crossings is coming up in June:
DEATH MIDWIFERY TRAINING
PART I: Conscious Dying - Preparing for a Peaceful Transision
PART II: After-death care & preservation of the body
PART III: The Funeral Celebration

Anybody dying soon? Would you like to make use of my services? First death is on the house - after that, buy one, get one free. Jajajajaja! But seriously, if the idea of an alternative to toxic cremation or burial in offensively expensive, non-biodegradable caskets is appealing to you; if you want to spend about a grand on the process, rather than the cost of a new car; if you long for a time when death was faced and shared and celebrated in the home, with friends and family rather than being outsourced to the "funeral industry," then let's talk. I'm hoping to begin assisting Olivia as soon as I've completed my training, in the Fall.

I love you all.
How may I be of service to you?

My first workshops!

I've been expressing to people that one of the primary goals of Terra Nova is to create a sacred space for people to host/attend workshops (for growth, healing, living skills, etc.), or simply take a retreat from the daily grind of Industrial Civilization. Our first events, May 16-18, are shown here - Guy McPherson giving his presentation on the Global Climate Crisis, followed by a 2-day workshop on processing and moving through grief. Pauline will be there as a co-facilitator and to document! 
We plan to host a potluck on Friday evening, 5-7pm, before his presentation. If you're in the Manglaralto area, please stop by and introduce yourself. The potluck aims to be zero-waste. Please bring your own plates, cups and utensils to use, and extras, if you can, for those who did not bring. We are moving in a few days before then, so we may not have lots of dishes yet!
If you're coming from out of town, we have a great deal at Hosteria Arandú ($20-25/night per person, including breakfast), or you can camp/hammock on our land.
For more information or to RSVP, please contact me directly. 

Also, I recently joined InterNations. I spent a few hours yesterday searching for and messaging expats in the region, letting them know I will be visiting & hosting the workshops in May, and moving down there next year. The response was tremendous! Almost every soul I reached out to responded, offering connection, community and whatever advice/assistance I might need to make my transition more comfortable. I have a really good feeling we will get a great turnout for the weekend at Terra Nova!

I haven't posted since I returned to Hollywood in January, but a lot has happened since then:
I closed on Terra Nova, got her registered in my name with the regional government (shhh, don't tell the feds), transferred the utilities (actually, only one utility, since we have our own water, and there's no gas, phone, internet, etc.) to my name;
Celebrated (a very gringo) Christmas, followed by (a very Ecuadorean) New Years;
Spent a week in the gorgeous capital city of Quito, with my new friends, Phillip & Imelda Baker (from Venezuela & Colombia, respectively), and their beautiful extended family;
Made friends with a wonderful couple in Quito who run an ad agency and work as voice talent(!);
Celebrated my 42nd at home, with some of my favorite humans;
Joined a book/study club, about Sacred Economics and The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible - both by the amazing Mr. Charles Eisenstein;
Finally launched my Love Nurses show, which is an idea I've had for years - therapeutic entertainment, or Theratainment. Doing another performance of it this Wednesday night, in NoHo;
Booked some fun VO gigs, including a national spot for Harley Davidson (vroom-vroom) that's gonna pay for a solar oven, some goats, chickens and a pig at Terra nova;
Befriended a wonderful man from India - Shree, my new vedic/ayurvedic partner in crime (let me know if you are in need of sanskrit lessons, hatha, panchakarma, etc.);
Met the Rastafarian family from Northern California who will be the first full-time occupants of the orchard: Ty & Christine, and their tres niños perfectos (love them all!);
Camped at Deep Creek Hot Springs with Mark, but wasn't able to hike down to the springs because the chemo treatments from the week before left me feeble. Still had a glorious time;
Started a weekly beginner Spanish meet-up, en mi casa, cada martes. Hit me up if you wanna join in the fun!

My biggest news about Ecuador is that I am planning to return in May already! Originally, this year was to be about focusing on making the Hollywood money while I can, to invest in the property, and I wasn't planning on going back until next winter. Instead, I'm heading down the second week in May, to prep the place a bit more for the family's arrival, as well as hosting my first workshop. I can't help it - I'm homesick for the place!

My friend, Guy McPherson, was instrumental in my fully waking up to the Empire, its inherent oppression, and what it means to continue to benefit from/participate in it. And so, we walk away, as best we know how - embracing the adventure that lies ahead for us. Recently, Guy attended a "life-changing" grief counseling seminar, and became a certified grief counselor. I invited him down to Terra Nova to give his Climate crisis/Economic collapse presentation, followed by a weekend of grief counseling, to soothe the jangled nerves of all of us coming to terms with our hospice situation. He is in Belize the last week of May, so he'll drop down a few degrees latitude the week before that. Workshop is planned for 5/16-18. Any takers?

Documentary filmmaker, Pauline Schneider, is currently shooting a doc about Guy, and she will be joining us down there. I'm hoping to get some great footage to launch an indigogo campaign, to raise some funds to invest in more structures on the land. Anyone with crowdfunding experience have any tips for me? I'd love to consult with someone.

Finally, here is a little photo-tour of Terra Nova de Corazón, taken by Christine's brother, Carlos, who is currently living just a few miles from my orchard:

Y'all come back now, ya hear?