The Healing Project

By Dennis Lantz

No matter how long I live, I intend to devote the rest of my life to the Healing Project. It’ll be both a physical and a spiritual journey. You are welcome to come along. In fact, you are specifically invited.

What, you ask, is the Healing Project? The simple answer is that it is getting one’s body, mind and spirit to function at a better level and to bring to life all the dreams and goals that one has contemplated throughout the years. More importantly, as if that wasn’t enough, it is to help others do the same.

People should dream big. It’s one of the best parts of being human. What we can imagine, we can achieve. My dreams have always been lofty, but I let my fear and excuses stifle the progress. The Healing Project is going to change that. When you are done reading this article, I hope you will have a better understanding of my intentions and that you are inspired to bring more happiness into your life… and the lives of those around you.

My Healing Project may be entirely different than yours, but the inspiration and the outcome will be the same. Love. Joy. Peace. Purpose. Happiness… and Health.

The last six years have been difficult for me. My physical, spiritual, emotional and psychological health has deteriorated. That’s an admission I don’t make lightly. I don’t talk about such things. But I appreciate life even more for the trials.

This year, 2020, has been rough for almost everyone. Even as an optimist, I don’t believe that it is going to get better right away. But at some point the craziness will end and, when it does, it is my hope that we no longer wallow in fear and anger and divisiveness. The Healing Project is about positive living. It is about realizing dreams and restoring the misaligned parts of our lives.

As you read this article, listen to your heart. If you are meant to be a part of this adventure, welcome aboard. Together we can do great things.

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The land is sick and so am I… together we will heal.

Frustration, anger and even hatred have burrowed into my soul, but I am not yet beyond repair. I used to feel compassion. I knew unconditional love and still experience empathy. It’s there, but some days I push it deep. It’s time for a change. It’s time to live again.

Like an old fantasy book plot, our health and that of the land are connected. Most of us are anti-pollution. If you don’t favor clean water, air and soil, you’re sub-human. The Healing Project isn’t some radical environmental agenda, but I can’t get past the idea that… if I can restore the land, I can heal myself. If I can nourish my soul, I can nurse the heart of the land. We can grow vigorous again.

Later on I will explain more about my land cleaning project. But before I do, I want to share a collection of old and new ideas. They are important to me. Maybe they can become important to you too. I’ve heard that one must reveal one’s vision in order to make it come true. This then, is the grand revealing.

It has taken me fifty years to realize that I cannot do everything by myself.  I don’t even know why I thought that was a good idea.

But I never liked asking for help. To me it’s embarrassing and I used to think that it signified weakness. I don’t believe that anymore. Connections, whether physical, spiritual or emotional, are created when we help each other.  And it’s reciprocal. I help you… you help me. Everyone benefits.

One reason I call this the Healing Project is because it is going to get me to a healthy state. At this point in time I won’t bore you with all the steps and plans and phases and parts. I can share them later. Besides, some of the ideas are just brainstorms that may or may not be realistic. I’ll let you, and the universe, decide.

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At various times over the past three decades, I have wanted to start a campground, a Trading Post, a game-making business, a community self-reliance group, a wilderness survival school, a spiritual retreat, a political podcast, a winemaking group, a barter community and a ‘free’ store; write a dozen novels; move off the grid; host a writer or artist colony and build a massive mound in some particular shape so it can be seen from the sky. Maybe a big smiley face.

I’m a dreamer. I have other ideas, but those I just mentioned seemed the most reasonable. Some of these are begun. Christy and I are part of a fledgling wine group and I have three novels being published next month. Soon there will be board games available and I’m ready to do a trial run of a free store by giving a whole bunch of stuff away. The other plans are mere notes on my computer and hopes in my head.

Sometimes it is beneficial to put all of your goals, thoughts, desires, abilities and dreams into one bucket of wet, muddy reality and stir them up. See which ones float on the surface within grasp and which ones settle to the bottom. Grab the floaters.

Slowly everything is coming together into one cohesive plan. As I break down individual ideas I am better able to organize. I hope parts of it interest you.

I do not desire to make some ridiculous amount of money. I’ve never cared about financial wealth, except as a resource that allows me to do (or not to do) things that I enjoy. (As a believer in the universal principal of abundance, I realize that my nonchalant attitude toward money is one of the reasons I don’t have much… so you needn’t remind me. I try to change, but the universe knows my heart.) However, I do seek just enough financial freedom to make this project a reality.

Lack of money is just one of the four primary obstacles that have kept my vision from being realized. The others are time, energy and talent. I believe these are common excuses. Well, like the title of a book by my favorite self-help author, the late Dr. Wayne Dyer… Excuses, Begone!

Alone it is easy to fail, but together we can accomplish so much. I have sufficient energy (most days) and I am quite good at stretching small amounts of money. I may not have a lot of time, but I am willing to prioritize. While I’d call my own talents meager, I believe that some skills can be learned and I hope to attract people with more.   

So, finally to the vision.

Let me paint you a picture with words. I will try to incorporate most of the ideas I listed above… those I have contemplated for the past thirty years.

Picture a piece of land with an old farmhouse and a few outbuildings. It is surrounded by abundant fields and woods. A few cabins are nestled among the trees. Your eyes are drawn immediately to the gardens… some craft items on the porch… and a field of sunflowers.

The house has been renovated into a multi-use facility. A small store. A photo studio. Showers and amenities for the campers. A gathering patio with tables and benches.

 It is also the headquarters of the Library of Self-Reliance. A large wooden sign with that name is hanging out front.

You pull out your phone to learn more about the Library of Self-Reliance. (LOSR for short… amusing and untrue). You check out their website and discover that it is a loosely connected organization of people who believe that self-reliance is actually the best way to build a stronger community. It is a school. It is a craft center. It is a spiritual retreat. Chapters are forming all around the country and even the world. Library members gather at the farmhouse to share, learn, explore or cultivate a number of skills.

This is a community learning center. Its members decide what manner of education they seek. Some pursue a ‘back to basics’ classroom and study canning or winemaking or sawing lumber. Others work in the gardens. (There is an edible section and a spiritual community garden.) Some utilize the hiking and bike trails. Photographers wait for the proper light to capture images of the sunflowers and other wonderful features.

A notice-board on the wall explains that, this very evening, a local electrician is scheduled to demonstrate how to wire a three-way switch. Everyone’s invited. Fresh peach jam will be given to attendees.

Hundreds of skills have been taught and learned and shared. Not everyone wants to study the same crafts. Each LOSR chapter caters to its members. It facilitates the studies of whatever the community group wishes to learn. If they want to learn watercolor painting, a teacher is found. If they have an interest in budgeting, finance or home economics, a teacher is found. If they wish to learn plumbing or electrical, a teacher is found. If they desire to study natural cordage making or atlatl hunting, teachers are found.

You can be both a teacher and a student. In fact, that is the goal.

I won’t lay out the minor details of the LOSR. It is important that each library group grow with their own vision, not mine.

All education is self-education. The LOSR is a place where elders and youth connect and create bonds of understanding.

Cabins will be available for friends and family to use. Most of them will be primitive, that is without direct electricity. Perhaps there will be generators. Certainly there will be water tanks. A fire pit, picnic area, grill and small porch will give everyone a place to relax. A composting toilet and primitive shower will be at each site. Games, books and more will make guests wish to come back frequently.

A Trading Post or craft cooperative will start as a place for the LOSR members to sell or trade their wares. You may also pick up copies of my books, those by other local authors or just those you might enjoy. You can purchase some art, photo art or board games.

The board game venture is under way. The template for making one particular game is now being constructed. This will allow speedier manufacturing times. They aren’t ready for sale yet, but they soon will be.

I have always wanted my games to be associated with a cause… and what better one than the Healing Project? One hundred percent of the profits will go toward this endeavor.

I’ve talked with others about having some manner of spiritual retreat or establishment. A place for yoga, drum-circles, prayer meetings or any other sort of self-help gathering sounds good to me. It’s about healing inside and out.

Gathering together with like-minded people will bring about healing. One area of our lives that needs a tremendous amount of healing is how we share our political beliefs. I’ve written before that everything is political, even if we don’t view it as such. To some, like me, politics is a measure of the mind and soul. I love ideas and figuring out how I feel about them. I enjoy hearing all sides of an argument and that is not possible right now. Politics is currently a sharp sword that is cleaving families and friendships. It is fracturing the country. I don’t believe it needs to be this way. We shouldn’t be whipped into frenzies about every little thing.

Those who analyze, profit from or gain power due to our turmoil have finally achieved their goals. We are being psychologically and socially manipulated. Technology is not the answer. It’s a tool and can be utilized as such. I’d love to have a podcast that explores multiple avenues of political and social thought. At the least there’d be discussion groups with a focus on bridging the gaps and on healing. The divide is large, but it needn’t stay that way.

Without question, I have friends who hold entirely differently beliefs than I do and I love and respect them as humans. I have written a blog on this that can be read here.

I won’t say anything different here. You and I may disagree about many things… but we both have the right to voice our opinions.

And most important, we are all human and worthy of love, joy, peace and purpose.

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The doctors can’t figure out why my health has been subpar for the past few years. And I can’t either. But I just keep plugging along. Some days are better than others. That’s how life is. It has had a toll on Christy and me, but thankfully our vows were true. We both need healing. This is for her too.

There is a chance that some of my problems have spiritual, emotional or psychological roots. And those are aspects that I can change. Certain physical issues can also be worked on or altered.

In future articles I will explore sweat lodge therapy, journaling, meditating, connections to other souls, and more. I will also give updates on the task of cleaning the land. Now I will explain what I mean by that. For some it may be organizing your bedroom or weeding your garden or volunteering to pick up trash along the highway. In my case, I need to restore a specific plot of land.

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My brothers, sisters and I inherited the old farmstead on Ghent where we grew up. I don’t know what will become of it, but believe it is the ideal place for The Healing Project. You see, the land is sick… neglected and overgrown. The house and outbuildings are in severe disrepair and filled to overflowing with garbage. Items that were stored there have been infested, strewn around by people who broke in and just generally need to be thrown out.

To say it needs cleaning is an understatement. The physical structure may not even be salvageable. The sill plates of the house are rotted. The roof is coming apart. One basement wall has cracked and shifted and another has completely crumbled. I’m not sure it can be renovated, but I am interested in finding out. That is why I am cleaning it and hope to gut it down to the studs… to the bones.

Earlier when I said I couldn’t do some things alone, I was not talking about cleaning.

This task is for my siblings and me. I am not asking for help in this.

None of us know what the future holds and there is no guarantee that ‘healing the land’ will help me. Except that I believe it will… and that makes all the difference.

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I want to give a lot of stuff away. I don’t want to sell it because that takes too much time and energy. Over the next few months I will post things on Face Book. I am still trying to determine how to get items to the right people. The process will get figured out. And eventually, I will have a FREE shed, where I will place everything I want to give away. When the farmhouse is up and running, I may even begin taking in items that other people want to give away. We will see how that goes. 

Right now I don’t have enough money for a shed. But I think that the Free Stuff part of the Healing Project is going to begin anyway.

This is a pre-curser to a bartering community. There will certainly be bartering in the new world. 

Eventually there will be items to trade. My intention is to trade things for fun. Like I said, I don’t care about financial gain. I seek emotional, physical, spiritual or psychological profit… and not necessarily my own.

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I will begin posting blogs to keep everyone informed of the progress, setbacks, ideas, etc. Eventually there will be a newsletter and communication group.

A lot of communities have vegetable gardens. Most even have flower gardens or parks. This is not a new idea. Gardens can be blessings. I want to have one dedicated to mental and spiritual health. The Library of Self-Reliance group may wish to have a vegetable garden, but the Healing Project will also include a community meditation garden. I have only minor landscaping experience. I like rocks and trees and benches and trails. I like huge mounds of nature. I like ponds and springs and fountains. I like statues and iron gates and ivy. I love flowers. But others will have better ideas than I do.

Just as there is healing in gardens, there is also healing power in groups of gardeners. You and others will be able to leave a mark on the project. You can find your own health and give aid to others in need.   

As I said, some friends and I have started a wine group. Right now there are just a few of us. We make wine from kits, from cans of fruit or even fresh fruit. I love the process. I would like to share it with others… so that they can start their own wine groups. If your interest is more beer… or kambucha… or soda… or switchel… the same process can be applied. It is far more fun to make and share with friends.

One reason I wanted to have a wine group was to force myself to be more social. I’m not generally a group sort of person. Of course, the corona virus came along and tried to crush our little club, but I have to say we are persevering.

The same connections and dedication must be given to family. I have not been a good family person at times. The Healing Project is about restoring and creating connections… with other humans. There are those whose lives are changed by disability, grief, mental anguish, retirement or change of income, employment or habitation. All are welcome to be part of the Healing Project.

Together we can create a place where people come together to heal, to live and to enjoy life. Stroll in a peaceful garden, learn a skill, read a book, meditate on a rock monument, hike a nature trail or simply discover inner satisfaction.

I am cleaning the house and land now. After this, the real project can begin.

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To be clear, the Library of Self-Reliance and many of the ideas outlined in this article are not yet operational. There is no website. Not even a sign. But the reality is one step closer because you now know about it. It’s a dream that is coming soon.

If you are interested in attending an organizational meeting for the LOSR, please message me. Follow Dennis Lantz Books for updates.

Until next time,

Read, Learn, Live