Welcome to Gaiatribe!

I’m pleased to introduce Gaiatribe: Ideas for a Thinking Planet, the newest blog in the Geek Universalis Network.  It’s all about interconnection: in the environment, in communities, and within the human soul.  You can read more about the blog’s purpose on the “About” page, more about me on the “People” page, and more about Geek Universalis on the “Network” page.

Who am I?

I’m Elizabeth Barrette, the author of this blog.  (You may also see GUN’s editor, John Casker, in these pages.  Hi, John!)  I’m a writer, editor, scholar, and all-around wordsmith.  I’m a hobby-scientist of several stripes, including naturalist and linguist; I’m perennially fascinated with the world and how it works. 

Some of you may know me from LiveJournal, where I write “The Wordsmith’s Forge,” or from iBlog, where I write “Hypatia’s Hoard of Reviews” or from my profile on MyBlogLog.  You might have come across my many tracks through the Pagan and speculative fiction fields.  If you’ve never heard of me before, that’s cool too; I like making new friends.

Who are you?

You’re someone who cares about the world we live in.  You’d like to make it a better place than it is today, and you’re on the lookout for resources that might help with that.  Maybe you focus on protecting the environment, or nurturing communities, or pursuing personal growth, or any other combination of positive goals.  Maybe you don’t know what the heck would help, so you’re interested in everything — because you’re smart and you’re curious and that’s given you a glimpse of the world that can be pretty alarming at times.  Let me know your favorite topics within Gaiatribe’s general sphere of influence, and I’ll try to cover them.

Then again, maybe you’re here by serendipity.  You read another GUN blog and you pounced on this new one, or perhaps you were surfing and washed up on my beach.  Look around; you’re bound to find something that intrigues you.  If all this is new to you, and I’m going too fast — speak up!  Ask me to slow down and explain things in more detail, if necessary.

What’s going on here?

We’re on an adventure.  We’re going to visit exotic places, and ordinary places, and learn what makes them special.  We’re going to meet interesting people and enjoy their unique perspectives.  We’re going to study some of the amazing, and awful, things that humanity has done.  And we’re going to make a difference.

We’re having a conversation.  I’ll talk about the things that interest me — green energy, wildlife, space exploration, intentional communities — and you’ll reply with your thoughts on those things, or other things that you think are related.  I’ll tell you about my writing, my garden, the great-horned owl who hollers outside my window some nights.  You’ll tell me about your career, the changing seasons where you live, your community’s triumphs or blunders.  We’ll make some new friends, and among the bunch of us, discover things we might never have discovered alone.

We’re sitting under a tree, thinking.  We’re walking along a beach, observing the tidepools.  We’re hiking through a forest … a prairie … a desert … collecting memories and metaphors.  We’re relaxing in a village, enjoying the company of fun people.  This is cyberspace, yet at the same time, this is Earth too.  Here we can visit any place, any time we need to visit in our journey. 

So … where do you want to go?