Links
The Findhorn
Foundation
The Findhorn Foundation is an international spiritual/ecological community in the north of Scotland. It has been central to our lives, learning, and thinking for over twenty-five years, and remains an inspiring example of a center where people from all traditions and cultures can find acceptance and appreciation and expression of their spiritual lives. David, Alexandra, and Erin are all currently living in the Findhorn Community, and our "Creating Joyful Families Workshop" is sponsored by and held at Findhorn.
Newbold House
Newbold House is a workshop and retreat center housed in a magnificent
Victorian mansion set in 7 acres of garden and woodland in the
town of Forres, close to the Findhorn Foundation. Newbold grew
from the same spiritual impulse that is embodied by the Foundation,
and seeks to operate by those same spiritual principles. It is
both a residential spiritual community offerring individual retreats
and a welcoming and deeply refreshing venue for residential workshops.
Newbold is the home at Findhorn for our week-long "Creating
Joyful Families" workshops.
The Earth
Charter
The Earth Charter is described as "a
declaration of fundamental principles for building a just, sustainable,
and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire
in all peoples a new sense of global interdependence and shared
responsibility for the well-being of the human family and the larger
living world." It is a wonderful way to teach and include your
children in working to create an awareness of global interconnectedness
and the need for greater care for the planet. Raffi's CD, in support
of the Earth Charter, can be purchased at http://www.raffinews.com/news/allbelong.html
Raffi
Raffi is also a leading voice in speaking
up for an increasing commitment to "Child Honoring." His
website also contains "A
Covenant for Honoring Children" which beautifully and powerfully
states the values that are central to our own work. It is a very
moving document. We might all hang copies of it on our living room
walls to remind us what is most important in our lives..."
National
Institute of Media & the Family
This American organization provides information and support for
parents who want more awareness and possibly control of their children's
involvement with electronic media, from movies, to video games,
to cell phones, to other emerging technologies. While not taking
an ideological position, the organization, founded and directed
by a university professor of Psychology, believes that parents
should be very aware of what their children are playing, watching,
and doing online. It links to a newsletter and articles about the
effect of media on the family. The site includes reviews of various
video games,
movies, and the like.
Chinaberry
Books for Families & Children
Chinaberry's self-description says it all: "Recognizing that conscious
parenting is the most important and challenging responsibility
that many of us will have, Chinaberry offers items to support families
in raising their children with love, honesty and joy to be reverent,
loving caretakers of each other and of the Earth." We raised our
family with a lot of help from the Chinaberry catalogue. It is
both inspiring and very wide-ranging.
© All writings are copyright 2004 by
David McNamara and Alexandra McNamara. All rights reserved.
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