It’s not unlike the farm-to-table movement, which cultivates bioregional food systems—maybe this is a farm-to-frame movement in the works.

Imagine a deep ecological thinker that lives in the breathtaking Spanish Pyrenees in a 700 year old hand-built house that captures all of its own energy from the sun, harvests all the water it needs from the rain, and invites nature into the heart of the home. That is Emmanuel Pauwels.

Permaculture is a creative design process based on whole-systems thinking informed by ethics and design principles. This approach seeks to mimic the patterns and relationships we can find in nature and can be applied to all aspects of human habitation, from agriculture to ecological building, from appropriate technology to education and even metropolises.

Ashley Colby’s life is one in which passion meets purpose. She dared to take the road less traveled; the road that many of us only glimpse in bleary-eyed daydreams. To venture into the unknown, guided by a burning question of “What could be?” takes a leap of faith. It is an act that tests your resolve, questions your motives, grades on your patience, and thus, builds your resilience.