A Rural Renaissance

(Page 4 of 4)

June/July 2004
by John Ivanko and Lisa Kivirist  
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Right Livelihood

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The term "right livelihood" originated in ancient Buddhist teachings and means work that is ethical. According to the Right Livelihood Award Foundation, the term reflects a belief that each person should follow an occupation consistent with the principles of honest living, treating other people and the natural world with respect.

In our lives on the farm, right livelihood is made up of all the things we do on any given day: selling photos, planting sweet peas, sharing s'mores with B&B guests around the campfire, nursing Liam. Our work and leisure blend into a lifestyle and work style that remind us of a time when commerce still was about community exchanges, relationships and local priorities.

As a couple, we love having the opportunity to work together on an intimate, daily basis — even though we didn't set out specifically to live and work this way when we started our relationship 14 years ago.

Back then, we shared a vision of living closer to the land. Over time, we have developed a livelihood partnership based on a love that binds us by much more than a legal document. Our personal goals as individuals, global citizens and business owners are to plant more trees than have been cut down for our use; to help cultivate a bioregional and sustainable food system that is more secure for us and our community; to completely offset the carbon dioxide emissions caused by our energy use; to live a fossil-fuel-free life and to feed the flames of our imaginations. Nearly a decade after leaving the fast track, we have a combined income that totals significantly less than just one of our ad agency salaries, but we are infinitely happier.

This story was adapted from Ivanko and Kivirist's new book, Rural Renaissance: Renewing the Quest for the Good Life, selected for Mother's new "Books for Wiser Living" series, published by New Society Publishers and available on Mother's Bookshelf, Page 111. Ivanko and Kivirist will be guests on Mother's online Forums during June and July. If you would like to join them in a discussion about their rural lifestyle, go to www.MotherEarthNews.com and click on "Forums." You also can visit their Web site, www.ruralrenaissance.org.

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