““Innocence is the seat of intelligence””
My North Star
A dear friend once said, “Innocence is the seat of intelligence.”
I believe that when we are safe, nourished, and connected - held in a wider web - our innocence naturally emerges. And from that place, we become more creative, more generous, more fulfilled.
At our core, we all long to belong.
We want to feel safe.
We want to trust that we are worthy.
Whether we’re conscious of it or not, we are drawn to express what genuinely arises from within - to live with integrity, aligned with our values, and to follow what inspires us.
A Dream Worth Tending
I carry a dream - and to the best of my ability, I tend to it.
It’s the dream of creating spaces, containers, and environments that reflect not only our true nature, but the nature of all life.
Spaces that are whole, healthy, and harmonious.
I believe that when we live within such environments, we uplift our innocence and deepen our intelligence.
When We’re Out of Sync
When we are unwell, confined, dysregulated, or uninspired, we enter survival mode.
Our vision narrows. We fixate on fears, threats, or a sense of lack. Our reactions become short-term and defensive.
And yet, a healthy amount of stress can also be useful - a signal that change is needed.
True growth happens in a sweet spot: a gentle titration between challenge and ease.
It’s there that we find perspective, creativity, and resilience.
A Shared Desire
Though each of us is unique, we all carry a desire for beauty, meaning, comfort, health, connection, functionality, efficiency, and stability.
If given the choice, I believe we’d all choose to live in spaces that embody these qualities.
And when we are immersed in the effortless balance of nature - its harmony, wisdom, and quiet generosity -
we become more attuned to our own innocence.
We feel at home in ourselves, and in the world.
Innate Interdependence
We often forget: we are nature.
Our food, our shelter, our medicine - all emerge from its generosity.
Our well-being is inseparable from the well-being of the Earth.
So the question becomes:
How do we meet our human need to belong, feel safe, and freely express,
while meeting nature’s need to do the same?
Living the Answer
My belief is this:
When we create environments that care for nature’s well-being as much as our own, we begin to live our most exalted lives.
When we design in alignment with nature - listening closely to its patterns and principles - we create structures that nourish not just ourselves, but the generations to come.
This is Natural Building
Natural building is the art of attunement.
Attunement to our own aliveness.
To the spirit of the land.
To the ecosystem, the culture, the resources available, and the future quietly calling us forward.
It is design as listening.
Building as reciprocity.
Spaces as soil - for the soul’s inflorescence.
