From an idea to an organization – the development of CELL in Luxemburg

During our volunteer stay with Katy Fox at La Ferme du Bout du Monde, we also recorded a podcast with her. Katy is someone with a lot of ideas and the ability to turn them into something concrete. She is involved in several initiatives and projects, but we spoke to her specifically about the organisation CELL. CELL stands for Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg and Katy set up this organisation in 2011, when she returned from Romania after completing her PhD research. Her idea was to get people more involved in the transition movement, and to see what people themselves can do and what influence they can have. She also started to bring people together who would not easily seek contact with each other (such as farmers, climate activists and policymakers) and to organise courses in the area of Permaculture. Meanwhile, CELL is a professional organisation with about 20 people working on all kinds of projects; from reconomy (local currencies, up- and recycling, a space where people can work together) to the construction of a public earthship, to which we also contributed a little.

In the conversation, we talk about her role as founder, how the organisation is changing and becoming more than she could have ever imagined. We talk about responsibilities that nobody wants to take on and how the role of founder can also hinder you. Katy now has a different position within CELL and she likes it. 
During our stay at her farm, we also talked a lot about the changes that are necessary to keep the earth a pleasant place for people, and that it is sometimes quite overwhelming. Katy has given us poetry advice for those moments, which we will share here. 

You can listen to the podcast here:

And if you need a pick-me-up because you’re worried about the earth, nature or how things will continue, maybe this will help.

How to Make a Revolution: III
Be like mushrooms.
Spread your mycelial threads, underground, and connect them, out of sight.
Extrude them, extend them, link them, clamping one to another in a pattern with no center to destroy, no head to cut off.
Then exude.
Sweat out the revolutionary fervor that dissolves old structures, that breaks toxins apart.
Extend your reach, link root to root.
Trees feed their young through subterranean fungal webs. Be a conduit. Take in. Share.
Be like mushrooms, ephemeral, mostly invisible.
Pop up everywhere, overnight, and then disappear.
BUT ALSO BE LIKE TREES.
Grow slowly. Push up from below, when you’re ready.
Draw from deep sources, but also take in light.
Build structure. Flex and strengthen your fiber so when the storms hit, you can hold your ground.
Feed on light, on air and water. Grow.
Grow so tall that you can be seen from everywhere, a brave silhouette that shapes a new skyline.
And don’t grow alone…

Poetry by Starhawk. From her book City of Refuge: the Sequel to the Fifth Sacred Thing

More poetry:

As Kingfishers Draw Fire – GM Hopkins
https://hopkinspoetry.com/poems/#as-kingfishers

The Peace of Wild Things – Wendell Berry
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-peace-of-wild-things/

Hymn to the Sacred Body of the Universe – Drew Dellinger
https://drewdellinger.org/hymn-to-the-sacred-body-of-the-universe-excerpt/

A Woman Speaks – Audre Lorde
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42583/a-woman-speaks

On Love – Khalil Gibran
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/148579/on-love

Dark Mountain Project poetry
https://dark-mountain.net/rite-of-passage/

Scatterlings – Martin Shaw
https://drmartinshaw.com/spoken-word/