What is sustainable mutuality? You might well ask. It is a term I've created for a mode of interaction between humans which is intrinsic to health and life. Here is how I define it:

Sustainable Mutuality:
Mutual dependence developed to sustain social well-being, providing equitable benefits for all members of the social body.
© 2008 Maggie Turner

I have been thinking a lot about these kinds of issues recently, and have paid attention to and studied the nature of social ties and communities throughout my academic career.

But the interest is not just academic, never has been. The way we live in the world is a product of our social environment. The social environment is a product of the way we live in the world. A great circle of life. We are all of this world, willing or no.

What has me writing about this today is a visit to a new web site and forum, Living Local.

While I contribute to this effort, I wonder at the absurdity of the sudden discovery of a process that has been ongoing our whole lives, loss of prime farmland, specialized food production, to name a few. We are waking up a little late in the day on this. Better late than never though, I'll be visiting this web site frequently and adding what I can to it.

The other thing that strikes me is the "discovery" of living without wasting. Most people over 60 grew up that way, it isn't anything new. We lost it, and now that we need to find it again I hope it isn't hijacked by the large corporations.

Time will tell.