To come up with good ideas for a master thesis was a bit difficult for me. I found myself wanting to do everything and nothing at the same time. The previous researching I had done was about sustainable living, biodiversity loss, area neutrality, and all the problems and solutions regarding these.
Recently, I have gotten more and more into community living. This is still a huge topic under all the previous topics, but I found it to be very interesting, and something I believe can be part of the solution to the many problems we face. But what is community living? For me it encapsules a lot of different aspects:
- something that makes people interact more, which can create stronger bonds and love between people
- a way of living that lessens your footprint on this planet
- a way of living that fights the loneliness epidemic
- a way of living that provides help for the different life stages people go through
to mention some. I am also at the point where I am interested in trying this lifestyle myself – in one way or another. So perhaps this is the direction for me to go with my thesis as well.
A current thought provoker for me is a book I read called “All about love” by Bell Hooks. This book is a visionary essay about the topic of love. This book discusses the interconnectivity of race, class, and gender and their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and domination – and how these are the opposite of love. Even though the author often makes powerful, decisive statements that left little room open for argument, I agree on the notion that love can be a transformative power that heals individuals, communities, and even public policies and institutions if prioritized over greed. This realisation, left me with a desire to deep further into how to enable more love in this world.
By introducing lovelessness, as Bell Hooks called it, as the fundamental problem that humanity faces together today, I can steer my topic in the direction of working against it. Maybe even community living could be looked at as a solution for this, by creating a living space that fosters love and care for each other, help for your neighbours, and offers an escape from the world we are struggling in right now.
I see this post as my foundation for what ever direction I will go in. What is most important for me is to do something that actually can create change.
