We can give ourselves deep fulfillment through designing and creating what we desire in our lives. Providing our own food, water, shelter and community as directly as possible - as we have done (until very recently) since our species came into existence - brings us closer to ourselves, each other, and the larger systems on which our existence depends. These activities integrate our minds with our bodies and spirits, enriching us in countless ways.

As Joseph Campbell suggests, pursuing "the meaning of life" may be far less rewarding to us than immersing ourselves in the experience of living!

Culturally, we are social and creative beings, relating with and creating for ourselves and others. Our social and creative patterns are woven into everything else that we do. All the tools, techniques, methods and technologies we use to feed, clothe and house ourselves are ultimately expressed (for better or worse) through our interactions with one another - our communities - as individuals, as groups and organizations, as cultures and societies.

Ecologically, we must provide ourselves with food, water and shelter in sustainable ways if we want to continue to exist as a species. These are our fundamental material needs - and they are not by themselves enough to sustain us. We also need communion - the root of community and communicate - and we need to create.

Eco-Living integrates our human relatings - our creative cultures - with our means of creating food, water, shelter and community - our ecologies.

• Ecology - observing and understanding ourselves as part of larger systems that both support our very existence and invite us to rich, fulfilling experiences of living.
• Culture - noticing that what matters most is how we do what we do; that all of our tools, techniques, methods and technologies are created and used - for better or worse - within our cultural patterns, habits and assumptions.