The Story Connective & Re-envision Maui

Aloha fellow permies,

We are starting a project that we believe permaculturalists will find important. It concerns agriculture on the island of Maui.
The island of Maui is at a crossroads. Industrial sugarcane production on Maui has come to an end after 150 years and the future of tens of thousands of acres of land and billions of gallons of the island’s fresh water is now in limbo. What will be grown and built during this transition will impact Maui’s future over the coming centuries. The possibilities are inspiring. The people of the Maui community are paying attention to what is being planned, what is being said, what is going unsaid, and what is being done on behalf of the future of this precious island. The Story Connective is producing a series of episodes, called Re-envision Maui, that will take you on a journey introducing you to voices that envision a resilient and thriving Maui.

Over the coming months, The Story Connective will bring you the voices of the affected stakeholders: the people, groups, organizations, and members at the grassroots of this historic moment on Maui. The voices of modern ahupua'a kalo & canoe crop farmers, native habitat restorers, community organizers, educators, storytellers, organic gardeners, water protectors, regenerative agriculturalists in the Korean Natural Farming & permaculture movements, and more. We hope to give voice to a vision of a possible thriving & regenerative Maui that is in alignment with the practiced Hawaiian values of aloha (love & respect), laulima (cooperation) and malama (stewardship), which result in a desirable pono (balance & alignment) of all life ... Stay tuned to the Story Connective.

More about us:
The Story Connective brings you stories of possibility and resilience...

The stories we hear and see inform us to what we think is possible. The Story Connective records, archives, and shares stories that guide us towards a resilient and compassionate future. These stories inspire people to connect with new possibilities, spread ideas, and recognize how to take action in our own lives.

We are living in a time of great change and increasing complexity. Socially, culturally, environmentally things are changing more rapidly than ever before in human history, and we are beginning to glimpse just how interconnected we all are. These are times of exciting innovations and also distressing challenges. How we choose to respond to these challenges will have a huge impact on the future of humanity, and what we believe is possible influences how we respond. This is why the Story Connective is dedicated to documenting and sharing inspiring stories of possibility, resilience, and positive transformation.

The Story Connective highlights:

Stories of Communities:
Groups of people that are learning to interact in ways that align with the spirit of life rather than trying to control and dominate it.

Stories of Individuals:
People who are living full lives they feel purposeful and excited to be living, that are also in alignment with values of respect, sharing, health, forgiveness, gratitude – values that evoke a more just and peaceful world.

Stories of Earth Care:
Examples and stories of methods people use to grow food and interact with nature that more effectively share resources with future generations of life.

World Myths and Folktales:
These are old Stories that are still very relevant to our modern day psyches. We all are inheritors of a profoundly rich world oral mythology. These are the bones - the foundations of our inner lives, and so many of us only know a few. We will share myths from Hawaii, folktales from South America, fairy tales from Asia, and more. These stories can illuminate wisdom, empathy, inner and outer awareness, and new ways of being.

~The How~

All the content that we create is published as Creative Commons. So it can be used by anyone, including those we interview, such as the change makers who are often so busy making world changing projects happen they don’t have time to document them and show others how to do it too. We want their brave ideas and actions to flourish and take root everywhere. This is the service we want to share with the world. But we need your help!

Your support empowers us to spend our time on this important work. You are helping us to change the old story and prove that connection, integrity, resilience, and sharing are valuable!

We are set to receive donations PER video/podcast we release, and plan to do up to 4 a month. If you do decide to support us, you will be prompted to set your budget so you only contribute as much as you are comfortable per month.

If you support Story Connective's 501(c)(3) mission & vision of bringing stories of resilience and possibilities to the world and would like to help our project, there are many ways you can help us:
Share this with friends, family, coworkers,
Subscribe to the Story Connective podcast feed using the Podbean app (for all devices), iTunes (Apple devices), & Google Play Music (Android devices)
Subscribe to the Story Connective YouTube channel
Like us at Facebook.com/StoryConnective
The Story Connective is 100% listener and viewer supported:
Patreon.com/StoryConnective

Our teaser for the Re-envision Maui series:

Chef turned farmer James Simpliciano of Simpli-Fresh Produce Farms shows us just some of the many uses of the neem tree (azadirachta indica), from a soil amendment, to a toothbrush, and even soap!
LINK to Neem: Permaculture Toothbrush video

Our first story for the Re-envision Maui series:

We take an in depth look at Maui’s past, from its mythic origins and indigenous ways of life, through colonization, and finally to its modern incarnation.
LINK to Before and After Sugar podcast

Our second story for the Re-envision Maui series:

Chef turned farmer James Simpliciano tells us his story and introduces us to regenerative agriculture techniques such as Korean Natural Farming, hugelkulture, and permaculture - techniques he employs every day on the farm.
LINK to Chef Turns Regenerative Farmer podcast

Here's a novel solution to eliminating invasive species - Keep eating the ones that are edible until they don't come back! Sunny Savage will be doing that with her incredible Savage Kitchen food truck - feeding people healthy wildharvested food while educating them and supporting Maui's delicate ecosystem at the same time. Maui is the endangered endemic species capital of the world. She's half way funded with 9 days to go!

Learn more & support her vision at Kickstarter: Savage Kitchen Invasive Species Food Truck & App

Our second story for the Re-envision Maui series:

Jenny Pell offers a comprehensive vision of how to transition agriculture on Maui from large-scale monoculture sugarcane crops to diversified organic farming that prioritizes local food, creates profitable farm businesses & jobs for locals, & stewards the land for future generations. In part 1 of our interview with Jenny, we take an in depth look at agriculture on Maui: from its ancient Polynesian roots, to the agricultural changes brought to Hawai'i by peoples from outside Polynesia, to mechanized monoculture, & finally to an inspiring vision for a possible regenerative farming future which combines the best practice techniques of the past & the future to build healthy soil & healthy ecosystems. We are really inspired by Jenny's work, & hope you will be too. Give it a listen and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear your feedback!

LINK to What Can We Grow Now? podcast

The rest of our interview with permaculturalist Jenny Pell:

In pt. 2 of our interview with Jenny Pell, she focuses on the local food economy. We talk about what it could look like to create thrivelihoods for people - jobs & ways of life that are financially sustainable, while also in balance with our natural resources & the needs of the Maui community. Most of what Jenny talks about is very relevant to any community that wants to increase their local food production & resilience. We hear more highlights from the Mālama ‘Āina Report, especially its sections on the economy. We talk about about the resiliency of cooperative models, affordable housing, farmers' markets & crafts markets, the opportunities of agritourism, & some of the challenges Maui faces in order to implement these ideas.

LINK to What Jobs Can We Create Now? podcast

We have some great news regarding our Patreon pledges. We’ve decided to change our first reach goal. Initially, we had decided that once we reached $2,600 in Patreon funds we would donate a portion of our proceeds to a cause. Instead, we have decided to donate a portion of our proceeds anyway, no matter how much we are making.
In addition to that, we have added a perk for all of our patrons, including the $1 level patrons: every six months the Story Connective will provide our patrons with a list of the projects we have covered over that previous six month period & each of our patrons will get to vote on which project will receive the donation money! As we released our first story in January of this year, our first voting process will happen in June.
Our new reach goal is now $3,000 in Patreon funds. When we reach this goal, the Story Connective will be financially sustainable due to the patrons of this project. This will allow us to quit our day jobs & give far more time to expanding Story Connective's scope & offerings, all while supporting & giving back to the people whose stories we tell because they are doing such important work in the world!
We will always provide our content for free for anyone to access. Content produced by the Story Connective will always be in the Creative Commons so that project leaders & schools can use it without having to pay us for it. All of our content will be commercial free for your enjoyment as well as to maintain journalistic independence. And all of this is possible because of your support.
Thank you so much for helping us share inspiring stories of possibility & resilience,
Loxley & Rhapsody
www.StoryConnective.org
Get to vote by supporting us at Patreon.com/StoryConnective
P.S.- In Hawaiian, turtles are called honu & refer to the Hawaiian Green Sea Turtles – an endangered species that live off the coasts of all the Hawaiian islands, & who we love dearly. Rhapsody has been swimming with them since she was little. Honu are sort of our unofficial mascot. Every time we see one we feel grateful to be doing to work we are doing through Story Connective to keep our oceans & lands healthy & happy for them & for us.

We're excited to announce Story Connective's 2nd video from our Re-envision Maui series, Abundance Circle:

Vicki Levin is a champion of locally grown food & community. She gathers up excess food produced by her friends' & neighbors' gardens & distributes it among them all. It's called the Abundance Circle. For example, when one member of the Abundance Circle has too many ripe oranges from their tree for their own household, they contribute the extra fruit to the Abundance Circle. Vicki collects everyone's excess produce & distributes it to the group. In this way, the person contributing the excess oranges will get sunflower sprouts, kale, bananas, & more from the extra produce other Abundance Circle members give... free of charge! It's not a trade & it's not a barter. Even when a member's garden doesn't have anything to give for a time, they still receive. Everyone just contributes whatever they have excess of to the Circle Abundance, & everyone benefits. Vicki's dream is for everyone to have even a small garden in their backyard.

Link to Abundance Circle video

We're excited to announce Story Connective has released the latest podcast of our Re-envision Maui series, Reforesting Maui:

"Hawaiʻi is home to some of the rarest plant species on earth. It is known as the endangered species capital of the world. We hear the inspiring story of a group of people working together to reforest part of the island of Maui. Art Medeiros and the Auwahi Forest Restoration Project have reclaimed and protected tracts of highly endangered forest as biological and cultural sanctuaries. With the help of volunteer tree planters, the project has begun to successfully restore some of this remarkable native habitat on the slope of Maui’s volcano Haleakalā. Art shares with us an inspiring story of resilience." -StoryConnective.org

"Ridge Forests for Condensation and Soil Stability | Slopes >18° to be Forested" - p. 56, A Designer’s Manual, Bill Mollison

Link to Reforesting Maui podcast

The Story Connective has been getting a lot of questions on how to make a one-time donation. So we set up a crowdfunding campaign at Rally.org/StoryConnective where you can make a single one-time donation.
How The Funds Will Be Used: We want the inspiring stories we tell to reach as large an audience as possible. Doing this requires us to sound and look professional, which requires professional recording gear. We will use the funds collected during this campaign for better recording equipment. This will improve your experience, while allowing our content to be played on broadcast radio & television stations. There is already a community station interested in sharing our content, and we need better audio & video gear to make it happen. With the funds raised through this crowdfunding campaign we will acquire a condenser lavalier microphone, a condenser shotgun microphone, a digital audio recorder with phantom power, & a camcorder. This gear will allow us to share with you better quality content. Currently, our audio gear tends to pick up on everything - roosters, dogs, birds, traffic noises, etc. All of our visual content so far has been taken with a camera designed for still images, which means we can’t capture more than 30 minutes at a time, and it only functions in certain lighting conditions. With your help, we will get more professional equipment, meaning we will be able to capture more professional quality audio & video in a significantly broader range of noise and lighting scenarios. And this means a better experience for you, our listeners & viewers, more usable footage captured, and a wider reach for our content.
Your Donation Gives Back: Our heroes are the people choosing to use their time to make inspiring and resilient positive change in this world. These are the stories we tell. These people are pioneers - trying out new ways of doing things and charting the way towards a healthier future for all of us, often with a focus on purpose rather than financial value. It makes sense to us to give back to these projects we’ve told stories about. In addition to releasing all of our created content in the Creative Commons free of charge, we’ve decided to always give a portion of our crowd sourced proceeds to the projects we cover. If you make a donation to the Story Connective during our Summer Fund Drive -the whole month of June- you will be able to vote on which project from our last 6 months of stories will receive a portion of the donation money.
Visit this blog post to find out which non-profit organizations you can vote for.
If you want to make a sustainer membership donation to the Story Connective you can still use Patreon.com/StoryConnective.
So, if you donate to either our Rally or our Patreon before June 30th you will get to vote which organization will receive a portion of the proceeds.
Thank you,
Loxley & Rhapsody

We have finished tallying your casted votes & we must say that it was very close!!! AND the winner is:
The Auwahi Forest Restoration Project!
We will write a check to this project from our crowd-source funds that we have received from your Patreon and Podbean pledges.
Thank you so much for your support of Story Connective & the stories of resilience that we tell.

Our latest podcast picks back up on our Re-envision Maui series, where we are covering the historic transition happening on the island right now with the end of the sugarcane era & the beginning of a thriving regenerative future.

Connecting Local - Music, Food, Community is our podcast episode about music & how it can inspire a regenerative way of life. Enjoy the music & manaʻo (thoughts) of these amazing artists & farmers: Pat Simmons Jr, Paul Izak, & Evan Ryan. Learn about what inspires them, their community work, & about how Maui's Central Valley could be cultivated to benefit future generations.  

So we finished tallying your votes that were casted... AND the winner is:
E.L.L.S.S.A.!
We are excited because we know the people on the E.L.L.S.S.A. team & how awesome they all are. With kindness, benevolence & sympathy extended universally & impartially, E.L.L.S.S.A. teaches personal growth, self development & world leadership. They really do powerful work for the community. Find out more about their work at ELLSSA.org. Thank you all for your support.
We will write a check to this project from our crowd-source funds that we have received from your Patreon and Podbean pledges.
Thank you so much for your support of Story Connective & the stories of resilience, possibilities, & cooperation that we tell.

Designing for Food Security with Common Ground Collective is our latest podcast episode about how the Common Ground Collective, a non-profit, has been designed to make it easy for people grow more food on their own property. They will employ mobile farmers with the skills & passion to transform unproductive land into blossoming small farms, & they will also provide the administrative & marketing support to get the crops to buyers, & the profits to the landowners. This podcast is part of our Re-envision Maui series, where we are covering the historic transition happening on the island right now with the end of the sugarcane era & the beginning of a thriving regenerative future.

It’s that time of year again where we have you vote for a non-profit to give some of our podcast proceeds to as a part of our Summer Fund Drive, 2018. So, if you donate to either at Patreon.com/StoryConnective or Rally.org/StoryConnective, you will get to vote on which one of the projects we've told a story about over the past six months that you want to support. Whichever project gets the most votes by our donors will receive a portion of the donation money from this fundraiser. Fund drive & voting ends June 30th, so donate today!
Here are the ballot choices:

Pono Grown Farm Center & Evan Ryan
Our Farm Center builds conscious community through connecting individuals to the land, creating a culture that grows peacefully & harmoniously. Find out more at PonoGrown.org

The Hearth
The Hearth is a new model of community building based on personal storytelling, reflective listening, & community service. The Hearth develops community gatherings in which people explore, craft, & share stories from what they have lived. Find out more at TheHearthCommunity.com

Community Performance International & Story Bridge
Story Bridge uses true personal stories & creative expression to engage deep dialogue, enable authentic relationship building, & facilitate individual & community transformation. Find out more at Storybridge.Space

Turtle Lake Refuge & Katrina Blair
Our mission is to celebrate the connection between personal health & wild lands. Find out more at TurtleLakeRefuge.org

Common Ground Collective & Terese, Jen, & Nick
The Common Ground Collective is working to facilitate & promote true sustainability through mobile farming, Integrated sustainability consulting, technical services & Education. Our organization focuses on increasing our local food security, economic, & educational opportunities through outreach, job growth, Agricultural Data collection & Management, community building, resource pooling & Distribution Channels. Find out more at CommonGroundCollective.com

You can support us & participate in voting in the following ways:

1) Become a sustaining supporter for as little as $1 per month at Patreon.com/StoryConnective If you choose this option you will be invited into our creative process and our inner community, with special updates, stories, and some special perks. You will also be funding us to continue to do this important work.

2) Support us at Rally.org/StoryConnective to make a one-time donation to the Story Connective. Your donation will be used to purchase audio and video gear that will allow us to produce our stories with better sound and visual quality.

Thank you for your support! After contributing, we will send you a ballot where you can vote on which of the organizations on the ballot list you would like to see a portion of our proceeds go to.

Please donate before June 30th to vote.
Thank you for helping us tell inspiring stories! With deep gratitude & aloha,

Summer '18 Fund Drive winner

Thank you all for participating in our Summer Fund Drive,
We are pleased to announce that Common Ground Collective is the winner of our Summer 2018 Fund Drive! This is a great pick by you folks because it is truly a startup non-profit that needs all the support it can to get off the ground & be a great success. We are stoked to help Common Ground Collective increase local food production in its community while addressing gaps in their local food system. Find out more about their work at CommonGroundCollective.com. Please help us spread their work as well by sharing the podcast with folks you think may have an interest. Also, we love hearing from you. Thank you so much for all your support; we truly appreciate it.
-Loxley & Rhapsody

A few months ago, Rhapsody & I attended a potluck for farmers. We sat at a large round table with several other people to watch presentations & have a deliciously diverse dinner of locally grown food. Little did we know that one of the folks at our table was one of the evening's presenters. When her name was called, she stood up on stage & gave one of the most exciting presentations we'd ever seen! Her presentation left our jaws on the floor. When she came back & sat down we excitedly asked her if she would like to collaborate with The Story Connective to create a video of her presentation. This is the result of that collaboration. It features astronomer & primal scientist Harriet Witt, who presents us with a way to view the evolution of life on Earth through the lens of Hawaiian knowledge:

This video is part of our Re-envision Maui series, where we are covering the historic transition happening on the island right now with the end of the sugarcane era & the beginning of a thriving regenerative future.

Grow Some Good – Story Bridge is our latest Re-envision Maui podcast with some stories that come straight from the garden – the school garden. We collected these stories when The Story Connective was invited to do a Story Bridge talk story exchange with Grow Some Good, a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating hands-on, outdoor learning experiences in schools. Our participants - garden coordinators, administrators, & board members - were prompted to talk about a time they experienced in the garden that a child will never forget. Check out the link above to listen to the heartfelt stories that emerged.

Aloha permies,
Here's an update from Jenny's incredible happenings on Maui:

After shuttering the entire sugarcane operation on Maui two years ago a coalition of local farm and food activists is trying to buy the entire Central Valley (36,000 acres!) for regenerative agriculture. The Sugar Mill is imagined here as a hub for all kinds of businesses and activities. This site used to house an entire company town, complete with movie hall, bowling alley, store, school and more. The old mill buildings all need a complete overhaul, but because they are zoned heavy industrial pretty much any kind of business is allowed there.  We want a permanent farmer's market, commercial kitchens, restaurants, a Maker's Space, art lofts, galleries, farm-to-table dinners, concerts, a full-service education center, agritourism, and all kinds of cottage industry. Reimagining this amazing industrial center as a local community resource that serves both our own Maui residents and the hospitality industry shows how we can turn this brownfield site into a beautiful gathering space, and create scores of living-wage jobs at the same time!

Check out the amazing re-envisioning artistic piece that Silvia Yordanova created:

Songs For Change is our latest Re-envision Maui podcast. In this episode, you'll hear how the children at an elementary school became rock stars. Pōmaikaʻi Elementary School has become a model for how to use the arts to inspire children to reach their highest potential in the classroom, in the community, & beyond. We sat down with 2 educators, Melinda Caroll & Rae Takemoto, & heard the stories about an innovative arts integration project that combines classroom learning, science, garden learning & music. Together, with the school garden as the theme, Melinda & Rae lead the children of the school through the entire process of creating a CD, from songwriting, to professional recording, to sharing the music with the world. Melinda & Rae believe strongly in creative potential. They share with us fantastic stories about their experiences & observations of how the arts can be woven into schools with powerful results.

Magical Moments & Synchronicities podcast episode: we start off with a tale about the hidden folk from Norway. The recording was done live with an audience of friends & regenerative farmers. After hearing the story, the group of farmers were inspired by the story of to tell tales from their own lives related to synchronicity & magic.