So much is deeply wrong with the world right now, but when it comes to the sphere of life that is within my own influence – my home, my heart and my place within my community – I am the happiest I have ever been.

At 37, with children aged from newborn to teenagers, as I put my apron on, cook hearty meals from scratch, wipe down our long kitchen table and pick up toys from the floor, I feel deep gratitude for my life.

Parenting is not for everyone, but it is for me. And I love opening our home to family and community, taking herbs from our neighbours’ gardens, sharing eggs from our backyard chickens and gathering to eat meals while a collection of kids run around our home, squealing and sometimes squabbling.

I am sure for some, reading this has sent a ripple of dread through you. Have I been scooped up and put in the alt-right pipeline? Has marriage and too much time on social media converted me into a tradwife? But since when are essentially radical acts – connecting, sharing, holding space for children and being active within our communities – conservative?

Both colonialism and capitalism work to break down communities and reduce collectivism to individualism, with success marked by how you produce for colonial and capitalist systems. The more isolated you are in this world, the more products you consume, the more services you need to pay for and the less empowered you feel when it comes to creating change.

Loving and sharing within your community, with your neighbours, being kind to and respecting children, creating relationships which are reciprocal, and consciously gathering with your people are ancient practices that predate capitalism and any religion you might name.

This life, this season I am in right now, is the sum of all the seasons which came before it. Connecting in real-world settings and gathering together, whether as host or as guest, requires ongoing energy and intention, and I fear that my........

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