Belinda Rennie

How we nourish –  with food, breath, movement, nourishing connections with ourselves, others and the environment we live in – have been my focus and passion for the last 30 years. As a practicing Wholefood Nutritionist both overseas and in Australia, I support women in transition around menopause, to access their innate ability to nourish and heal.

Tapping into our intuition, vulnerability, natural wisdom of the cycles of all life, the seasonal cycles of the earth we reclaim and are humbled by the power of the feminine to heal, embodied as Mother Nature. I hold the torch for the feminine to be seen, heard and speak truth. It’s not surprising then that even after mid-life traumas of loss and separation that many women, like me, go onto embrace life, unleash creativity, and rediscover the joy and pleasure of being woman. It is big, beautiful work.

www.naturalmenopause.com.au

Why Tiny Homes?

To have a very thin membrane between me and wild nature outside my door is my ‘why’ for tiny home living. The loss of a relationship and my home in 2022 made it a necessity.

Tiny home living helps me to trust my animal body and reminds me daily that I belong, and share the world with kin; human and the more than human world. To be organically rooted within the vibrational hum of nature is a rare and beautiful thing: my most profound transformative moments have occurred in the bush, ocean or creek near to where I live.

Nature reflects back everything I need to know – that I am supported, abundant, powerful, intelligent and never alone.  Using what I have to make what I need, and making it beautiful feels easier in a a tiny home. Living small has helped me to live lightly and simply on the earth; it’s my response to climate change. Reducing consumption, working towards using solar energy and rain water and returning organic waste back to the Earth, nourishes me and deepens my reverence, connection to and love of the natural world.

When we live in reciprocal right relationship with the human and more than human world, life flourishes, we flourish. We move from combat, fight and flight, “power over ” to the commonwealth, commonkind, commongood that we are all essentially a part of. Humans innately want to thrive together in cooperation because we are all inextricably linked. Our actions impact all life. When we breathe deeply, practice compassion and kindness the world breathes with us.

Using the feminine principles of shared power, empathy, collaboration, compassion, kindness and responsible action we can navigate the unfolding crises that face humanity – housing, health, economic and ecological – together.

I am part of this WomanKind tiny home movement. Please join us in the flourishing.

Why Tiny Homes?

Four years ago a friend inspired me with a vision to integrate Tiny Home living into existing Eco Villages. This to me creates a perfect balance of offering single living elders and solo parents sustainable community connections while still maintaining their own private space. With rapidly escalating housing cost in recent years, an alarming number of women find themselves in very insecure living situations. Tiny Home living is a perfect solution out of this dilemma, not only as part of an existing eco village community, but also a safe haven in somebody’s backyard or on a suitable patch of land. There are infinite possibilities on how to make this a win-win for everyone. I have now embarked on my own Tiny Home journey by “road testing”, i.e. renting a Tiny Home for a year. A friend built this for her daughter, and I enjoyed living in it until the daughter could finally return to Australia from the US.

Four years ago Tiny Home living in community was an interesting idea, now it is part of my own future. Making it happen, in connection with my WomenKind Common sisters – not only for myself but for many other women – fills me to the brim with joy and excitement. Along the journey there will be a lot of learning: DIY building skills, community building, navigating bureaucratic obstacle courses, effective lobbying, persuading and cajoling…..doing this together in the vibration of joy will attract infinite solutions.

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Dan Millman, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives

Kym Oconnell

What I love most in the world is being the champion of people and igniting community projects that benefit everyone. I cultivate my community of partners who want to help others, share knowledge, create a passionate business of their own and pay it forward… It’s what we do naturally. My biggest role though has always been a mum, raising the next generation of helpful, honest, happy humans..

My career started in banking, moved into hospitality then, 40 years ago, I escaped Sydney to begin my career in health & wellbeing. Since then I’ve been involved in so many community  projects starting with the Miami Organic Markets, then curated LIFE CHANGING EVENTS – Film Nights at HOTA, opened LOHAS Healthy Living Market run as a collective @ Burleigh Heads State School and launched my own chai, LOVE ORGANIC LIVING…and now my next dream is coming alive; DIY Building + Permaculture School, where everyone is welcome.

Why Tiny Homes?

My 84 year old dad was suddenly single in 2019 and having to move out of the family home. He had nowhere to go and we had no room to accommodate him, so I decided to look at building him a granny flat which required immediate upskilling.

Together, on a 7 hour road trip out western NSW in Manildra during the worst droughts in living memory. we embarked on 7 Day building course: recipe (no experience necessary); 1x host, 2x carpenters (master tradesmen), 13 strangers (8 women + 5 men) run by a breakaway group of up-cyclists.

Driving home through the worst fires, it was the moment in our lives where we knew backyard cabins and tiny homes could potentially house families who had quickly became refugees after these fires. 

The rest is history…SEA (Sustainable Environmental Affordable) HQ was conceived alongside DIY TINY HOMES and Movies That Matter inviting anyone and everyone to get on the tools; run with saws, drills and hammers and learn to build and fix anything. Let’s upskill and repair our lives – together! 

“Nothing inspires me more than seeing the resurrection of the “Barn Raising” model, where a community cooperatively erects the framework of a neighbour’s barn surrounded by edible urban gardens and bright futures on the tools.”