Sourced Design
The source is within you.
And this whole world is springing up from it.
Rumi
Sourced Design: The Five Principles
Take Care of Vulnerability
A thriving culture grows from one person and one community choosing to thrive in place over time. This growth is sustained only when we learn how to take care of the vulnerability of a new way of life.
Cultivate Personhood
Sourced Design begins with getting to know the design of our own lives – building a stronger relationship with our bodies and shared humanity, fostering a sense of the sacred, and growing our capacity for self-reflection.
Build Beloved Community
When we take care of our relationships over time – the ones we have with ourselves, with others, and the places we live with – we build a beloved community that respects individuality, fosters unity, and takes care of relationships.
Learn from the Earth
A tiny seed can teach us how Life works and how to build a more life-giving culture. With this wisdom, we can create sustainable examples of culture within our dominant culture and build networks to share the example with others.
Love and Serve Others
When we accept and love ourselves, we serve the world around us with greater compassion. When we know who we are, we serve the world with greater clarity. When we are in touch with what is needed in the world, we serve the world with greater dedication.
Springhouse is the home of Sourced Design.
Sourced Design guides us as we practice taking better care of Life, starting with our own. Teens and adults practice these principles in our school community and global network, and we spread the message that life is a gift through our letterpress print shop, Sourced Press.
Sourced Design invites Life back in where it has been excluded in a person, a community, or place. Even though we articulated the principles and practices of Sourced Design, this is not our design. This design is older than the Earth and has been practiced for centuries by people who had no choice but to rely on the power of Life in a world that continues to exclude it. They show us that, when Life is excluded, we can choose to include it through a more courageous and intentional design.