Summer 2012 Resident Steward Position
Position begins: on or about May 1 and runs through October
Description: The goal of the Seasonal Resident Steward Program is to have a person or couple gain a first hand understanding of the simple life, through a six month experience of living and working at Forest Farm, the last homestead of Helen and Scott Nearing. The steward(s) will live at Forest Farm in exchange for 20-35 hours of labor per week, working under the supervision of experienced gardeners Nancy and Warren Berkowitz. Responsibilities include gardening, caring for house and grounds, greeting visitors, publicity, outreach and education. They are expected to participate in all Forest Farm activities and serve as representatives and liaisons of the Good Life Center, both on site and in the community. Beyond the 20-35 hours of work, stewards are encouraged to spend time reading, writing, and doing research about the simple life, alternative lifestyles, social activism, etc. and enjoying the neighborhood and surrounding environment. Stewards may also seek additional employment off-site - there are typically many local opportunities during summer months. The Nearing library would be available to them in accordance with the collection’s policies. A weekly stipend will be provided, and residents will have the opportunity to eat fresh food from the garden and greenhouse. The resident steward(s) should be non-smokers and vegetarian (while on the grounds). Living space will be provided in a rustic apartment in the barn.
Please submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample by email to: glcboard@gmail.com or by mail to: The Good Life Center, P.O. Box 332, Blue Hill, ME 04614
Stipend: $100/week (for individual) $150/week (couple)
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Good Life Center
"The good life is more than a yearning for the good, the beautiful, the true. It includes decision, will, determination, and effort, individually and collectively, to be clear regarding the theory as well as successful in practice...aiming at the integration of thought, the word and deed which is the expression of wisdom and the basis of serenity and inner peace."
-Scott Nearing, Man’s Search for the Good Life
Welcome to the Good Life Center
Please pardon the reconstruction of our website.
The Good Life Center a non-profit education center based out of the last hand-built home of Helen and Scott Nearing, which is located at Forest Farm in Harborside (Brooksville), Maine on five acres of forested land overlooking Spirit Cove. The Good Life Center's purpose is perpetuate the goals, philosophies, and lifeways of of the Nearings.
Who were Helen and Scott Nearing?
The Nearing were two of America's most inspirational practitioners of simple, frugal and purposeful living. In 1932, at the height of the Great Depression, Helen and Scott Nearing moved from their small apartment in New York City to a dilapidated farmhouse on 65 acres in Vermont. For over 20 years, they created fertile, organic gardens, hand-crafted stone buildings, and a practice of living simply and sustainably on the land. In 1952, they moved to the Maine coast, where they later built their last stone home.
Through their 60 years of living on the land in rural New England, their commitment to social and economic justice, their numerous books and articles, and the time they shared with thousands of visitors to their homestead, the Nearings embodied a philosophy that has come to be recognized as a centerpiece of America's "Back to the Land" and "Simple Living" movements.