image by SpiritMama

One year ago today, we put up our very first article on The Sunny Way. From that article, here is our stated purpose:

The Sunny Way is a site for people who are sick of being depressed about the environment, not because our situation isn’t depressing, but because depression doesn’t get us anywhere. It is simply not sustainable.

As we’ve gotten deeper and deeper into this mission, it’s become apparent that changing the world isn’t just about fixing up our systems to make them environmentally sustainable—it’s about challenging and changing ourselves to relate to each other and to our world in new ways. And as we change ourselves, the way we show up in the world changes, too.

What we’re finding out on this site and in our entire lives is that how we are internally and how we live externally continually co-evolve. And that this process—pushing ourselves and pushing the world which then pushes us even more—is the exact way in which the new culture we want is being created—right now! How thrilling is that?!

I am so grateful to my co-conspirators on this site—Uli, Stella, Sarah, Victoria, Rich, and all the others who have contributed over the last year. And I’m so proud of the positive and inspiring inquiry we’ve put into the blogosphere.

I’m also filled with gratitude for you, our readers, and literally squee with pleasure every time you contribute to the conversation via your comments, emails, and links.

May I ask a birthday favor? If you like The Sunny Way and appreciate what we do, will you share the site with your friends? Can you post our articles on social networking sites (use the handy Add This button at the bottom of each article)? Will you link to us from your website? Creating the future is an all-hands-on-deck project, and the more folks we can get involved, of course, the better it will go!

OK, enough speechifying. On to the reminiscence! Today and tomorrow I’m going to link to some of our favorite and most popular pieces from the last year. Here’s the first 6 months! Hope you enjoy them. And here’s to many more!

Conducting nature, or Why sustainability is not enough
Sitting out the Culture War
Composting, recycling, and food waste: How much impact can one person make?
Responsibility, Happiness, and Love
The Wire, hierarchy, and fitting in: How organizations make us who we are
Sitting out the Culture War: The 11th Hour and Megan’s Earth Day debacle
On purists and the ugly side of advice
The Activist Next Door
An interview with environmental filmmaker MA Shumin
A conversation about Wall-E
Creating the future via science fiction
Digging for gold in prison art class: Finding goodness, autonomy, and great art
Massachusetts passes global warming legislation: High five!
Why beauty will save the world
Culture War, Inside and Out
Frugality and the Environment: Feeding the Family
Fitness challenge wrap up: Success!