I am excited to share that Robert Kersbergen, my former husband, and I have come to an agreement about how he can be a neighbor to the Wellspring Tiny Home Vegan Village.

Because he is not a vegan, we have had a hard time figuring out how to divide the land because he was not wanting to be a part of a vegan community. Robert really wanted to have an aquaponics operation as well as chickens and maybe ducks.

We finally figured out that he can live on land next to the village and be able to be a good neighbor. Robert respects my vegan values, and anyone else who would choose to live in the vegan village.

I used to be so attached to my vegan views that I could not tolerate the idea of living close to a little farm where eggs of chickens were eaten, and fish were confined in a tank in order to fertilize plants. Occasionally, when there are too many fish, Robert plans on eating fish.

I have come to the realization that I as a vegan need to be able to be respectful and tolerant of non-vegans. I feel confused as to why someone would be willing to harm an animal, yet I also know that I do things all the time which are compromising my values to a certain extent. Just using electricity from the grid is harmful to the planet. I could make a long list of ways that my actions hurt nature and people. How I long to be perfectly pure–yet I am not.

How can I judge someone else for their actions?

The good news is that people’s homes will not be right next to the mini-farm. Robert will be growing food in various ways, including green houses (not only aquaponics) so we will have easy access to purchasing or trading for food. Robert will not be killing any chickens–they are like companions to him. And he won’t be barbecuing or cleaning fish in sight of people.

Robert is also going to install solar energy, which means we will have electricity and be able to have access to high speed internet. He is very handy, and willing to teach others things like building, repairing mechanical things, computer skills and so forth.

He also loves animals very much, including his cat, Blanca–and the bats who frequent the home where we are living.

Robert and I were married for about 15 years, and have known each other for 29 years. We have never stopped cooperating, although we have had intense conflicts. Both of us have grown tremendously especially over the past year.

About a year ago, Robert signed the deed to the land over to me because he knew that I could not risk starting a community as long as he and I had conflicts. He wanted me to realize my dream. He was willing to give up the land he loved so much. He was willing to let me pay back the debt I owed him for the land–which was a huge gift to me.

Now that we have come to an agreement about which land he can use, I think my debt will be erased, the community will have a good neighbor, and Robert and I can happily cooperate to get infrastructure completed so that people can more easily move to the community.

If you are a vegan that can not tolerate having a non-vegan as a neighbor, then perhaps the Tiny Home Vegan Village is not for you. However, if you are willing to cooperate with Robert, along with so many of our other neighbors, I think we can all inspire each other in many ways.

By the way, Cliff Mikkelson is our neighbor on the opposite side of the property–and he is a vegan.

I would love to hear what you think about this.