Last Sunday, I attended the Capital Unitarian Universalist Congregation in James Bay and had the incredibly good fortune to hear the guest speaker, Dr. Trevor Hancock, giving his homily: Creating Healthy Communities.
Dr. Hancock message inspired me to look again at my role in the home renovation industry and re-commit to doing things future generations will approve of. Certainly healthy building, lots of natural lighting and providing ways to connect to neighbours fit the bill. Even more was how beauty affects our well-being - I like that. Seeing the built environment in this light gives permission to build more for oneself, than for resale.
For more about Dr. Trevor Hancock, check him out on Wikipedia and the University of Victoria. Especially his work on the Healthy Cities project "...that is continually creating and improving those physical and social environments and expanding those community resources which enable people to mutually support each other in performing all the functions of life and in developing to their maximum potential"