Renewal and Strength
The secret of village togetherness and happiness has always been the generosity of the people, but the key to that generosity is inefficiency and decay. Because our village huts were not built to last very long, they had to be regularly renewed. To do this, villagers came together, at least once a year to work on somebody's hut... It is the putting back together again, the renewing, that ultimately makes something strong. That is true of our houses, our language, our relationships.
~ Martin Prechtel, Tzutujil shamen
