Preparing for anything

A few years from now, the world will be unrecognisable

How future communities might look with technology integrated in a way that serves humanity and nature.

One year ago, we acquired the 410-hectare estate and started building physical Neos. To celebrate this, we are soon launching our second invitation for some to call Neos home, and the mission within the planetary context feels even more ablaze in us than ever before. More at the end of this newsletter.

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We are living through the most transformative time in recorded history, and it is only accelerating. Three years ago, few had heard of ChatGPT. Today AI is everywhere, and robots are on their way.

At Neos, the inquiry of how best to prepare for the world that’s coming is constantly alive in us. I’m certain it will be dramatically different than we foresee. We just don’t know exactly how, or how fast those changes will affect where we are. What I am sure of is that within a few years, AI will be what we mainly interact with and robots will be as ubiquitous as smartphones. The disruption will be massive.

This, on top of the already exponential planetary ecocide, deforming of food, and tightening governmental control, is a lot to process and absolutely essential to deeply gather with community around and contemplate.

There is a high probability of societal upheaval, and upheaval tends to be used to restrict our freedoms, just as Covid did. Places like Neos, beyond the urban centres, self-sufficient and self-governed, will become precious safe havens.

Our hope is that enough of us wake up and shift our lives in time to prepare an alternate path to the control state being quietly assembled. Our fear is that even those in the ‘conscious community’ are still too passive: either allowing themselves to stay trapped in the old paradigm systems, or too attached to the decadence and freedom they’ve found in embracing a new paradigm.

We find ourselves often asking, where and whom are our co-builders? Those who are devoted to something greater than themselves, who will make a stand for Nature, for the future generations, for our health and freedom, through building sanctuaries of natural abundance and well-being like Neos.

Our goal, regardless of world agendas has always been to be resilient and self-sufficient with the ability to live life independently on our own terms, and protect as much of nature as possible. Our mission has always been driven by the positive, not motivated by negatives.

Plan A and Plan B

Nonetheless we are holding a tension point. On one hand, we’re building the village the conventional way, with masterplanning, permits, architects and urban planners. Slow and bureaucratic, but it’s the path that exists.

On the other, we sense things may shift so fast that we need to develop an alternative path simultaneously: to build faster, independently, by ourselves. Robots might assist (the technology already exists) and our own AI may support us coordinating everything.

We sincerely hope this future doesn’t arrive — at least not in the timeline we’re part of. And we will not be led by fear. But we want to prevent being naive and then suddenly it’s too late. Everyone laughed at Noah building the ark, until the flood came. Just like everyone laughed at many conspiracy theories until the evidence came pouring out these past few years.

The timeline playing out in the world isn’t a cause for doom but rather inspired action to fully honour the intuition and wisdom that lives in us. The painful wake-up, of meeting the true face of the forces that govern the planet, is also what triggers us to remember who we are.

We return to tribes, villages, communities built on trust rather than on what we’re told. We raise our children learning and playing in nature rather than outsourcing them to institutions that indoctrinate. We stop grinding through soul-sucking 9-to-5s and instead live our blueprint, each of us gifting the skills we were born for.

It is darkest before dawn. I believe we are entering humanity’s most awakened era, where God-like technology supports a humane, thriving abundance, and the only question worth asking becomes:

How can I best serve life?

Because that is purpose, and purpose is fulfilment.

So the future is bright. But the transition can be painful. The old systems will hold on as hard and as long as they can. That’s why Karen and I feel both the responsibility and the urgency to prepare for this possibility while still building Neos the conventional way. Consciousness expands in all directions.

One of many fireside gatherings, with songs, heart sharing, and stargazing at Neos this Spring

What we’re inviting

This month we open our second offering for a future home at Neos. Like last year, it is unconventional. We’re releasing up to 15 homes, three homes in each category, from 25m2 tiny home to 180m2 four bedroom family house, and one 250m2 signature villa.

Becoming part of this development journey is for those who are committed to a higher calling. You need to be able to embrace uncertainty and be creative in the many possibilities of how the world unfolds as we build this village. Many details are still undefined; our plans may require we shift as the world does. You need to desire an active role in village building and to contribute your skills and passion towards creating a better future.

Living at Neos is a privilege that carries responsibility: above all, the commitment to become the most luminous and authentic version of yourself in service of something greater. In return, you will find a home of true belonging and community.

And so, we welcome those aligned with our vision, mission and principles; who are excited to dive in — not just to Neos Village, but a life of inner work, collaboration and co-creation. Future rounds will be increasingly more selective, to ensure every skill the village needs is represented by those who live here.

Reserving a home at Neos also means having somewhere to go, should the world face another lockdown or something much stranger still.

The full invitation arrives in next week's letter.

With love and community spirit,
Vincent and Karen

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