Making big decisions can be challenging, and when our body screams NO, we don’t really have a choice. In that instant, we are faced with survival or collapse and we must face ourselves and the situations as they are.
“When you work in the big system, everything does come down to a dollar and a cent.
And, you know,
I guess treating people differently because everything’s equated down to dollars and cents ended up just not agreeing with me.”
That’s what happened to Andre Chow, when he hit a wall following a successful career in Medical Technology, and decided to leave it all. At the time he didn’t know what would follow, but as it happens, something different was waiting for him.
He and his partner Regine settled in the Peak District, right beside Derwent Reservoir, where his healing truly began and he reconnected with nature. It was there that life presented their next adventure. One day, on a walk after Thanksgiving, they were warmly greeted by their neighbours, Abe and Pippa.
“Stumbling into their home the next day and just being enveloped by the most incredible warmth and welcome and feeling of generosity and abundance and love and then just being like, wow,
I cannot remember the last time I felt like this or been welcomed like this.”
It was this essence which carried them through to the creation of Open House, a community gathering space in Hathersage.
Andre shares his experiences, beliefs with Carmen Rendell, and his very personal journey of creating this beautiful new home-from-home, which we believe is needed more and more in our towns and villages. Spaces for us to come together, to feel that warm welcome whoever you are, to support local community whole-being.
We hope you enjoy listening, and if you’re ever in the Peak’s make sure you visit Open House for a cuppa and some fresh produce from their 10 Trees garden.
