«You see the area over there, a little to the right of all those fruit trees, where there are some people out in the field?» she says and points to some persons a short distance away.
«Yes, it looks as though something is being grown there. Is that correct?»
«Quite a few different kinds of crops, actually. And of course it is all done ecologically, we are not interested in anything else, nor can we count with anything else, both for the sake of the planet and for the health of the people. Everything is based on the cycles of Nature.»
«Yes, that is the direction in which we have to move», I agree as we continue our walk. «By the way, where is your house, I mean, where do you live?»
«In one of those round houses you passed as you arrived. I don’t own it, that is not the way our community functions any longer. We don’t own things, but nonetheless it feels as if I do, as I may use it for as long as I wish. I shall show you my house later. In fact, you are going to stay overnight in my house. You need somewhere to live while you are here, and I have a guestroom available», she says, smiling.
Did I see a hint of a twinkle in her eyes as she said this? Or was it just my imagination? In any case, I felt a sudden rush of heat at her suggestion. I wondered if she noticed... Hm, a bit odd that I react like this after just having been transported into the future, a bit absurd, actually. But at the same time I feel so at home here. I shall just have to let myself be led to wherever Natalia is taking me, while trying to be as present in the moment as possible. In fact, that is not too hard when your entire world has been radically changed and you find yourself in the future! Besides, Natalia herself is a very present and lively person. This is not the worst place to spend some time, to put it like that, - on the contrary!
«We can make ourselves dinner later, and then share a bottle of wine if you like?» she continues.
«Of course I would like that.» I say. «It is good to hear that you are not teetotalers, by the way, or I might have wondered whether you were some sect or other hehe...» I say, and feel myself growing even hotter. Pull yourself together, man, I admonish myself, after all, we have only just met. Even though you are single, you can’t be sure that she is, or whether she is interested in you, or in men in general. For all I know, she might prefer girls, or even both.
«We are not exactly teetotalers», she says, interrupting my thoughts. «But we have become far more careful about using alcohol and only use it in moderation and at festive occasions. You know what enormous problems alcohol has led to in your society. The consume of alcohol became too great, and it often became an addiction, by being used to deaden problems or slide them under the rug. The problems might be the results of serious neglect during childhood or other traumatic experiences, but alcohol was also used to escape from a cold and hard society with great challenges. If you go even further back in time, the problems caused by alcohol were considerably greater, and caused unimaginable suffering for masses of people, especially women. We have hardly any alcohol-related problems here in Lighthaven, and very few drug problems in our society as a whole.»
«So you do still have drug problems outside of these areas?»
«Yes, we do. There are bigger problems in other parts of the world, but also there they are far fewer than in your time. Besides, nowadays more natural intoxicants are used, the kinds that Nature has such an abundance of, for instance in the flora. And they are more often used to access altered states of consciousness so that one gets a wider perspective on oneself, existence, cosmos and the life of the soul. You might say that the more content people are, the fewer drug problems arise. We have actually improved conditions for everybody on the planet since your time.»
«And that is cause for celebration!»
«Absolutely. And speaking about celebrations, many congenial get-togethers are arranged in different places here. In fact it is possible to partake in some happening or other every evening. This part of Lighthaven has been divided into different zones which ensure that things don’t get all too large and impersonal, while at the same time maintaining the possibility for a good contact with the people in all the other zones. This is part of the reason why those who live here perceive a strong inter-connectedness, which in turn means that we really take notice of each other and take better care of each other. The feeling of fellowship is strong, and is the reason why our society functions so well. We gradually realized that we needed to do something about the comprehensive use of technology that led to a feeling of proximity to people far away, but created a distance to the people near one. We have found a golden mean with less use of holograms, TV, mobile phones, computers and other gadgetry. You will have experienced for yourself how a great many people in your society, your children and maybe even yourself, have their noses stuck in their smartphones rather too much of the time. We have now become far more aware of each other, of how we are feeling, and we talk candidly about things and process what may be difficult. If possible, we address such things as soon as they occur, to prevent them getting stuck and causing problems at a later time. In other words, everyone is taken notice of! But enough of this, tomorrow I’ll have you accompany me to such a festive social gathering.»
«I look forward to that!» I say. «And I just have to say, it is so incredibly beautiful here, simply gorgeous! Such a profusion of flowers, and I see you have also spent time on artistic expressions. In particular that house over there, with that amusing wall decorated with pictures. Cool building, by the way»
«That is the school in this part of Lighthaven» Natalia says.
«It is very nice, but not very large.»
«Large enough. We don’t wish to build our schools too big. We shall pay it a visit tomorrow. Now we have enough to do, and this evening we’ll have fun.» Again a somewhat coy smile plays on her lips. Is she flirting with me? I am beginning to think that she is.
«I have nothing against fun», I reply, but quickly realize that the statement could be misunderstood and taken as a suggestion of something more intimate. But Natalia does not seem to react to my words. Perhaps she is not averse to that kind of fun? And with this thought I start to visualize the two of us in different situations... It seems I have been single for too long...
«And those buildings over there, what are they?» I asked in order to divert my thoughts from the subject. They had a tendency to lead their own life and just take off at times.
By now we had reached the other side of the hill and I could see a lot more buildings. Here as well the area and buildings were esthetically pleasing with tasteful decorations. A far cry from the grey, sombre-looking buildings of which there were far too many in my own time.
«As I said, Lighthaven is much larger than you imagine it to be. The building over there is our creativity centre. If you look in the other direction you‘ll see the administration building, and over there we have the community building where we gather for smaller or larger events. Over here you see the communications building where we are going now.»
«These are superb buildings, and the areas surrounding them are lovely!»
«Thank you! Yes, isn’t it great? Esthetics are important. Our surroundings ought to be beautiful. It affects us.»
I notice a person sitting in a rather peculiar-looking vehicle. It looks as if she is not focusing on anything in particular, simply enjoying the view. «Can you tell me something about that vehicle?» I asked, pointing at it.
«That is one of the small self-driven vehicles. You just plot in where you are going and perhaps also at what time you wish to arrive there, and the vehicle adjusts the speed automatically dependent on the surroundings.»
«But what about those who are taken ill here?»
«Very few get ill. Should anyone become acutely ill, they will get help very quickly. But this is very seldom needed, because we know so much more about the state of our individual health. Plus the fact that we are far better at preventing illness, and we live far healthier lives, physically and not least mentally, because we have understood how important our state of mind is for our health. Our ethics have improved, which means that we no longer produce unnecessary and detrimental medications. You know, in your time the pharmaceutical manufacturers were to a certain extent dependent on people being ill! For as long as the society was so totally driven be the seeking of profit, this was the extreme consequence. If everyone was healthy, they would earn no money... We know that in a way the body produces its own medications, it has a very effective immune system which we have become much better at supporting. And again, we take a lot better care of each other here. If a need arises, a group of people focus with positive intentions – or healing, if you prefer – on the person who needs it.»
«It is really incredible that things have gone so awry in my time.»
«Yes, and it was not only within that sector of society that things were done in very dubious ways. But back to your question. We do have a building where we treat people who get ill, and we call it the Wellness House. That name has very different associations from hospital, and we are after all out to make people well.
As far as crime is concerned, we do not have any police here in Lighthaven, as there is hardly any crime at all. We just have a few people in readiness. In the large city there is only one small police station, because even there they barely have crime. The few persons working there have other tasks than fighting crime, but obviously they take care of it when something does happen. There are other buildings, but these are the most important ones.»
«This place, on this side of the hill, seems more like how I had imagined a futuristic small-town to look like. I am really quite curious about these buildings, could I see them and learn more about them?»
«All in good time. We shall see what we’ll have time for, but in the city you will get to know some of them,» Natalia answered. By now we had reached the large round Communications Building. The maglev train went straight through the building! Inside we came directly to the beautifully decorated waiting area for the maglev train. A cool bridge at the centre of the building brought people across to the area where the flying cars were by means of a conveyer belt. A circular eating area high up beneath the glass roof offered a fantastic view of the area. No neon advertising posters were to be seen. It felt rather good to be without them!
«We’ll take one of these flying cars, or hydroplanes as we call them. There are several small landing areas for them outside, on the other side of the building, so we have to cross the bridge. In the city we are going to now, there are larger hydroplanes that are used for greater distances.»
«Why are we taking this small hydroplane and not the maglev train?» I asked.
«That is so that I can better explain to you what happens with the town, and so that you will get a bigger view of the area. Besides, flying conditions are perfect today.»
«It will be great, and I am very happy to go along with it,» I answered. We left the building and walked towards a small hydroplane that is waiting for us. It seems we can simply go aboard. I shall have to ask Natalia later why we didn’t have to buy tickets.