I’m calling the community I dream of creating, “Wellspring.” I am adding to a blog I started years ago during a time when my two former husbands and our two children decided to experiment with being a non-residential community together. We met weekly or every other week for about a year. I think that was one of the happiest years of my life.
Then, my children found their future spouses. Everything changes. Their spouses (they are both married) are not so interested in living in community. Maybe some day…I can always dream. I love my children, Chris and Maud, SO much!
I have been trying to create an intentional community ever since I heard about the concept 45 years ago when my first husband, Cliff, introduced me to the concept.
We bought the very first Intentional Communities Directory which the Federation for Intentional Communities published. Now you can find the directory online at http://www.ic.org
I wondered if I would ever have means to buy land, and be able to start a community. Cliff and I visited some communities, and never found any that were suitable. I lived at East Wind, an “egalitarian Community” which shares all things in common. I loved so much of it, but there some things I could not tolerate—like how they dealt with conflict. However, I am SO glad I got to actually live in a community for 3 months, visiting them for about 4 months on weekends.
I wonder if it has taken me 45 years to become the leader I need to be in order to design and be the founder of a community. I still am learning, yet I feel more confident than I ever have felt before—about what kind of people I want to work with.
I keep thinking I am going to find the ideal organization. Then I jump in passionately, saying to myself, “I am going to put off designing the community because here is a community I can join right away.” For the past two months, I have poured myself into a number of such groups, convinced that at last I found online community that was ideal. I also thought I might find people who would be inspired by how hard I was working, and want to join me in my community.
Now, I realize, that being online is really draining. I yearn to be outside. Spring is coming. I don’t live on the community land, but I could if I was willing to be off line more, and live very simply.
I was working on the Jesus Vegans blog http://www.jesusvegans.wordpress.com
Originally I was planning on starting a Christian vegan community, but then I realized that most Christians, even vegans, do not share my interpretation of the Bible—that everyone will be “saved”, and that there is no such thing as eternal conscious torment, aka hell.
When I say that everyone will be saved, I am using Christian language. I prefer to say—everyone will be reconciled to our Creator. Everyone will live in harmony with each other—even the animals will not have a need to kill each other.
So here I am, 65 years old, have a 45 year old dream of living in community. I am committed to work on this blog until it has all the elements needed for someone to know what they are getting into. Having things spelled out in order to attract people who will want to stay and who will contribute to the well being of the community is something that most communities have discovered to be essential.
I hope that the documents I post on this blog will be helpful to anyone who wants to start an intentional community, and that we can be mutually supportive in our efforts.
