This is still in process. I wrote this because I was on a video where I gave a virtual tour of what I then called Fruitful Vegan Village which you can view here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koH04SQzUO
I was able to tell about the community I envision to people who are interested in joining community. The preparation for this video was excruciatingly painful, and I thought I did a terrible job of presenting. Normally I am comfortable with sharing on videos, but for some reason I was super nervous.
I have changed a lot since that time, which was only about 4 months ago, around July, but I still wanted to share this description and get your feedback on this writing and about the video.
The group I mentioned in this presentation has since re-formed with different values than I have, and I have moved on. There were unresolved conflicts that occurred which is unfortunate, but I learned a lot!
Here is the presentation:
5 decades ago when I was 19, I embarked alone with only a backpack traveling overland from Germany to Sri Lanka. This 13 month journey in the 1970’s that included INdia, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan,would change the course of my life forever, and lead me to my dream of living in an intentional community. Before I left, I was going to college to get a degree and a conventional job. And I was heading down a very destructive path with the philosphy, “if it feels good do it.” I encountered so much suffering by people who were very poor, as well as witnessed the beauty of family and community connections in cultures so different from the United States. On my plane trip home, I had a revelation: The only way I would be happy was if I would serve and use the skills that I enjoyed using.
Lonely and feeling a sense of culture shock, I was drawn to an organic garden which was part of the free university program at San Diego University. There I met Cliff Mikkelson who introduced me to almost all the helpful and amazing elements of my life which mean so much to me now and helped me shape my values, including natural foods, permaculture (although they didn’t call it permaculture back then), wild edibles,conspiracy facts (not conspiracy theories) living in harmony with the earth (including cold therapy and grounding), and the importance of having alternatives to the regular currency which now includes cooperative systems like Time Banks USA.
AT age 18,I had become a vegetarian when I became aware of the suffering of animals that are killed for food,and would have become a vegan if I had known how much the creatures suffer in the dairy and egg industry. I became a vegan 8 years ago when I watched a 3 minute video describing the horrors of the egg and dairy industry. Cliff was a vegetarian when I met him and he also became a vegan.
Cliff and I married in 1976 and we received an offer to move from the San Diego area to ARkansas where we traded our labor helping start an organic blueberry farm for living in an 8 x 16 foot trailer with no electricity or running water. A person in our network of back to the lander hippies lent us a communities magazine. When I read the concept of intentional communities, I was immediately sold on the idea. I knew this was my destiny 48 years ago. I feel so grateful to all the people, including Cynthia, who have kept the Foundation for Intentional Communities going for all these years. I could never have come to the place where I could have skills to start a community without this organization.
Ever since then I have been living and or working in some kind of cooperative arrangement which includes visiting, studying, and living in intentional communities.Various challenges have kept me from joining other communities, mainly complicated family ties. Cliff and I are no longer married, but now he is my friend and neighbor on 9 acres. We share a son, and 4 grandchildren. I also have a daughter with another former husband. Finding a vegan community which shares my values plus living close to my family has been impossible.
When I became the sole owner of 18 acres of land I realized that I just needed to start a vegan community.
A friend who supported my vision funded the building of a common house, two large tent platforms, and other improvements.
The main goal of the community will be to learn, practice, teach community building skills while in the process of becoming as self-sufficient as possible. We will at least at first be living very simply and off the grid. As people come, they can use their various talents to enrich the physical, emotional, spiritual and intellectual aspects of the land.
Being aligned in the values that I outline on the Wilberforce Village Project blog is essential because many irreconcilable conflicts result from a difference in values. I’ve been working on identifying the universal core values that are in alignment with the vision of living in such a way that helps humans and all of life thrive. Veganism is a core value, along with the acceptance of different spiritual paths. You can find them listed on the blog.
I intend to put the land into a Community Land Trust legal structure as soon as possible so that the land can be eventually owned by the community.
There is a common house which could be lived in during spring, summer and fall. With help, it could be ready for the upcoming winter (2023/24). It can serve at least 25 people.
There is a yome which needs work, but eventually can be used for a quiet space for spiritual practices.
The land is mainly forest, and on a slope, but there are many building sites, some with road access.
This trailer, also needing some help, could be used for private healing modalities such as massage and emotional release sessions, and other healing modalities.
There is a garden which has been developed over decades and will be expanded with help. Wild edibles, Jerusalem artichokes, and easy to grow herbs like mint, oregano, and comfrey will be a big part of the garden in order to ensure that insects and drought will not destroy the crops.
Sociocracy 3.0 is the wonderful governance system adapted from sociocracy which we will use to create collaborative governance. An adaptation of NonViolent Communication will be useful.
Somethings that make this future community unique are:
People who are accepted as provisional members will be required to take a course which teaches them community building skills which helps people have deep connection with others in the community by providing tools that help them to deal with emotional issues that inevitably come up when a group of people live together. Celebrating the good that is in the community is another important aspect of this training.
The focus on learning, practicing, and teaching skills that build a healthy community will give everyone a chance to be as emotionally, spiritually, and physically healthy as they can possibly be. The fact that we will live as simply as possible yet still partake of the advantages that technology offers will make us very unique.
A vision of reaching out to other vegans who have dreams of doing serviceful work such as a natural healing center, senior and intergenerational co-housing, an intergenerational learning center for homeschoolers, birthing center, a camp ground, and retreat center.
We have access to the beautiful Prayer Lake which includes a lovely park with a volleyball court and picnic area.
Membership process is listed on the blog. read values, fill out a questionnaire, do an interview, visit 3 weeks, 1 year at least, provisional membership. If everyone approves, then people can achieve full membership–with checking in every step of the way to see if all are compatible. People do not have to be vegan in order to explore membership, but they do need to eat plant-based diet on the land. Since I am the only full member, I will be the one approving all these steps.
