Initiatives
Communities

Is an Eco-Village in Your Future? ... Community has been an ideal generation after generation ... but it does not really work!

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

Is an Eco-Village in Your Future?

An Eco-Village in Peru

There’s a lot of talk about living in an intentional community these days, at least in some of the circles I frequent. I’ve heard about a few over the years and even visited one or two, but frankly wasn’t too inspired by the early hippie communes, though I admired and even counted myself among the flower children of the 60′s. It seemed they couldn’t quite get their act together. Don’t get me wrong, I totally respect the courage required to live together guided by principles of nonviolence and respect for the Earth. It took a lot of creativity and charismatic leadership to experiment with permaculture, sustainable ecological practices, a vegetarian diet and biodynamic gardening, along with renewable energy sources and on and on…they even discovered where their water came from (more than most people know, living in cities today).

With all good intentions and high ideals for having a positive effect upon the world, it wasn’t easy to create The Farm in Tennessee back in 1971 as one of the earliest experiments in intentional community. Forty-three years later, it’s still happening. They function like an eco-think tank, with thriving cottage industries and ten non-profit organizations.

250px-Barrel_House

Other early examples of intentional communities include Findhorn in Scotland, which began in 1962. So the question arises, are we yearning to return to the past or is there something deeper stirring in our collective conscience? Are we remembering the ways of our ancestors and longing for an authentic life in harmony with the rhythms and cycles of nature? Does culture sweep across the landscape in waves or is it cyclical, generational? Are we consciously evolving the systems that support the production and distribution of goods and services that support thriving communities? Plymouth

These questions have been on my mind ever since I considered our early colonies as intentional communities of a sort. Whether it’s the collapse of Rome or the demise of Plymouth Plantation, all human settlements seem to have their moment in the sun and then they’re gone.

So, what’s our current situation and what’s next? A young couple recently took off on a 500 day, 6,000 mile bike ride to explore these questions and more.

They visited 100 eco-villages and recently completed a documentary called Within Reach, filled with fascinating glimpses of intentional living in the 21st century. Amanda, the co-creator of this adventure, shared a factoid with me at a recent showing: less than .03 of the world’s population actually live in what she would define as an intentional community.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what happened to Ryan, her traveling companion, she shared that they began as friends, became romantically connected and parted as friends. He is now living in Hawaii with his wife and child, pursuing his passion for photography, while Amanda continues to promote the ideals of intentional, ecologically conscious living and tours with her film. She also shared an important insight: issues of power and control do not magically go away; it takes a spiritually mature individual to engage in communities guided by consensus. Patience may be the highest virtue of all.

Getting into action: First, you can visit the Within Reach website and find out when the film will be showing in your area, get some friends together and watch it. If it’s not coming to a town near you, get the DVD and arrange a private showing in your home.

There are many resources if you catch the bug and want to pursue your dream of living in community. The Fellowship of Intentional Community is a good place to start your search for Shangri-La. If you find what you’re seeking, imagine, you might actually get to know your neighbors, you might share their core values, and you might even learn to like them.

Posted by Bud Wilson