Community

       Intentional communities, collectives, communes; we have all heard the stories about "commune cults" like Heavens Gate, and Jonestown; no doubt these were outrages that should not be tolerated, but these are only remembered because of the shock value they carry. There are thousands of commune upstarts that have gone out with much less in the way of publicity. To totally dismiss the idea of people living in an intentional community setting because of the few the media choose to illustrate, (usually only attractive because of some freak-like quality they think will give them copy) is selling the idea a bit short.

   Sure, when exploring this type of community you should be careful there aren't some underlying fanatical, religious undertones. I don't just mean the "burn in hellfire" kind either, too purist of an ideal in any form can evoke a similar response. As long as the group doesn't require a specific spiritual path, or have too much of a "utopian" idealism, you are probably relatively safe. There are tons of communities available out there exploring different ideas of freedom and social experience. They range from the bizarre to the more conventional.

I have had a single experience with this sort of thing.

    I don't want to give the name because I don't think it even exists anymore. But in my effort to communicate with that community before I went there, there were several phone calls, a bunch of e-mails, and reading of mission statements involved. On my arrival I was suspect of the place. Not that I felt threatened, but I was told there were "several people" involved in the project; as I looked around, though, I didn't see them. I was told "people come and go" and I am sure they do. But here I was standing on a farm in the middle of Washington state, alone with a lady in her 70's who was the "leader"(owner) of the community. 

    Now, as I understand it, community involves several people, being present at the same time. That however was not the case here. I found out later there were people there in the past that had all gone their separate ways at one point or another, most of which were evidently from countries besides this one, and now back in those countries. I was assured there were other folks coming in the next few days though. 

   Later the same day this guy shows up, and I find out he has been there for two weeks, by himself, tending to the place while the owner was away in Korea learning how to grow ginseng. He told me he was met at the airport by the owner, then he was given a list of chores to do a day before the owner left, and he had had the place to himself for the period of her "vacation". I really didn't think too much of this other than "my, how trusting she must be", but it did seem a little odd. Being that I was new to the concept, I just thought I should see what happens.

   In the next few days 2 more people did arrive, both female, and the first one refused to speak to anyone, she just went to her room and stayed there for two days. The other one, evidently had some "intentional" experience. She was pretty cool about the whole deal. I found out she had a boyfriend that was going to be showing up in the next couple days and she, and her dog, were there to scout the place as a possible new home. 

   I had the chance to talk to her a bit, bouncing the things I had learned about the place off her since she had experience in this line. Some of the topics were, the fact I was told the owner was an organic gardener and taught for the last 25yrs, but when I asked her about that when I got there I found out she taught a class 25yrs ago, and by her admission the students knew more about the subject than her. Another thing we discussed was, the two greenhouses that were advertised as on site were in fact lying on the ground waiting to be assembled in the case of one, the other was up but it had not been tended to in at least a season. Now, I was there to work, so I was willing to fix the green houses, but I was told there was already a market; the farm was selling "winter veggies" as grown at the farm. I later learned the owner was buying stuff at the local store and repackaging it after she cut it up as "stir fry mix" from her farm. The only thing from her farm was a few "survivor" leafs of chard that had somehow made it in the greenhouse.

   

   I was also told there was a functional workshop there making log furniture. I had hoped to work there to earn a living while I learned a little about organic gardening. Come to find out there had been A, one, piece of furniture built there by a guy from the "sister" community down the road. Which the owner now slept on. I never saw anyone from that "sister" community. The shop was really a carport filled with boxes and all kinds of other stuff. You couldn't even walk in to it, so I spent several days cleaning it up to be able to use the space. In the hope we may be able to utilize it as a furniture shop in the future.

    But I told the new girl to decide for herself what she thought of the place because I was new to all this. Really though, I wouldn't have minded that all this stuff wasn't already done, except things were implied to be already functioning. I ended up feeling misled as did everyone else I know of that showed up there.

  It turns out I was longest running intern there at 2 months. While I was there I found out the owner's daughter was in advertising and had "helped" with her ads for the place. You see they never actually lied about anything in the posts I read, or our discussions, they just implied. Me, being rather wide eyed, and dopey, I didn't want to ask the obvious questions like, "Can I talk to a couple others who stay there?", or "How much furniture would you say you have made there?" that would have left me much better informed. 

  As you see though people didn't stick around long after they even felt a little misled, in fact that may very well be one of the better indicators, for a community you may be interested in checking out yourself, longevity; if it's been there a while they are more likely to be legit. All in all I actually enjoyed the experience though and plan on checking out other communities in the future. I will just ask more, and better, questions before I go.

I didn't write this to discourage the idea of "intentional communities". Just the opposite in fact, I just want you to be more informed on your first attempt than I was, hopefully, allowing you to have a more fulfilling experience.

If you want to explore this option further you can go to The intentional communities website or The North West community page Just ask lots of questions before you go, and have a plan b in case things don't work out. (try not counting on joining the circus as an escape)