I've been feeling compelled to learn more about Intentional Communites lately and I'm definitely sold on the idea. It must be wonderful to be able to live within a community of like-minded souls.

Anyway, I'm very interested to hear about other peoples experiences of Intentional Communities. If anybody reading this is living in one, or has in the past, then I'd love to hear your experiences, both positive and negative.

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Greetings Andy! Have you check out the Intentional Communtities Directory. This Directory was first written by Mary Silva, who
happens to be the Director of the Chamber of Consciousness in NC.
You can access her and their website at, www.chamberofc.com or at
www.chamberofconsciousness.com, plus check out the Mountain Sangha.
This publication also has listed communities and is the Directory of holistic activities, business and groups in Western NC and can be
viewed at www.mountainsangha.com. Be In Joy! Eshalom

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Dear Andy

Checkout

www.utopiansonline.com I think you'll really like it

Cheers

GB

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www.diggersanddreamers.org.uk

Tess x

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I dream about living in a community that is non materialistic, sharing items such as hoovers etc. Where you can be realtivly self suficiant i.e growing your own food and swapping and sharing food sources within the community. It would be eco friendly.

Education for children will include learning about all aspects of spirituality, the chakras, healing, mediataing, yogo, holistic skills. Making products out of natural sources such as perfume, lotions etc. Learning about the REAL World. I'd still have reading, writing and essential subjects like geography and history taught as well but only what is ESSENTIAL. Algebra and physics can remain behind at other schools. Of course our kids will be ECO PROS.

We would all teach each other skills needed for living! Sheep shearing, Milking cows, knitting, wood work etc.

Prefrably we would be a non comformist community, live on land where we don't have to pay council tax and feel like we are owned by the government.

I can carry on dreaming! my idea of heaven on earth
XX

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Another late reply! But actually, what you've written here isn't far off how we used to live when I was a kid. From the age of 8-16 we lived in a community call Redfield. We grew food, had sheep, cows, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys. As kids, most of us attended regular school, but also learnt about a lot of the things you listed.

We all had our own living space, but we cooked and ate communally. The whole ground floor of the house was communal - the kitchen, dining room, lounge, breakfast room, ti chi room. The upper two floors had bedrooms and communal bathrooms.

I wasn't particularly happy there and it can actually be a very stressful environment to live in. However, I think I grew up with a better understanding of people than a lot of my peers and I think I'm a more tolerant and accepting person as a result.

I've only been back there a couple of times since we left 16 years ago, but we're still in touch with people who are still in touch with the community. They're listed in Diggers and Dreamers and are located in North Bucks.

They run all sorts of courses if you're interested in going along and having a look.

Personally, I wouldn't want to live like that again. I'm far happier in my own space.

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Communities can sound very idyllic, it's true. But despite sharing common ideals & lifestyles, you must take into account personality clashes, which can happen as easily in a community such as this as it does in any other environment. In spite of what we'd like to be like there are some people who just get on our nerves!! You have to be pretty evolved spiritually to be able to take the good with the not-so-good & not let it affect you.

I lived in a community of Spanish hippies in the 80s, and we didn't even live in the same place - we all had our own house in a fairly wide area, but even so we got jumpy with each other! But it was fun sharing what we had - I had the only hot water shower, another had a traditional bread oven, one lucky couple had a washing machine!! We took turns spending a day at each house doing the necessary.

I like my own space too - a real lone wolf!

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I think people do have a very idyllic view of what it would be like, you're right. I wasn't part of the community by choice, I grew up there. The adults tended to separate off into groups and the kids of each group were sort of separated by default because of it.

Living that closely with so many people is a lot of hard work and can actually be very stressful. Even thinking about it now I'm remembering more and more of the hard times! There were good times too, but my feelings towards it now are fairly negative.

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I've noticed over the years that people who actually grew up in an intentional community or a commune couldn't wait until they were old enough to leave it! I know that it's not like that for everyone, but the majority of the people that I talk to couldn't stand not having their own space and their own stuff. They said that sharing was one thing, but being forced to share was something totally different.

Peace,
Dawn

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People who live in the same house as eachother, be it family members or house mates, have problems/issues/arguments from time to time. When you have a lot of people living together, there's always someone who's not getting on with someone else for one reason or another. There's a constant tension. It can be a very stressful way to live, whether you chose to live like that, or were forced to. It was my mum who chose to live there and she found it very hard a lot of the time. It's definately something you should think about very carefully before making the move.

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Thanks for this thread, saves me asking.

hmm, I do like to have my own hoover. And washing machine. And oven.
Dammit.

Nice idea though
x x x

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