Community of Light's News Log

Affirmation: The land we seek is first found in the heart, then in the mind, then in the world !

Copyright: 06/28/2010
By Daniel Brady and Wendy Wolters

The Word From Here ... Overview of What We'd like ... How to Participate ... New Contacts ... Letters ... Communities Forming ...
For Your Information ... Interest Survey: Preferences ... Special Commentaries
The word from here

06/28/10: Hello:

It is good that we're starting to meet up online and chat. I think, in order to organize we need to get to know one another and build a core group of some six or more to make initial decisions. Ideally when we have an extended set of persons, maybe 30 or so, we'll have working groups which may allow us to make much faster progress.

The name of the discussion group is a default which contain the user's Yahoo ID; so, in my case, the conferences will be called: "dbrady2000's conference" It is easy to find me in the Yahoo system if you add me as a friend. Then I show up easily when you log on. This has been working so far.

I'd still like us to ponder these consideration:

Perhaps an organic garden that specializes in all manner of herbs, biblical, oriental/medicinal, native American and other culinary, cultural or technologically useful plants. The benefit is that we could do mail order, pre orders and the like. We could expand to serve the import export needs of producers overseas, we'd network with eco-friendly groups that may just be gatherers and not farmers at all. Point is, in many locales, many different hearty plants could be grown. The cost would be water, seed, or seedlings, and working soil up, which is to say composting common ground into lofted loose soil.

There is the idea of sweat lodges too. Simple enough to construct, even if on a temporary basis. We do not have to have stone you could use available tent designs, or convert any enclosed space into a sauna.

Living space for a co-op of persons whose fixed income would work for the kind of space you have. The solution for this is as simple as persons bringing in an RV or trailer, making for ready made and personal housing that would be as legal as its waste system was.

A theme component, the idea that you would seek out, say, herbalists, or persons who like orchards, vintners, bee keepers, writers, musicians but you get the idea.

Another theme idea is that of libraries. That is to say a place where persons with a common interest would collect materials relevant to their interest, do research, provide resources and support for a particular field of knowledge. If sufficient interest is found, so as to form the basis for a community, then it can be another means toward an end.  

Thanks, Dan: creative1@creativeideasforyou.com


An overview of what we'd like

Community of Light

We want to co-create a community in a rural area, grow a good portion of our own food, create profitable cottage industries, and so be self employed. We would keep well the land that we live on and engage in right livelihood. We also want to contribute to the community around us and so benefit our society. Ideally, we would want to be near enough to a good sized town maybe some 50,000 or so, a college community would be something to consider. We could each use our talents, abilities, or professions to provide for ourselves as well as to help each other.


How to Participate

One of the first things you should consider is looking at the home page for the community. There we have a brief on what agreements have already been made.

To participate join our YahooGroup and set its email preferences so that you get "special notices". That would mean that you'd get announcements from me. Here is the link to our YahooGroup Regarding Yahoo, you will get a lot of email, but if you set it up to send you special notices you'll get the few emails that I send out. Every once in a while you'll have to empty out the collected emails from your Yahoo account so as to keep it viable.

To participate in the online chats, you would have to have one or more of us listed as friends in the Yahoo Instant Messenger. This is a free process.

You might want to know something about the people already involved, see our member profiles

You may also want to look at the listing the Community of Light has at the F.I.C.'s web site:

Communications

My yahoo ID is dbrady2000@yahoo.com. This is available for those who want to set up or join into chats when we arrange them. My usual email is: creative1@creativeideasforyou.com


New Contact

 

Mid June to the July 1st 2010:

Sweet Water Springs .......... sweetwatersprings@yahoo.com

The following person would like to join the CommunityOfLight group:

lilymaletta ......... lilymaletta@yahoo.com

My name is Lily Maletta. I have lived in Florida for the past 35 years with my husband Peter - looking for a new place to retire.

skystone_98 ......... skystone_98@yahoo.com

Comment: Green Builder and Consultant

eva.penny .......... eva.penny@yahoo.com .......... Please note this member has put up a profile

Want to learn more about communal living..This is the group they sent me too,hopefully the right one in what I am looking for. Thanks Eva

shirley_morant .......... shirley_morant@yahoo.com

Retired psychologist, large undeveloped property owner, 501(C)3 founder, currently non-profit CEO, published (newspaper) writer; show business background, retired.

John S .......... vintrest@yahoo.com

Hi Dan,
 
Two and a half years after having (for financial reasons) to leave our community family at Green Valley Village, my son Mark and I remain in Texas. Our full year spent in community living was not wasted; we continue to employ the lessons learned and the values embraced in our daily lives to this very day. I would not trade our experience in community living for all the other treasures of the world. For the one and only time, I could look at others not as potential adversaries but as fellow humans, trusting that we were united in our collective efforts with a sincere personal goal to help make life better for each other. While this may appear to some as extremely altruistic and we remain imperfect in our lives, we still followed that simple common goal to improve each others' lives by individually doing our part. That is the essence of the positive intentional community experience and without that simple, fundamental concern for the welfare of our fellow community family members, no worthwhile value can ever come from that experience.
 
Please keep me in the COL information loop-while I do not see a path back to community at present, the optimist in me will not surrender the idea. I know you can relate to that feeling, so please don't give up either.
 
In the spirit of Community fellowship,
John Shiflet
Fort Worth, Texas

John Coleman .......... hardknocks@windstream.net

Hi Dan, thought I would check out the group's activities of late. Have been a member for years but not active for awhile. John Coleman / Alabama / Spiritual Humanists of Alabama

The following person would like to join the CommunityOfLight group:

immde1974 .......... immde1974@yahoo.com

My Name is Melinda. I am 36. I currently live in Granville, ND. I believe in respect for all things, compassion and self-sufficiency.

 

May 2010 through Mid June 2010:

Bob .......... homegrownmi@yahoo.com

I have lived an alternative lifestyle for many years Have skills growing preserving food, cooking heating and lighting without utilities, etc. I would like to join the online group to learn more. Bob

kmottar .......... kraigam@hotmail.com

California

Michael .......... athiker1963@rocketmail.com

I have lived in a shared community in the past when I was much younger. I am interested to find one or start one. I have property in North Florida (small farm)

James B. .......... james.boyd4422@yahoo.com

I am looking into joining a commune because I see commune living as the best way to live. The direction we are heading worries me.

Robert .......... homegrownmi@yahoo.com

sweetwatersprings .......... sweetwatersprings@yahoo.com

 


Letters

 


Community Forming and Land Opportunities

 

 


For Your Information

Fellowship of Intentional Communities:

The Fellowship of Intentional Communities is a great resource for anyone wanting information about communities that are established or forming. You can find which ones are near to you and do a good deal of research with the information they provide, who knows there may be a place within a relatively short drive.

Their Communities Magazine comes out regularly. The directory that they have is a great primer in the variety of the community universe. You can write them:. Communities Magazine, 138 Twin Oaks Road, Louisa VA 23093 USA or call them at: Tel/Fax: 540-894-5126. Their website is at Intentional Communities

This list of places seeking members, communities forming and the like. It's at the F.I.C.'s website: http://directory.ic.org/iclist/

Our listing on the F.I.C.

We encourage you to review the Community of Light's listing using this link. Listings at directory.ic.org are also used for the FIC's print version of the Communities Directory.

Northwest Intentional Communities:

The resources on the Northwest Intentional Communities site might be valuable. There are lists of legal documents, process advice etc. They're at: http://www.ic.org/nica/resource.htm

California Farm Link:

Here is an organization, California Farm Link, which attempts to match aspiring farmers with landowners. I've filled out and sent in the questionnaire They operate mostly in northern California, and I've seen some listings of interest. If we are able to get a match for a farm, we could likely negotiate a sharecrop rental until we got our businesses going, then buy the land on doable payment terms.

Giving to Good Causes?

A very easy way to give food to the hungry is to set the Hunger Site as your browser's home page. Check out the Hunger Site to see what it is about and how it works.

 


Special Commentary or Writings

A friend sent this in. I enjoyed it and you may too:

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, 'I love you,' mean it.

FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry", look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN. In disagreements, ! fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN! When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, 'Why do you want to know?'

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say 'bless you' when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY- ONE. Spend some time alone.

A true friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart.!


Our Preferences

If you are a member of our Yahoo group you can access the current polling data, or vote: this is the link to our group These are the current statistics as of June 2010. The results have been stable over time but I do update here every once in a while.

Would you consider a location outside the United States?

Choices

Votes

%

Outside the U.S. preferred

2

8%

depending on country chosen

5

20%

Neutral - no preference

2

8%

would but not first choice

11

45%

NOT consider outside U.S.

4

16%

Should we have a membership fee of some kind?

Choices

Votes

%

Income of entering members

6

30%

Money making capacity of the community

14

70%

If we had an entry fee what should it be based upon?

Choices

Votes

%

Number of entering members

0

0%

Income of entering members

3

12%

Money making capacity of the community

2

14%

Other

4

23%

A share buying system

8

47%

Areas or regions we'd like to consider: (See the site for details)

Choices

Votes

%

AZ, NM, W. Texas

0

0

Cent. US: NB KS OK DA

0

0

G. Lakes, AK, MO, IL, IN,WI, KY, TN

1

5%

E. KY, E. TN, WVA, W.VA, W.,PA,

2

11%

G. Coast, FL, LA, MS, AL

1

5

E. PA, NY, NH, VT, CT, RH ME, MD

0

0

N. Idaho

1

5

NW/W OR, W. WA,

9

52%

CA, NV, UT, E. OR, E, WA, MT, CO, Wy

3

217%

What kind of climate would you want to live in?

Choices

Votes

%

Tropical

2

8%

Subtropical

6

24%

Forest

7

28%

Woodland/meadow

10

40%

Tundra

0

0%

What land locations would you like?

Choices

Votes

%

Island

15

18%

Peninsula

12

15%

Land bound w/coast

16

20%

land bound no coast

12

15%

High altitude

13

16%

Low altitude

12

15%

What sorts of things would you want to use the land for?

Choices

Votes

%

Farming

22

13%

Raising livestock

16

10%

Raising feed crops

12

7%

Hunting

7

4%

Gathering

17

10%

Fishing

15

9%

Utilitarian crops

12

7%

Fruit bearing trees

25

15%

Lumber/milling

6

3%

Water/solar for alt. power

26

16%

Would you consider a buy/sell/relationship with the outside world?

Choices

Votes

%

Yes

24

100%

No

0

0%