..........

I have posted this neewsletter a bit early so everyone can receive notice. Our next online chat via Yahoo Instant Messanger, will be on June 18th at 5pm PST.

Regarding that meeting we'd like to have people keep in mind that we'd like to brainstorm ideas for our community. The brainstorming would be for ideas in the following categories:

1) Income streams

2) Sustainablily, in terms of food, housing, energy

3) Social life,

4) governance

5) Outreach: neighbors etc…

Regarding things we've already done, our chat sessions have come to craft the following mission statement for our community

Our Mission Statement:

The Community of Light is an intentional community dedicated to following the principles of environmental responsibility, sustainability, and a holistic approach to health and living.

The Community of Light seeks energy independence, food independence and community-based forms of income generation.

The Community of Light is open to persons from all walks of life. We do not discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, age, or socio-economic background. The Community of Light encourages personal spiritual growth, however, we do not subscribe to a particular spritual or religious tradition.

We embrace the principles of multiculturalism, activism for positive change, cooperation, and the interdependence of its members based on mutual trust and honesty. We value improving interpersonal communication and deepening our connections to each other as well as with the world around us.

Community of Light

We want to co-create a community in a rural area, grow a good portion of our own food, create a profitable cottage industry, and so be self employed. We want 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 whatever "cottage industry" would be.

You are all welcome to express your ideas about what our community should be. We are, after all, the persons who will make it up.

There are a lot of ideas that we've discussed but I want everyone to know that what is or has been in issues are meant as working concepts. This whole idea is a work in progress and so let us know what you think.

If you have not been to the Community of Lights web page we now have a listing of communities that are forming. It may be educational to visit some of those sites to see what's new in the community universe See the links at: Community of Light

Thanks, Dan and Wendy

Email Address: creative1@creativeideasforyou.com

To the CommunityOfLight group

sustainabelle ………. sustainabelle@earthlink.net>

I've been interested in intentional community since 1991; most recently my interest is in affordable cohousing. I like your idea of meeting like-minded people on the internet.

polyvocality ......... polyvocality@yahoo.com

Hi, I am a creative, highly educated person who would like to join the group in order to explore the possibilities of communal living. For more information please contact me. Sincerely, Clint Stevens

xochitao .......... xochitao@yahoo.com

This person has joined your CommunityOfLight group.

peter goju .......... petergoju@aol.com

Hi There, I have been interested in a more natural lifestyle ever since I can remember, but never followed through. Thanks Peter

andyblues145 .......... andy@andymooneylaw.com

I have been considering a communal lifestyle for some time and I aminterested in the views of others seeking the same.

rockychristmas .......... brockychristmas@yahoo.ca

I am in search of community wit truth, fun an not political, not pyramidin structure, wit co-operation an support the only laws.

ericacat3000 .......... ecathers@tampabay.rr.com

ofosolif1 .......... ofosolif1@yahoo.com

Andres De Anda.......... ice_tien@yahoo.com

My husband and i had a similar idea. we are pleased to see others headed in a more natural direction. we would like to discuss this further.

swampgurl .......... swampgurl@yahoo.com>

I am interested in commune living , have lived communally on several occasions husband electrician and electronics, wife , midwife with heavy medical back ground

Through the website

Eric Best .......... ericatn@pngusa.net

The need for visionary exploration and action is being called forth from us in ever greater measure with each passing day. Whether we look at the individual personal level of events with all of the current strife in the areas of personal relationships, making money and supposedly feeling 'secure', or personal power in the job arena ('make a living' as opposed to 'making a LIFE'); or if we look at the larger national or global arena with its daily strife reported to us ever so glowingly in each day's news, there is an obvious call/need for something "different". There is a call for something which really works (or at the very least works better).

Here are some comments from a couple of movers and shakers on the world scale which also can be thoughtfully applied to ourselves, the life we are living (or not) and the life we might wish to create for our children.

Commenting on wars of the 20th century, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara writes:

"In retrospect, we can now understand these catastrophes for what they were: essentially the products of a failure of imagination ... "

"What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or the holy name of liberty or democracy." M.K. Gandhi

We might then consider:

"What failures of 'imagination' (and/or perhaps courage) are keeping us immersed in the currently painful or limiting situations we are experiencing in life?"

"What difference does it make at the end of our life, if the 'holy principles' under which we have restrictively lived and therefore suffered; were those unconsciously given to us by our parents, our church, and/or by our larger power/money/consumerism driven culture?"

Once again..... Real Community is a place, a physical & social environment which is truly supportive of life including the joyful exploration of new thoughts, new imaginings, constructive new creations; all while realistically providing the safety and security we need.

George Leonard, the author of Education and Ecstasy, wrote something to the effect of: "It is getting to the place of where not to be visionary is to be simply irresponsible!" The increasingly rapid rate of change in our world, both personally and globally, more than ever before forces us to 'look ahead' and become more visionary.

Remember the joy and excitement (the innate 'celebration' of life) we have all seen in the healthy 5 year old as they explored their emerging world. This same state of joyful beingness is available to us now as adults.

..........

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.

New Directory of Communities!

We are happy to announce that the new print edition of the Communities Directory is back from the printer and available now. This is the first edition of the book produced based on our Online Communities Directory http://directory.ic.org and we are very happy with the results.

If you would like to purchase a copy of the book, it is available for $24 plus shipping from http://store.ic.org/directory . This is a 20% discount off our cover price available only when ordering directly from the FIC.

Communities Magazine comes out regularly and is a resource for those seeking to explore communities. You can write them at the address given below. This is their office address.

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

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

This list of places seeking members, communities forming at the F.I.C.'s website: http://elph.anu.net/reach/reachbook-all.html

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 This is what we have at "press time"

1) Would you consider being based outside of the United States?

	Votes	%
Outside the U.S. preferred	1	12
depending on country chosen	2	18
Neutral - no preference	2	12
would but not first choice	5	31
NOT consider outside U.S.	4	25

2) Would you consider having a membership fee of some kind?

Choices	Votes	%
Yes	4	26
No	11	73

3) If you think so, then what should it be based on?

	Votes	%
Number of members entering	0	0
income of entering members	1	8
earning power of community	2	16
Other (explain on list)	2	16
A share buying system	7	58

4) What kind of climate would you want to live in?

Choices	Votes	%
Tropical	1	5
Subtropical	4	21
Forest	5	26
Woodland/meadow	9	47
Tundra	0	0

5) What land locations would you like?

Choices	Votes	%
Island	12	19
Peninsula	10	16
Land bound w/coast	11	17
land bound no coast	9	14
High altitude	11	17
Low altitude	9	14

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

Choices	Votes	%
Farming	16	13
Raising livestock	13	11
Raising feed crops	10	8
Hunting	5	4
Gathering	13	11
Fishing	12	10
Utilitarian crops	9	7
Fruit bearing trees	18	15
Lumber/milling	4	3
Water/solar for alt. power	18	15

7) 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	0	0
E. KY, E. TN, WVA, W.VA, W.,PA,	1	16
G. Coast, FL, LA, MS, AL	0	0
E. PA, NY, NH, VT, CT, RH ME, MD	0	0
N. Idaho	0	0
NW/W OR, W. WA,	3	50
CA, NV, UT, E. OR, E, WA, MT, CO, Wy	2	33

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

Choices	Votes	%
Yes	17	100.0
No	0	0.0

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight, and bull-strong.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered...not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.