..........

To apprise you all, the next online meeting will be on Sunday, April 22nd at 530 p.m. PST. We will meet using Yahoo's IM. Write me if you have questions about this.

I'll begin with being thankful. I am thankful for many things right now. I am at peace in my life. I am not ill, in dire need, over burdened by problems at work, at home nor in my family or community. I don't know how long this will last but each day that it does I am thankful.

I have found some solace in taking life day by day, even hour by hour as need be. My personal work creating a news archive, has kept me aware of the circumstances in this world of ours - while I do not know if we'll ever know the truth of what is really going on in the greater middle east, my well-wishing extends to the peoples of that region as well as to those persons I know for whom I have created a prayer list.

It is not as if I am not working long hours at school and at home or that my life is not burdened. Rather, now, I feel that there are changes coming and that I my life has reached a plateau.

My apologies for being a bit late this time around. I had a chance to stop and think about things, many things and for many reasons. One of the things that I came to see is that I am constantly overloading "my plate" . I was quite taken up with my return to school and so I completely forgot to put out a newsletter, such as this one, last September. I did not realize it until I put out the December issue.

I am also aware of the situation that although we make progress here, it is quite slow. However, long distance consensus is slow and the process of thinking through what we'd like our community to be and what we'd like it not to be is slow but purposefully so. What we are engaged in is making clear, to ourselves, what our founding philosophy is or will be. I imagine that this is a way of communicating to the future, what our aspirations are, what our design is and it will be our legacy to posterity.

We have had some communications and a few new members and I want to welcome them and to those who are not members and wish to participate, welcome to you

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

These are the introductions from persons that have written us since the last issue. Please go to Subscriber's Introductions if you would like to see the profiles we have on file currently. Some but not all of these people may have additional information there.

From ………. Swarmwater@aol.com

Greetings … interested in your developing community. My son and I are from the Warm Springs Apache people, Naka clan. We are interested in visiting with a few of your members. Do you have a meeting place in Florida.? We travel to Florida each year to present our Native cultural dances, songs, etc. at schools. We are planning to visit Florida again in May 2007. Thank you , tomas shash

From ………. bbfb7770@hotmail.com

I am interested in communicating with others who are considering IC. There are many views and I would like to hear as many as possible. Thanks, Barbara Burton

From ………. efmonaco@comcast.net

The following person would like to join the CommunityOfLight group:

Co-creator of the Knoxville Ecovillage Project

From milushko ........ fly2freedom@abv.bg

I search "the"Knowledge" for life! I wish to give meaning of my life!

Pace Pace .......... minnesinger5@yahoo.co.nz

We've had several email exchanges over the last few weeks, I'd like to welcome this new person to the group as well.

A long term contact, Mike, has a parcel of land and is interested in creating a community. I believe, at the next online meeting, this should be brought up and discussed, it will be at the next online meeting.

Mike Mikesell ………. maheshwa0@yahoo.com

What is the latest with the community? I have heard nothing for a very long time.

I have 360 acres that I want to put together a community in NW Arkansas. If others were doing the same thing, it would be nice to network, and when we travel a place to stay.

Peace and love, Mike

Wendy .......... wendy@moosecreekcenter.com

hi everyone

I am in northern Alberta, Canada. I really enjoy getting updates from the 'Community of Light' and would be disappointed if I was purged from the membership.

I have 240 acres that I am developing, doing it on my own, but have plans for a community of like minded people.

I love hearing about other groups, their successes ad failures, as a learning resource. please know that you are all appreciated and people like myself are listening. Cheers

To Wendy, et al ...

We have not changed the email list. We'll bring that up at our next online meeting, that will be on the agenda.

We've no forwarded information at the time of this issue.

This was sent to me by a friend. You know how the Internet is, so this may be by Oprah or it may not be. However it is an interesting piece of writing and I found it moving; so I pass it on to all of you.

I live in the space of thankfulness - and I have been rewarded a million times over for it. I started out giving thanks for small things, and the more thankful I became, the more my bounty increased.

That's because what you focus on expands, and when you focus on the goodness in your life, you create more of it. Opportunities, relationships, even money flowed my way when I learned to be grateful no matter what happened in my life.

"Say thank you!" Those words from my friend and mentor Maya Angelou turned my life around. One day about ten years ago, I was sitting in my bathroom with the door closed and the toilet lid down, booing and ahooing on the phone so uncontrollably that I was incoherent.

"Stop it! Stop it right now and say thank you!" Maya chided. "But ? You don't understand," I sobbed.

To this day, I can't remember what it was that had me so far gone, which only proves the point Maya was trying to make. "I do understand," she told me. "I want to hear you say it now. Out loud.

'Thank you.'" Tentatively, I repeated it:

"Thank you - but what am I saying thank you for?"

"You're saying thank you," Maya said, "because your faith is so strong that you don't doubt that whatever the problem, you'll get through it. You're saying thank you because you know that even in the eye of the storm, God has put a rainbow in the clouds.

You're saying thank you because you know there's no problem created that can compare to the Creator of all things. Say thank you!"

So I did - and still do. Only now I do it every day. I kept a gratitude

journal, as Sarah Ban Breathnach suggests in Simple Abundance, listing at least five things that I'm grateful for. My list includes small pleasures: the feel of Kentucky bluegrass under my feet (like damp silk); a walk in the woods with all nine of my dogs and my cocker spaniel Sophie trying to keep up; cooking fried green tomatoes with Stedman and eating them while they're hot; reading a good book and knowing another awaits.

My thank-you list also includes things too important to take for granted: an "okay" mammogram, friends who love me, 25 years at the same job (and loving it more than the first day I started), a chance to share my vision for a better life, staying centered, having financial security.

I won't kid you, having money for all the things I want is a blessing. But as I look back over my journals, which I've kept since I was 15 years old, 99 per cent of what brought me real joy had nothing to do with money (It had a lot to do with food, however.)

It's not easy being grateful all the time. But it's when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you:

PERSPECTIVE. Just knowing you have that daily list to complete allows you to look at your day differently, with an awareness of every sweet gesture and kind thought passed your way. When you learn to say thank you, you see the world anew. And as Meister Eckhart so eloquently stated:

"If the only prayer you ever say in your whole life is 'Thank you God,' that would suffice."

....

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.

If you want to research intentional communities this is a good place to start.

Communities Magazine comes out regularly and is a resource for those seeking to explore communities. The directory that is a great primer in the variety of the community universe. 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 is a list of places seeking members, communities forming and the like. I have come across it at the F.I.C.'s website: http://elph.anu.net/reach/reachbook-all.html

It might be a place to do research, who knows there may be a place within a relatively short drive.

My yahoo ID is available for use as a means to chat online. I am willing to schedule a time(s) during a given month where we could chat. I am thinking that a Saturday or Sunday would be the best time overall, however I am open to suggestions. Please advise.

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"

Would you consider a location outside the United States?

Choices	Votes	%
Outside the U.S. preferred	2	10%
depending on country chosen	5	26%
Neutral - no preference	2	10%
would but not first choice	6	31%
NOT consider outside U.S.	4	21%

Should we have a membership fee of some kind?

Choices	Votes	%
Income of entering members	4	25%
Money making capacity of the community	12	75%

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

Choices	Votes	%
Number of entering members	0	0%
Income of entering members	2	14%
Money making capacity of the community	2	14%
Other	2	14%
A share buying system	8	57%

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	8%
E. KY, E. TN, WVA, W.VA, W.,PA,	2	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,	6	50%
CA, NV, UT, E. OR, E, WA, MT, CO, Wy	3	25%

What kind of climate would you want to live in?

Choices	Votes	%
Tropical	1	4%
Subtropical	5	22%
Forest	7	31%
Woodland/meadow	9	40%
Tundra	0	0%

What land locations would you like?

Choices	Votes	%
Island	14	19%
Peninsula	11	15%
Land bound w/coast	14	19%
land bound no coast	11	13.04%
High altitude	13	17%
Low altitude	10	13%

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

Choices	Votes	%
Farming	17	13%
Raising livestock	13	10%
Raising feed crops	10	7%
Hunting	6	4%
Gathering	14	10%
Fishing	13	10%
Utilitarian crops	10	7%
Fruit bearing trees	20	15%
Lumber/milling	4	3%
Water/solar for alt. power	21	16%

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

Choices	Votes	%
Yes	20	100%
No	0	0%

GREAT TRUTHS THAT LITTLE CHILDREN HAVE LEARNED:

1) No matter how hard you try, you can't baptise cats.

2) When your Mum is mad at your Dad, don't let her brush your hair.

3) If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

4) Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.

5) You can't trust dogs to watch your food.

6) Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

7) Never hold a Dust-Buster and a cat at the same time.

8) You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

9) Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

10) The best place to be when you're sad is Grandpa's lap.  

GREAT TRUTHS THAT ADULTS HAVE LEARNED:

1) Raising teenagers is like nailing jelly to a tree.

2) Wrinkles don't hurt.

3) Families are like fudge...mostly sweet, with a few nuts.

4) Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground.

5) Laughing is good exercise. It's like jogging on the inside.

6) Middle age is when you choose your cereal for the fibre, not the toy.

GREAT TRUTHS ABOUT GROWING OLD

1) Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

2) Forget the health food. I need all the preservatives I can get.

3) When you fall down, you wonder what else you can do while you're down there.

4) You're getting old when you get the same sensation from a rocking chair that you

once got from a roller coaster.

5) It's frustrating when you know all the answers but nobody bothers to ask you the questions.

6) Time may be a great healer, but it's a lousy beautician.

7) Wisdom comes with age, but sometimes age comes alone.

THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE:

1) You believe in Santa Claus.

2) You don't believe in Santa Claus.

3) You are Santa Claus.

4) You look like Santa Claus.

SUCCESS:

At age 4 success is . . . not piddling in your pants.

At age 12 success is . . . having friends.

At age 17 success is . . having a drivers license.

At age 35 success is . . having money.

At age 50 success is . . . having money.

At age 70 success is . .. . having a drivers license.

At age 75 success is . . . having friends.

At age 80 success is . . . not piddling in your pants.

Always remember to forget the troubles that pass your way;BUT NEVER forget the blessings that come each day.

Take the time to live! Life is too short. Dance naked.