Communities #202
Spring 2024
Note: You can order a copy of this issue here.
In Communities #202, Finding Community, authors reflect on personal journeys and offer guidance on finding a wide array of different forms of community, from residential intentional community in its diverse manifestations to temporary, seasonal, and internet-based community. We also hear about welcoming migrants into cohousing, a sustainable housing network for people of color, intentional community matchmaking, and more. The issue is intended to aid, enlighten, and inspire everyone from the vaguely community-curious to seasoned communitarians; we invite you to explore and share it!
FINDING COMMUNITY
Letters: Blowing Our Tops over Cover Photo, Illuminating Sun House by Name Withheld, Amber Jones, River Bousquet, David James Duncan, Chris Roth
Mount Mazama can’t hold a candle to the sun and the ocean. Also: an author and reviewer muse on intentional community, unintentional menageries, capitalization, and a central character’s death.
Notes from the Editor: Found by Community by Chris Roth
Individuals’ ways of finding community are as varied as people are themselves, and as diverse as the world of cooperative culture.
Journey To and Through Communities by Riana Good
I have been non-methodically, mysteriously, and magically following the path of community-living ever since encountering Diana Leafe Christian’s Finding Community.
Taking the Long Way Home—and What I Learned Along the Way by Elizabeth Barr
I was only 18 years old when I found this very same magazine, Communities, then had my first intentional community experience. Many twists and turns later, I’m once again joining a small cooperative group of like-minded people living together on the land.
Lost and Found in the Valley by Emily Grubman
As I gradually got to know more people, I realized that there’s no single or “right” way to hippie and I wasn’t falling short at all. We all have a role to play, and it seemed my Type-A, horny-for-a-spreadsheet personality could be a boon rather than a liability.
Finding Community in a Lonely World by Kristina Jansen
Being out in the world on my own gave me a new sense of myself—and also, a new appreciation for the friends and family I grew up with and around.
A Life of Intentional Living by Alan O’Hashi
I’m more of an accidental communitarian. My evolutionary, collaborative living path began when I was born into it.
Freedom Dreams: A Herstory of the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network by Tavi Baker
I started this journey with a specific outcome in mind, a building and/or piece of land that could be a sanctuary for myself and other people of color. Eight years later, those freedom dreams are still unfolding.
The Journey of an Intentional Community Matchmaker by Cynthia Tina
I’m grateful to have gained a unique lens on the intentional communities movement through my work, a deeper sense for the needs of communities, and ideas for how we can all find our way home.
Six Steps to Find Your Home in an Intentional Community by Cynthia Tina
The journey towards community can be a highly rewarding adventure of self-discovery and exploration. And you don’t need to go at it alone.
How Do You Find a Community to Join? by Nivi Achanta
The internet is a special place for creating belonging; online communities can be extremely worthwhile. At the same time, geographical and local communities are crucial for well-being and resilience.
We Found Our Neo-Nomad, Telepresence-Enabled Intentional Community by Dr. Gus Lott
As we traveled, we encountered many different neo-nomad communities who spend partial or full time on the road. They shared interests, gathered frequently, provided mutual support and encouragement, and stayed in touch.
Growing a Garden of Friends by Dena Smith Ellis
New friends referred us to their friends, as well as to various groups, clubs, events, and gatherings that have further added to our new vibrant social garden.
“Rainbow Magic”: Half a Century of Peace, Love, and Free Food in the Woods by Stephen Wing
Enthusiastic young folk, many of them nomads, are flooding in to shoulder the heavy lifting. Instead of “Turn on, tune in, and drop out,” it’s “Show up, plug in, and follow through.”
● Natives of One Mother
Welcome Home: A Cohousing Experience with Migrants by David Entin and Lena Entin; photos by Richard Getler
It has meant so much to our community to get to know, work with, and assist folks from around the world in need of a safe and supportive environment.
Keys to the Journey of Forming a Community by Hugh Perry
The enthusiasm generated in those early days of forming a community is contagious. But the question is: how do we move to the implementation phase?
REACH
All Bodies Are Valid Bodies by Laura-Marie Strawberry Nopales
Many of us live in community because we understand that business as usual is harming Parent Earth, harming all of us. The world needs different.
Poems: Ode to Walnut Hands, Morning after Passover Seder at Walnut Street by Laura-Marie Strawberry Nopales
Love, come to me in a quiet moment / and fill my solitude with company / while I’m lucky to know these / charmers who exhaust my heart.
ON THE COVER: Left to right: Tavi Baker (she/her), Cofounder, People of Color Sustainable Housing Network (POCSHN); Wangũi Hymes (she/they), Outreach and Engagement Manager, POCSHN; Deseree Fontenot (she/they), Founding Organizer, POCSHN, and Co-Director/Collective Member, Movement Generation; Yu-Shuan Tarango-Sho (she/her), Founder, Sacred Roots Oakland; Lailan Sandra Huen (she/her), Cofounder, POCSHN. Photo courtesy of Tavi Baker. To donate: pochousingnetwork.com/support.