Yesterday afternoon I returned from my second weekend experience in the Lanark Eco-Village, planning and organizing our co-creation on this beautiful site in the woods to have an intentional community. Having experience at Findhorn since 1988, and knowng how I felt when I initially arrived at Findhorn, I have always wanted to find the way to replicate this experience closer to home and now I believe I’ve found the place. Although initially I was uncertain about whether I wanted to be involved, but I kept returning to the group and now I am committed to doing the work necessary to take this place from where it was when I initially arrived, observing where it has moved to with an upper and a lower garden, a pond with a clay bottom, a planned community building complete with a kitchen where we will gather together to create meals filled with love and fresh produce, guest spaces for community visitors and workshop participants, and in the future plans, clustered residences for members with individual herb and salad gardens, huge community gardens, workshop spaces, trails through the woods for walking, snowshoeing, and crosscountry skiing, to discover the river; community at its very best.
Rediscovering those joyful experiences from childhood when we gathered in the evening around the piano, this past weekend, we gathered in the livingroom with Keith playing the guitar, strumming and singing songs that brought back so many memories from childhood, young adulthood, and many timeframes in between. We sang, and laughed, and spend two or three hours together just having fun and being a community sharing what we all love to do…..sharing who we are and understanding that we are all one and being in that space where we just allow ourselves to enjoy being together.
I had a wonderful night’s sleep on a pull out sofa, that I’m certain happened because of all the great activity of the evening prior. Breakfast together with other community members, more conversation, and then a time of reflection before the beginning of the formal members’ meeting .
Open house is planned to happen on a monthly basis on the Saturday prior to the member’s meeting. We plan to meet again on the 19th February with the open house on the 18th. I’m already looking forward to this. I am also wanting to envision many more members who are seeking this kind of community experience while planning their future. I envision my individual garden with herbs for cooking and scenting my wee home, as well as working side by side with my community members, in the community garden planting seedlings from the greenhouse, hoeing to keep the weeds down, attending permaculture instruction to maintain the integrity of the property and using compost and other natural means of producing the most nutritious food imaginable. Dreaming creates, and these dreams are producing the future I envision and have been wanting to experience.
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