So* my former community -- East Wind, in southern Missouri -- is the "ZipUSA" feature in the August National Geographic -- link [Note: for anyone who might be offended by a picture of Rachael's naked butt, well, there's a picture of Rachael's naked butt there.]
(Note that you can't read all of the article at the link, but that there's other links available there to material that's not in the print version.)
The article's... well, I suppose it's OK, in the sense that it could have been a lot worse. I'm most annoyed that it tends to quote (and have photos of) of cynical types who I didn't consider to be very communitarian.
And there's a bit in the print version which implies that EW was founded by folks inspired by Maoists. Which would be kinda funny if it wasn't so incredibly wrong. (Generally, modern American communitarians tend not to be Marxists -- since a) they're suspicious of state socialism, and b) Marx is incredibly dull to read.)
And there's some other annoyances... but I've read some articles written by journalists who'd only visited EW for a few hours, so this one was better since at least the National Geographic folks did stay for the whole week.
[edited to add naked butt warning]
Posted by Space Opera (Member # 6504) on :
That's so cool! I always enjoy reading that part of the magazine. Our August issued hasn't arrived yet, but should be here anytime. Thanks for the heads-up.
space opera
Posted by aspectre (Member # 2222) on :
uggghhh... tattoos! Ya didn't give a self-mutilation warning.
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
Looks neat, plaid I don't subscribe, but I'll try to pick up that issue.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
*bump*
Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
Yeah - it makes me want to read the whole article too. I will have to check it out from the local library. (just to find out what happened to Yarrow)
I know well one of the National Geographic photographers -- unfortunately it ISN'T the one who photographed this particular story...
Ha. I did read that article, more than a week ago. I thought about you, but I couldn't remember which community you came from. I don't remember all the details, so thanks for the link; I'll read the article again. Posted by Gryphonesse (Member # 6651) on :
read it yesterday, as a matter of fact. Not bothered at all by the nekkid butt, and the tat is nice. Could use some color.
Interesting article - I was curious about the Maoist reference! I'm not the commune type, but I did find the article a good read. Funny how we all have the same problems, no matter how we live.
Plaid - if you're willing to share, why did you leave?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Can you have pets? Is there a join up fee? Posted by KarlEd (Member # 571) on :
<--would also be interesting in plaid's reason for leaving. Posted by Farmgirl (Member # 5567) on :
I thought it was for health reasons that he told us he left -- he got in ill health and couldn't hold up his share of the workload or something. Doesn't anyone remember that conversation, or is my mind playing tricks on me?
FG
Posted by Stray (Member # 4056) on :
No, I remember something similar to that on the drive out to BobNDanaCon. I believe he developed chronic fatigue syndrome and wasn't able to work effectively anymore, so is taking some time off to heal up before joining the Twin Oaks community. I think he might have also mentioned some community/interpersonal problems developing, but I don't recall precisely.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Main reason for leaving = I still like living in community -- Twin Oaks is just more appealing to me. (Twin Oaks = more stable, better organized, less drunks, folks generally easier to get along with.)
There's still a lot about East Wind that I like, and good friends there that I miss a lot... but since Twin Oaks exists, and East Wind's problems aren't going away any time soon, it's easier to move to a community I like better.
Part of this does tie in to health stuff -- I do have Chronic Fatigue Syndrom going on (I came down with mono 3 years ago, which then morphed into CFS after some bad emotional shocks). East Wind was totally supportive of me having CFS -- I was able to take sick time as needed and schedule work that I could handle (and most of the time I was able to make my regular labor quota). But it seems like with CFS that I just don't have as much mental patience as I used to. You need to have a good amount of patience to live with other folks... and I don't have the patience anymore to put up with the problems of East Wind (again, instability, lack of enough organization, and too many drunks/too much tolerance for drunks), especially when I know there's a community I like better.
So I've moved near Twin Oaks and I'm taking some time off to get some energy back before I actually do a visitor period at Twin Oaks. I could have stayed at East Wind and waited to get enough energy before I moved to Twin Oaks, but I felt that since my mood somewhat effects my energy, that it was better to get away from East Wind's frustrations.
[edit: Twin Oaks info -- Twin Oaks Community is here in Virginia, it's similar to East Wind, only it's a bit older and has more people (100)]
Posted by Gryphonesse (Member # 6651) on :
very interesting - thanks for filling us in! I appreciate it. Wish you well with the CFS. It's not an easy thing to live with or explain to others.
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
That was my favorite Zip-USA to date. Its not usualy their best section, but this one was intresting.
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
I read it and the article was interesting.
The article really highlighted the fact that it's a community of hippies. I thought the last line of the article was a little overly snarky in the way it made a subtle jab at that fact.
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
Hey plaid,
Interesting article.
I was curious whether you had used a made-up name at EW and why people would use a made-up name.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Hi LadyDove!
Name changes... one reason is that there's a tradition that most folks go by their first name there, and if someone else is already going by that name, then you change your name to be different. So for example, there were a lot of Davids there when I first got there... so they changed their names to be David, Dahvid, deva, and Dave B. (Similarly, there was also Mike, Michael, and Miguel.)
Other folks do it for fun. One guy would change his name every year on the anniversary of his joining -- he did that for 5 years or so, then finally settled on a name.
It was an interesting aspect of East Wind. I liked how people would go by names like Box, Ant, Loki, etc. I did some work in the office, and since I sorted the mail and answered phones I knew most folks' real names; I actually liked it when I didn't know folks' real names -- it was more interesting to know someone as Lightning instead of as John Smith.
I always went by my own name (Ken) since I like my name, and I'm kind of humble so I would've felt strange choosing a different name. But if I'd ever had to, I probably would've gone by Lichen (which has 'Ken' in it).
Posted by LadyDove (Member # 3000) on :
plaid!
Wow, cool answer. I'm glad I asked the question.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
You know, I find the idea of living in an intentional community like Twin Oaks to be incredibly appealing. I've got some debt I have to deal with right now, but I wouldn't be at all surprised if I ended up joining one at some point in my future.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
Plaid, a friend of mine alerted me to an episode of Morgan Spurlock's "Thirty Days," which was about an intentional community, I believe. Not sure the name of it.
Posted by Elizabeth (Member # 5218) on :
*sigh* Plaid, you make me so sorry that I wasn't able to make it to the gathering when you came through Indiana. You're just a neat guy.
space opera
Posted by Bob_Scopatz (Member # 1227) on :
plaid,
that was a pretty good article. It sounds like a fascinating life. Good luck in your new place and with your CFS. I have a friend who suffers from that and stress definitely seems to affect his energy levels as well.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Elizabeth -- yep, Dancing Rabbit's part of the same community network as East Wind. They're both part of the FEC (Federation of Egalitarian Communities) -- egalitarian/democratic/income-sharing/secular communities -- www.thefec.org
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