Because it Takes a Whole Village
Forming Community
Becoming a part of a newly forming community is a very interesting possibility for a lot of folks like the booming Boomers who are just now beginning to realize that we weren't kidding. This really is the first day of the rest of the rest of their lives. And that is coming to an end very quickly meaning this might be a good time to start thinking about doing a little something better with what little remains of that spark of life.Limitations
Some communities do have age limits and child limits and probationary periods and a lot of other things. All of which are going to be impacting well meaning boomers in just a few years. With Eden there is not that much of that going on yet.You just join in with it as it comes together
and you will probably pass right on through without being so carefully
scrutinized as it would be anyplace else. Later on that might not be the same
as it is now. All communities have a choice about who they want and who they don't want. But in the early stages it is not so hard to slip in without
having to be subject to the judgment of other people.
Eden is a Lot Better
It doesn't matter if you are not sure what you have to offer or what it is that you can contribute. But you are there in the groups and at the meetings and all the way through. That is Key. You can pay your way. You make a real contribution. More than just your own fair share. We feel that those who will only do their own fair share aren't really with us here.Boomers and the older people enter like anybody else. And the younger people will have to follow our lead but only if we do take one and can hang onto it because they will try to take it all away from us including the Earth and Titan.
But in the mean time they are still expected to carry their own weight and will be made to pay one way or the other. And it's always got to be more so one way when it's less so the other. Not like you would think coming out of the brain dead system we have all inherited. But that is so common here to have it all wrong right from the start.
Some
prominent communities will not even accept new members over 56 years old. The world is changing rapidly. And so we have to change or we will be changed
by it. I only say these things so people will know that it is not for them to
assume they don't need Eden. You do. There are not a thousand other Eden's
that you can join as easily as a book club. This is the only one I know of
where you can lay your money down and get some kind of a response for that. We
really do need Eden to be well financed and that is your new job.
Intentional Communities
There you must put in for approval as you would expect. But in every case you do have to earn your place in any real community. And we do teach respect for knowledge and experience here. But you can't expect to be able to take advantage of that forever. Because it doesn't always kick in overnight and it doesn't always work until it's proven up.The Garden
People really do expect you to know how to enter into the garden that is Intentional Community. There are so many things you don't want to step on. There may be sprouting seeds that have been carefully planted just under the surface. You certainly want to proceed with permission and with every consideration.Even though you might have thought it was just another community garden that anybody can do anything they want in. That may not actually be the case. Community shared areas does not always mean wide open public availability. That is a major misconception that if it is a community kitchen that mean that anybody can just go in there and make a real big mess of everything.
Even if it looks like just a field of overgrown weeds everything may have been planted there as it is on purpose. And so you do have to know how to talk to the gardeners as if they were people and not just as hired hands to be dismissed like servants
at your convenience as it might be in the city where a gardener is often
thought of as being a subservient person of a lower class.
The Word of Eden
The Word of Eden must be respected. To be an Edenite does not refer to just anybody who may have taken a passing interest. We generate that kind of interest all the time. It will be sucked in and it will be float right on out by its own momentum most of the time. Inertia is king.That's why it is always best not to assume you are the hottest item in the entire communities movement. Many are in fact going to more accurately describe themselves as being the rejects of the Post Modern world. Many people who come to this group just couldn't make it anywhere else and that is the truth.
They are very often not really here because they love Eden. They are often at the end of the line and Eden or this whole Intentional Community thing actually is seen as being one last wildcard that is probably going to be their last resort before the end times come down hard on them.
They haven't got anyplace else to go and that's the
truth. Most of these people think that is what the community is supposed to be
there for which is to service their needs upon demand just like a public
library would be for a homeless person who just needs a place to sleep and
will take full advantage of a comfy armchair in the library as being a
perfectly good place to sleep it off. They have no idea of the true
significance of our important work to Save the Earth. We call this the
ethics of mass mediocrity.
Walk Softly
Think before you speak in the early stages of your approach before you even think about stepping into that garden that is community because it should be a much more highly refined place and it is not just a flop house where no one can say no after all.You would be wise to form relationships very carefully with all of these people who are your very first
new friends and contact people here. It's not like your first day of school
where everything is going to be done for you. Nor is it like the dog eat dog world
some of you may have become all too familiar with where you have to act tough
just to keep from being clobbered by these gang thugs who will likely
inherit the Earth if we don't beat them to the punch. Pushing your own agenda
forward is considered to be a big disgrace. Everything is about flowing into
the Oneness of Eden.
All Ways Free
We don't need to be looking for a lot of problems. You must show your own very real willingness to listen and to learn and not just a strong desire to teach. If you need to be the teacher first you will have to unlearn everything first and then there is no guarantee you will not be fired before you have finally graduated all over again which could take from 3 to 5 years. These are all Learning Communities we are creating folks not Co-Dependency complexes.Speak Softly
Very much like you would if you were moving into a very important personal or work relationship where you know that one little thing can destroy everything.How much would it take to anger a potential love partner? Not that much. How about a prospective employer? Not much. How about a place to live? Not that much. How about a new friend or a room in some ones house? Not that much. A significant business partnership? Not that much.
One badly chosen comment is all it takes or to show up dirty and looking
like a slob. That's why
we ask people not to even think they can just insinuate themselves into this
or any other community. You do have to
actually join into any relationship as someone who knows they could meet with rejection
and would be fine with that.
No problem. Same with Eden. We may or may not be interested in what you have to offer.
Later on that will change as you become better known and well trusted.
Eco-Logical
You don't have to be a strong and hard worker to be a valued member in a truly Eco-Logical community. It's not really about that. Nor should you expect a job to be waiting there for you where you just stand around all day. But when it comes time to write those checks you are there and with little fanfare you do so much more than you fair share that it makes people wonder if you really are a boomer.We want to create a place where you could be right at home and ultimately do what comes naturally to you with the resources that you do have. What comes out of your heart and out of your own desire to create a better world with a focus on the here and now might be a good place to start.
It will cost you no more than it would anywhere else. That is how this thing
works. Maybe you like to make music. And we will make room for those who really are good at whatever it is they choose to do.
Not as a negotiated settlement. Everything
is free flowing and easy going. Bring us your best and forget about the rest.
Life Skills
Maybe you speak English and are good at taking care of children or growing plants or taking care of animals. Or you like to make things. We all have to find a way to give and to share with each other and we must begin to make new plans for how things could work in a more flowing and naturally beautiful way. We are the new architects and designers of a Sustainable Way of Life that is fluid and dynamic and that is one thing that Boomers are going to be very good at as soon as they get the training they are going to need and maybe even a Certificate in Permaculture Design would be in order.You are seen as being a very creative and independent person who may choose to have a kind and gentle hand in many different things. And
we see you as being fully able to do any number of things quite well. And we
need to be able to teach our children how to be all around competent people
which is not of course the way we were raised.
Money Walks
We don't really care that much for money or the people who have it and yet we still plan to use a lot of it so we do need a few people who know how to manage it. Many people truly are being locked out of the system they have grown too dependent upon. And now they don't have any place to go. What a surprise. Who knew?We've got our own system of internal integration that is superior to wall
street. And we
like to think it's a pretty good idea to invest in our own people and into our
own community and not to expect it to take over where the other one left off.
That's why there are no shares and dividends and other considerations that
are all lateral moves that have no place in Eden.
World Service
We are all going to be very creative people who are much more than just the artists and musicians and the world peace visionaries and Eco-Logical Luminaries and everything else that we continue to bring together into our growing group of revolutionaries.These boomers wear all that with a smile and they do everything in such great style. And so it should not seem to be too unusual for us to expect the same thing
from all these others who would deep Eden to probably be an appropriate flop
house for them.
Eden is Expecting
We expect only the best from those who do wish to join in with us. And those who have made some real progress already on their own might be a good place to start. More than Enough and Some to Share is what you bring to any community. That is not what you expect to receive.It's very much like the Do unto others thing. It works the same way. It is: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you". It is not: "You didn't do unto me the way you would have me do unto you". It only works the one way.
Excellence is another one of our own that works the same way. We must all
learn to treat Eden and each other with the highest degree of Excellence that
we can imagine. It is not about expecting that from Eden or anyone among us
that we will always be served with excellence.
Good Neighbors
No experts who know it all. Been there, done that. Old and cool is fine but not that you know it all and it couldn't be any other way than you learned back in the sixties. Things have changed some.Same with our younger friends. In recognition for that which is good and right and that which has turned out well and makes a contribution not that long list of needs on which they may have been sold but that can never be sustained since it is nothing but a drain. We are creating the new and are not to remain stuck in the old. And that is a subversive act. - T
To Save the Earth
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