All in Together: Community

Rusticators long to belong.

In my blog post 3 Good Reasons to Return to the Land, I reserved an entry for the topic of community. I make no apologies for the helter-skelter way in which I will turn you on to the golden fleece of rustication. You know you want it.

Before I begin, a definition is in order to establish understanding.

I give you…

COMMUNITY
1.  a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common: Montreal’s Italian community | the gay community in London | the scientific community.

This is a pretty good working definition of community. People. In a place. With shared qualities, values, conduct.

Now let’s imagine an urban community for a moment.

What sort of people are found in metropolitan areas? Why, all sorts! The City is lovable for having this quality. Beyond this charm of diversity, what do urbanites have in common?

Let’s take a crack at it, shall we?

Urbanites are residents. They are people of the City, subject to City rules and customs. They are compulsory customers of select parties, namely the power company, the municipal service corporation, the banking establishment, the landlord, and the supermarket.

Granted some neighbourhoods are prettier than others, urbanites share the same environmental essence, and the same consciousness that allows them to live and die in such a setting. They are surrounded by countless other souls, and acquainted with so very few of them.

Suburbanites are very similar. They often consist of a different class of people, usually more well off folk. Socially, these environments are sad ones to me. I spent close to 20 years of my life in such a setting. It’s a desperately quiet atmosphere, and the ennui in the air is like a constant fog that never clears.

So, we have the urban-suburban tandem: two very popular types of community.

Despite the ubiquity of this way of life, it didn’t hold much appeal to me on a personal level.

Now I’m going to transport you to the community I find myself in these days.

A square mile at the foot of the Appalachians. Ample acreage is shared commonly between 12 households, each household with their own hectare property. All 12 households are off the grid. Many of us have helped each other build each other’s lodging. Nearly every household grows vegetables or keeps livestock. Every house uses solar-electricity, and nearly all of their occupants run their own enterprises ranging from construction to herbalism; copywriter to kitemaker. We trust one another with our children, children who typically dash through the meadows and explore all day with and without supervision.

It took me five years to find a community of this ilk.

I’ve never before been surrounded by such strong, talented, bright, relaxed, and righteous people ever in my life.

It is essential that all rusticators persist in their search for the right community. For strong, self-determined and convivial people you can have the honour of calling neighbour, and the fortitude to become elders of inspiration.