The Communities Directory

I began reading The Communities Directory aloud to Heron on our drive to Seattle one afternoon. I think this is the best way for this interactive guide to be shared. The Directory begins with a series of thirty three articles related to the intentional communities movement as well as listing seven hundred communities and what they offer. Sense we are not planning on visiting these communities for quiet some time we mainly focused on reading the articles which described many different scenarios that you come across in this movement . I was drawn to the articles on cults, being an elder looking for community, raising children in community and resistance activist community. As well as the essays on income sharing, working with consensus and setting up a structure so you get you personal needs met.

In the article "My other car isn't mine either" Bumper sticker for an income-sharing community
Valerie Renwick-Porter Outlines the basics of sharing income as a community. "One of the most attractive features of this type of living is the interdependence and the level of engagement we share with each other." I like this philosophy. I like how radically different this is from our mainstream one unit family culture. She goes on to describe having home business, sharing resources and making sure each persons need are met. I imagine this to be a challenging set up, deciding what "needs" are and what your fair share is. In my communal house we have a "Kitty" that we each put in $40 a month for collective grocery money. It took us awhile to decide what should be communal and what was your own personal wants. This food list has changed greatly from the beginning and is an ongoing dialogue in our house meetings. In this way we share money to help the collective get there basic needs met. It feels good to practicing this now to get a sense of what it might be like to do this on a larger scale.

In Life in a Resitance Community I was inspired by hearing about the radical acts people do in community. Sue Frankel-Streit points out that "Living with others who share a vision strengthens the activist resolve; when you are discouraged, you can draw strength from others. When you cannot be as active, you can support the activism of other community members." this was a good point to realize and a push for the importance of having a strong vision that you all follow. Frankel-Streit lives in a Catholic Workers community and does non-violent direct action. She is also a mother in this community and helps to raise the other children on their farm. I liked the idea that community can enhance your activism resolve and help you see your blind spots. It is always inspiring for me to see radical mothers and people who have made a commitment to social justice working with each other for the long term. I think a sense of spiritual connectedness is a part of keeping this energy going as well. The essay ends with a great quote by Dostoyevski and Sue Frankel-Streit "Love in dreams is easy, love in reality is a harsh and dreadful thing." It is only that harsh and dreadful love, in fact, that will sustain both community and activism, and it is perhaps this common root that keeps the two intertwined. When we bind together community and activism with love, the universe bends a little closer to justice."


I found the essay's in The Communities Directory to be great starting off points for thinking of the many ways people decide to share their lives. I hope to use this book in the future to set up a tour and get some hands on experience to ultimately create the kind of community Heron and I would like to share.