“There is a pervasive form of contemporary violence to which the idealist most easily succumbs: activism and overwork. The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything, is to succumb to violence. The frenzy of our activism neutralizes our work for peace. It destroys our own inner capacity for peace. It destroys the fruitfulness of our own work because it kills the root of inner wisdom which makes work fruitful.”  Thomas Merton

Who are we?

We are a small extended family and loose-knit group of folks who feel modern society is going a bit too fast.  While we accept it and live within the modern world, we also try to live in a slower, simpler, and more balanced way.

We’ve created this website to lay out a vision for living and being in community and connecting with other people who are interested in collaborating with our efforts.  The idea is to assemble a group of families, couples, and individuals committed to cultivating a practice of simple, healthy living within a modern community that we collectively create.  It would most likely follow the model of a cohousing/ecovillage community (private units with shared common houses, gardens, etc.), but with a deeper commitment to being a place of collaboration, for both the residents and the wider local community.

We feel the dominant cultural focus on the “individual” and “independence” has developed to an extreme and many are beginning to forget their innate understanding of how all things are interconnected.  We choose to intentionally live in and build “community” – so that we can learn to be more “interdependent” and to better maintain healthy relationships with ourselves and others.

We consider being part of a supportive community a valuable opportunity for both personal and societal transformation.  The benefits for our children, ourselves, our neighbors, and our planet are innumerable.

We are not “religious” or tied to any particular wisdom tradition, but respect and embrace any community that takes care of the land and people around and within it.

We do observe that becoming more present and insightful by cultivating mindful awareness of the present moment brings many positive benefits, including clear thinking, compassion, and insight.