No pot, drugs or smoking.
In the last month I have visited with a lot of people that want more. I may be just "projecting" but I think what they want is to be part of what we are doing.
I visited serveral communities and heard two distinct stories. And I think all of the people there would love their lives more if they were here.
Group 1: the founder-ish gardener
Group 2: the gardeners that joined the community because they are avid gardeners, but don't do any (or very little) gardening
I get the impression that the group 1 people are kinda heartbroken. Almost all of the gardening they do is a solo effort. They want to do gardening with others. They want to harvest with others. They want to preserve the harvest with others. They want to transform the harvest into meals and eat those meals with others. But the others are always busy, tired or not in the mood. The others work and play off site. And when they are home, they have other things they would like to do. So the group 1 people do this stuff alone. The others shop at grocery stores and eat at restaurants. Shopping at grocery stores and eating at restaurants is fine, but the group 1 folks thought they were gonna live in a community of gardeners.
Heartbreak.
I get the impression that the group 2 people are kinda heartbroken. They wanna do that gardening stuff, but they have to earn money to pay rent, pay for the car, pay for insurance, pay for food, phones, restaurants, etc. After all the work and other stuff, they just don't feel like it. Plus the group 1 people have sooooo much more experience. The group 2 people would be embarrassed if the group 1 people found out how little they really know. They are kinda getting into a weird, dark funk about it all. They thought that gardening is the core of who they really are, but when it comes right down to it, they are not gardening. They are finding cheap excuses to not garden. If they are not a gardener, who are they? Time for mountains of introspection and meditation.
Heartbreak.
If the Group 1 people came here, I think they would be in love with our community. Gardening with people. Harvesting with people. Preserving the harvest with people. Eating meals with people.
If the Group 1 people came here, I think they would also be in love with our community. Their days would be filled with gardening, harvesting, preserving the harvest and eating from the garden. Months or years of really doing it. No need for a job, car, rent, restaurants or any of that stuff.
Group 3: I met people that were working hard to save up money to buy a homestead, or to buy into community. It sounds like they have $40k saved up so far. They have very little experience, but once they have enough saved, they can make the leap and learn as they go. They would like to have a solid $200k saved up to buy-in and then cover their expenses for a couple of years as they get up to speed and then get some homestead based income models going.
Group 4: I met people that saved, bought-in, are struggling and about to bail. It is harder than they thought and they are almost out of coin.
If the Group 3 people came here, I think they would be in love with our community. They can come now! They don't have to toil away at some worky-job for several more years. After six months of doing it, they can choose if they want to buy into an acre here, or continue with how they started. And they get hands on experience with a group rather than trying to do it on their own.
If the Group 4 people came here, I think they would also be in love with our community. All that they wanted without the contant expense after expense after expense. And the food is already here. A lot of the infrastructure already exists. Far less lonely and it is all easier with a group. The cost is zero. The stress of forcing things to work is erased.
Come by for a visit and get the lay of the land by renting a cabin for a bit. Participate in the bootcamp as much or as little as you like.
https://wheaton-labs.com/cabins/
Come join the bootcamp and dig in. One week minimum, but stay as long as you like
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp/
see our ic.org listing
https://www.ic.org/directory/wheaton-labs
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