'Tis a gift to be simple

Before we sit down to our communal meal at dinner time, we form a circle and hold hands. There is a moment of silence, in which I am truly and deeply grateful. Sometimes we sing this song.

It is beautiful.

The Green Valley

I could go on and on about how beautiful this land is, or how it has everything I need, but The Land doesn't want that.
She is humble.
It is much more important that I share some of the valuable things I have learned in these past few months.
I called this blog Next Iteration because I wanted to stop feeding the fear energy that The Beast thrives on, and begin spreading the Love energy that will bring down this Beast.
I can start by taking personal responsibility for my thoughts and emotions. It is still easy to get drawn into fearful thoughts. These are frightening times we live in. But now I know I can choose where I put my energy. I can CHANGE that train of thought, and in doing so I can CHANGE my reality.

Just realizing that I am ultimately responsible for my reality was scary. I have started to confront and accept that I have an ego that subconsciously manifests challenging circumstances. I am sometimes afraid that I am not strong enough, not good enough, not AWARE enough, to manifest positive realities.
But then I realize I am feeling fearful again.

Ego is one slippery fish.

I have started to view difficult situations in a new light. My old thought pattern was that of the victim; "Why is this happening to me?"
My new thought pattern is "What did I do to manifest this?" and "What can I learn from this so I don't do it again?" This is a much more productive thought pattern, and leads to other thoughts like "What can I do to make this right?"

I'm tired of talking about the problems. We have plenty of problems.
Lets talk about the solutions. We could sure use a few more of those.

I am blessed to be part of an amazing social experiment. I live in a community of about 25 people ranging from age 1 to 88. Most of my 'family' are between ages 23 and 35. We were all drawn to this place because we are searching for a better way of being. We govern ourselves through consensus. I'm not convinced that full consensus is the way to go, but it has (more or less)worked for almost 40 years now, so I consider it worthwhile to learn more about the process.

In one of our founding documents are these words;
"The renewal of the social order, we now see, must begin with ourselves. We seek to change our basic assumptions and patterns of daily living. To do this we must alter our patterns of thought.
We must live ourselves into the future we seek."

I give thanks every day for my life and the people who now surround me.
My people are not perfect. They are in fact broken.
As i am broken.
As we all are.

The important thing is that we REALIZE we are broken, and are actively trying to change and evolve. Everybody has their issues, and issues cannot hide in a small community. But we help each other. We really do love each other, even when we drive each other crazy.

To talk openly about how we can fix ourselves, and to see my brothers and sisters get a little more whole is the most rewarding experience I have ever had.

It makes a fierce, strong Love well up within my chest, and with this inner fire I send vibrations of Loving Kindness outward into the Universe.

Will I save the world?
Maybe, maybe not.

But I am sure having a fantastic time trying.
I love my life.

Crawling out from under my new rock....

Gee, sorry guys, what a teaser.
I would have posted more often if I hadn't been concentrating so much on rejecting sexual advances from my local cult leader.
What a weird place.
As I mentioned, there were some issues with the people.
But hey, I learned how to butcher chickens and sheep, and remodel a trailer, and how not to do lots of other projects.
It was an experience.

Yep, I was convinced that the best survival scenario for me was to join a hippie commune. It sounds so much more romantic than living in a shitty trailer park in the armpit of the middle of nowhere and eating sprouted wheat.

So I joined an "intentional community" in Washington State near the Columbia River Gorge.

It was not, however, a hippie commune.

I wound up remodeling a shitty trailer in the armpit of next to nowhere, and feeding sprouted wheat to the chickens.
Initially it seemed like a good deal; prepper minded community members, wheat by the ton, alternative energy generation projects in the works. Then I realized that I was valued more for my semi-aggressive sexuality and my euro-centric good looks than for any skills or knowledge or great ideas I might contribute.
I was really not looking to be wife number three (or four?) to an egomaniac old enough to be my father.
So after replacing the water pump in the community backhoe that had been broken down since I arrived 6 months prior, I packed my van and headed for greener pastures.
Fate still had her twisted sense of humor and she granted me safe passage to southern Oregon.

I spent the most blissed-out summer of my life in this green valley. I really do live in a hippie commune now. It's fantastic.

I even have internet access in my new, not-as-shitty trailer, so y'all will be hearing more about my latest adventures.....I promise.