Author: sullivan

What I found most interesting about the discussion of Twin Oaks was the almost biblical ideals held by this community. They use the example of the commune’s car being dirty because “nobody has any sense of identity to it”. They further this idea by stating that neither the car, their houses, nor anything else they own has meaning because they do not identify themselves with it. When new members come the goal is that they lose the ego they had before it. This resembles the bible in the way that God requires man to give up their physical possessions to strengthen their relationship with him and eventually enter into Heaven.

What I found most interesting about Waren’s ideas was the focus on labor and small groups. He stated that he didn’t believe that people were being properly compensated for their labor hours and eventually created his own way of compensating the workers. He also focused on how smaller groups have the ability to handle conflict because of the need for all members to function well in order to progress.

Meeting with Carolyn Parsons, the UMW Archivist, helped to understand the best search options for archives within Virginia. She recommend several different archive sites and libraries to use when researching intentional communities.  When looking at Virginia communities it was made clear that the best places to start would be the Sate Library of Virginia, The Virginia Historical Society, The University of Virginia’s Library, and Virginia Heritage. These sites contain the largest amount of information regarding Virginia’s archives. When searching key words such as “communes” and “communal living” there were a few entries on Twin Oaks, along with a few letters and statistics on members. Besides that there is little information on these sites regarding other communities within VA. This is understandable however, especially since a lot of them are newer establishments.

-Maureen

I think the building of our online community is growing stronger with each session. In the beginning it was a process to figure out how everything operated and how the class was going to be run. However, over the weeks I believe our virtual community has grown in terms of better understanding and functionality. As we review readings from different examples of communities, we learn what has worked in the past and what has not. Understanding the how to communicate better with one another through blog posts and slack has also helped better the community by allowing for clearer channels of communication for both the students and the teachers.

-Maureen

 I would like to study an intentional community that is open to both visitors and new members. This gives off the intention of openness and a lack of exclusivity which I believe to be an important quality within a community. One of my main interests when studying a particular community would be their sustainability methods. This could range from their dietary habits and food producing methods to their energy sources and technologies. There are some communities that run strictly on renewable energy sources while others are strictly producing their own food and cutting out the negative impacts of importing foods. These aspects are especially interesting when observing what methods of renewable resources are used and how the production of food can bring the community closer while also producing a naturally functioning environment. I think it would also be interesting to study an egalitarian society where everyone is seen as equals, with no one person in charge of another. It would be very interesting to see how members of this type of society deals with conflict and making decisions on a daily basis. I believe that the study of an egalitarian community that practices different methods of sustainability would prove to be very interesting and give an insight into how people living outside these communities could live in a more environmentally and socially conscious way. I would hope to achieve this study by either visiting a community or interviewing members of the community. Being able to visit this kind of community would help to better understand how they function on a daily basis and what methods they use to do so. Being able to converse with members of the community would allow us to understand the mindsets of the people who live within them. Understanding what aspects drew these people in and what they like most about living in it. 

For the longest time I had always assumed that intentional communities all consisted of generally the same thing. However, upon further research it has become clear that each community is unique with its varying interests and ways of life. There are some communities that live in rural areas while some can be found in the heart of cities. Many of these communities have varying interests that attract their members such as sustainability, religion, government systems, and overall ways of life. Each community has its own ideas of a preferred way of life that allows its members to be apart of that vision. 

-Maureen

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