Dreaming of Community at The Wallow
The Wallow is what we call the land where I live with my extended family in two log houses plus have a couple of acres to play around with. We have done some gardening and some livestocking and some rewilding.
But what I REALLY dream about is building community here by hosting meetups, events, workshops, and gatherings, leading to an interconnected web of friendship and reliance.
I imagine us sharing primitive skills like fire-making and current survival skills like dumpster diving. I imagine us learning to make compost and trading eggs and honey. I imagine us having book clubs, debates, and round table discussions about anti-capitalist, anti-civilization topics. I imagine us making friends and sharing satisfying meals and rituals, learning to feel deep joy in an uncertain world.
I usually feel alone in the online homesteading and prepper-type groups that are easiest to find. I wish I had a strong LEFTIST group to talk chicken eggs and solar panels with! And I do crave more in-person, face-to-face relating. We do each already know how to live in a crumbling culture – we’re already doing it! We’re surviving. But wouldn’t it be nice to come together and share what we know with others?
Unfortunately, I’m an anxious introvert who has to work really hard to reach out to people, make new friends, and bring people together. I am really just NOT the kind of person who can create a community. I’m the kind who needs to JOIN an existing community. And I do – there are a few communities I participate in. But of course, they aren’t happening here at The Wallow. And that’s my deepest dream – that this very land could be the heart of a community where we walk through these trees together, circle up under the full moon together, share meals, share skills, share ideas, and create a sprawling extended community that lifted us all up.
I’m gonna keep dreaming that dream and keep speaking it out loud now and then. Because I’m not the greatest at organizing things, but… if YOU are, and you want in on this dream, you let me know! 😉
