This picture epitomizes the peaceful feeling I had in this location and how the cows made me feel at home. I’m actually from the countryside of the U.K. and so this really “took me back home." Photo provided by Julia.

My husband and I looked into different lifestyles that had a smaller carbon footprint than the mainstream suburban life that we are currently living. We looked at tiny homes, van life, off-grid yurts on pieces of land, and trailers parked on farmland. Then I came across something different that I had never heard of. This idea of community that at the time appeared unobtainable to ordinary folks like me. I watched the YouTube videos in awe, but felt woefully inadequate in comparison to this group of people that seemed to be living on a higher plane than I was. The name Dancing Rabbit gave me visions of people dancing their way around their community and gardens, and I was frankly feeling out of my comfort zone, yet giddy at the same time, to think about visiting this place.

The day arrived when we were packed and ready to drive south. We were booked for DR’s Ecovillage Experience Weekend and we had everything on the list we were supposed to bring. I had a picture in my mind of this intentional community in middle-of-nowhere Missouri where the weather could bring just about anything. Did I pack enough snacks in case the food wasn’t frequent enough, would I be able to get coffee in the morning, and what were chiggers?

On arrival we were met by a friendly bunch of people who greeted us like we belonged. A resident walked us to the yurt (our sleeping arrangement choice) and showed us around on the way, as well as answering our many questions. We had our itinerary and I was positive we would be the only couple in the group not camping with the bugs. I was incredibly surprised to see that I would be staying in a peaceful, beautiful spot on the property with cows in the pasture for company. I wasn’t sure how I would handle my first outhouse experience in the middle of the night but I relaxed when I saw how private my accommodation space was and not in the least worried about anyone watching me in the half open outhouse.

As we started the weekend program, I was stunned to see the variety of other participants. They weren’t all hardcore campers looking to show their survival skills in the wild. Our program facilitator ensured the ice was broken, and we started to get to know each other and find our common threads. The pace and the content of the program truly exceeded my expectations. I felt excited to be learning so many things, such as a taste of life in the community, as well as things we could take home and practice, and some things I hadn’t known existed.

I can’t say enough about the fantastic food we ate (the quantity and quality was stunning!) and eating together with our program group and some of the other residents and visitors brought about such a camaraderie that I felt truly at home, but better. Community made me feel like I was growing and filled a gap that exists in most of our everyday lives. Being with people that shared the same values was soothing and peaceful. I didn’t have to explain that food shouldn’t be wasted, plastic cutlery shouldn’t be used, and please don’t put that drinking straw in the trash and injure the sea life!

My experience of living in this community for just a long weekend gave me way more than I was hoping for. I could go home and continue to work on my energy consumption in ways I hadn’t thought about. I could get excited about experimenting with things that were different because they made sense not just to me. Other people were excited to make changes in this community and within our group program. I felt alive in a way I hadn’t expected to feel and rejuvenated about what I could accomplish within my own community.

It wasn’t easy leaving Dancing Rabbit, with its peaceful, rolling green landscape, the people I’d met, the birdsong and the rhythm I’d enjoyed that weekend. It did answer the burning question I had, though, when I started the weekend, which was: could I ever see myself living in an intentional community like Dancing Rabbit and would I return to Dancing Rabbit? On both counts, yes! How could I not consider living this way and how could I not consider delving deeper into all this community had to offer. While it’s clear this type of lifestyle isn’t for everyone, it offers hope to those wondering how they can live in a way that intertwines both community and the values that an ecovillage possesses. Oh, and those chiggers… nothing a little preparation can’t handle!

Julia Round-Maggerise is a home gardener who grows organic, pesticide-free food and has been landscaping with natives for wildlife for many years. She belongs to a local group, Sustain DuPage, and also her local chapter of The Wild Ones. She works for a local government agency in the Stormwater Management department and there she loves to learn about water quality, wetlands, ecology, soils, rainwater harvesting and rain gardens. On her property she currently has four rain barrels, a rain garden and a small pond for frogs.
 

Do you have some free time this month? Join our upcoming visitor program and learn for yourself what living in community is like. We have one spot left!