Hi, my name is Carolyn, and I work for the Center for Sustainable and Cooperative Culture at Dancing Rabbit. I do a variety of tasks, including helping with marketing and social media outreach for the nonprofit. So, it’s kind of my job to tell you how awesome it is to visit and live here. Although I could make up a list for you to read, it wouldn’t be as meaningful or vulnerable. One thing I’ve learned living here in the tri-communities—our term for the combined communities of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, Sandhill Farm, and Red Earth Farms—is if you’re going to fully commit to open communication, then it will likely require that you come from a place of vulnerability, and that, my friend, is a beautiful gift to your fellow humans.

So, I’ll start with a confession. I don’t live at Dancing Rabbit. I live at the neighboring homesteading community called Red Earth Farms. When my family set off on our journey to find a home, wanting to abandon the rat-race and find a place to sink our roots into, our first stop was here in the beautiful rolling hills of northeast Missouri.

To say that I fell in love with the land and the people is an understatement. I found a deep-seated feeling of coming home, and that feeling has grown over the past year and a half since we moved here. Now, why not live at Dancing Rabbit, you ask? Well, my family was looking to own an acreage in the countryside without feeling isolated. Despite being quite extroverted, there are times when I want to go home and stay there for days without seeing a soul.

However, as an extrovert, I would not have chosen to live at Red Earth had it not been for Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage. Living next door to such a vibrant community, immersed in sustainability education, outreach, and their own traditions, is beyond rewarding. The social scene in the village is intensely enriching and nothing we experienced while we traveled the country held a candle to it. Pair all of this with the affordability of living here and you have a recipe for a beautiful life, in my opinion. Now, that’s not to say life is a piece of cake here. Everyone must find their own way socially and economically, and some struggle more than others. But, the willingness to help each other that I’ve found, really makes a difference.

Now for a second confession. If you’re like me, hearing people’s life stories and having deep, meaningful, or intense conversations is a soul-feeding experience. So, here it goes . . . this community saved my marriage. As you may know, relationships are work and sometimes that work can seem daunting. Here in the tri-communities, there are opportunities for deep, emotional work. I’ve even been a part of starting a deep-work group we call Open Co Group. In the tri-communities, “Co” is a common term used in place of “person” that is non-gender specific and all inclusive. Without this Open Co Group and my supportive friendships at Dancing Rabbit, I might be telling an entirely different story right now.

During a difficult time with my husband, I was able to take a “stay-cation” in the village, taking time away from our homestead to think and get the support I needed, and then do the work that had to happen. That meaningful work happened at Open Co Group, where my fellow communitarians helped me get to the heart of the matter. The support I received and insights I gained about myself were monumental for me and transformative for my relationship with my husband. For so long, it has felt like we were walking on a path full of fallen logs and bramble—just struggling to move forward. All the while, we didn’t see the nice, manicured path traveling right alongside us. Well, thanks to the work we did in our respective, personal growth, support groups, together we found that clearer path and now we want to spend our life walking it and making it even better. We know there will be bumps and puddles, but with the support of our fellow-community-mates, we know that to walk this path in life will be much more rewarding, gentle, and loving.

I guess, at the end of the day, I wish to share with you how much I am in love with this community of amazing people doing their best to make a difference in the world. The hard skills of sustainability are a given and comparatively easy to master; it’s learning the soft-skills of inner-sustainability and self-growth that I value so much. If I’m lucky, I will get to spend my life digging deep and growing as a person with these people I love.

One day, I hope you can be one of these people. I would love to hear your life story and have meaningful conversations with you. I would support you in growing to be your best/optimal self. Maybe we can even meet in October if you come to visit! Wouldn’t that just be the dream? If you do come, on most days you may find me in the office or behind a camera documenting the gorgeous fall afternoons of this beautiful life I live.

 

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Carolyn was born and raised in the hot, humid, southern metropolis of Houston, Texas. In her free time she likes to read, play board games, sew, garden, and spend time on her land. She lives in a 20-foot yurt, close to nature, spending her days doing the things she loves with the people who matter most.

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Want to see what living in an ecovillage is like where permaculture is applied? Come visit us this year to get a glimpse into how we live and how you can incorporate these practices into your own life. There is only one Sustainable Living Visitor Program session left happening in October. Come join us!