Tucker and his fellow visitors.

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage was like a tornado that whipped up all my life plans and tore them to shreds. I was supposed to be moving into my new house in Maine and living happily ever after; but then I discovered community, and now I crave it. I can’t get it out of my mind. I dream about it at night and daydream about it all waking hours. My name is Tucker, and I visited DR in spring of 2019.

Where to even begin — holding hands in silence before a group potluck dinner, playing ultimate frisbee and getting schooled by a 12-year-old, nature walks listening to billions of birds chirping away, losing five dollars every poker night; invaluable workshops about how to communicate with humans (surprisingly more complex than I would have thought), pondering the possibilities of sustainable living, reimaging what society could be — get the picture? I was so fortunate to experience these things for two incredible weeks at Dancing Rabbit, and I miss it. I miss it like a lover who got away. The longer I’m gone, the more I crave life as a Rabbit. It’s like Dan’s delightful farm-grown wine or Ted’s pungent goat cheese: it only grows finer with time.

About the visitor program, all I can say is thank you. Every workshop was invaluable and far more compelling than I imagined. The intimacy of our visitor group, combined with the welcoming warmth of the wider community, was the perfect combination to make me feel (literally) at home. The group meals were delicious and plentiful. The activities, from dance parties to goat parades, all brought a giant smile to my face. My time at DR was simply wonderful, inspiring, thought-provoking, and life-changing.

So I will be back, God willing. When I return, I might have a video camera with me. After leaving DR, I had an epiphany moment: that my purpose in the next chapter of my life is to make a documentary film called COMMUNITY: The Cure to Loneliness in the Age of Disconnection. I hope to visit communities of all types, from remote tribes maintaining our ancient ways of being to urban cohousing communities redefining city living. This film would be my attempt to find community, meaning, and purpose in our increasingly hyper-connected — yet shockingly disconnected — world. The goal of the film is to help others like myself, who have struggled with loneliness, depression, and isolation in modern mainstream society.

Who knows what the future will bring? I’m surrendering to the Mystery. What I do know is that Dancing Rabbit has changed my life forever. To say I’m grateful feels like a gross understatement. Perhaps a better way to put it is that I feel alive. What a beautiful gift to be given: life. Thank you, Rabbits. Until we meet again!

Would you like to have an experience like Tuckers'? Come join us for a Sustainable Living Visitor Program of your very own.