Communities #197
Winter 2022
Note: You can order a copy of this issue here.
In Communities #197, The Long Haul, authors look at what it takes to endure as a communitarian and/or as a community over the long term, as well as what it will take for our species to weather our current challenges. How do we retain relevance and viability, individually and collectively, in changing times? Stories describe past community experiences, current innovations, and future strategies. The issue also contains the fourth installment in Diana Leafe Christian’s series on “Working Effectively with Especially Challenging Behaviors,” a memorial tribute to consensus pioneer Caroline Estes, and reflections on Communities’ history on the occasion of this, our 50th anniversary issue.
THE LONG HAUL
Vision #1: Providing 500 Print Subscriptions to Groups, Programs, and Libraries
Notes from the Editor: Communities’ Impact By Chris Roth
Always a force for transformation, the magazine now seeks support to expand its reach.
Notes in Passing: Personals By Paul Freundlich
For 50 years, Communities has collected contributors’ insights on how to be human together, in small enough groupings to mean anything to each other, large enough to survive…
Language of Twin Oaks: Crossword Solution By Stephan Nashoba
“Commune” is not a four-letter word, and other answers to last issue’s puzzling questions.
Will It Happen to Us? By Anton Marks
A founding member of Kibbutz Mishol looks at patterns common elsewhere and wonders: Are privatization and decline inevitable?
Guide to My Longevity in an Intentional Community By Colin Doyle
A communitarian identifies a dozen attitudes and circumstances that helped him last more than a decade at Lost Valley.
Reflections on Fifty Years of Community By Daniel Brown
The Brotherhood of the Spirit/Renaissance Community offers enduring lessons even after its demise.
Belonging, for the Long Haul By Riana Good
A resident of TerraSante Village discovers that shifting the question of “Do I belong?” to “How do I belong?” leads to a more satisfying, inclusive community life.
● What Does It Mean to Belong?
Loving Is a Political Task By Achim Ecker
A long-time member of ZEGG observes a powerful pull in a direction away from close community and asks: Can we become a whole community again?
Network for New Culture Meets Holistic Resistance: A Potential Partnership towards Liberation from White Supremacy By Melanie Rios
Bringing together these diverse communities creates new understandings and demonstrates the transformative power of listening with love and forgiving mistakes.
● Challenges to be Addressed
Farming for the Long Haul: Leisure, Work, and Community By Michael Foley
Traditional societies can show us the way forward—not only in farming, but in life.
Eating for the Long Haul By Dena Smith Ellis
A holistic wellness educator finds herself unexpectedly humbled by seniors whose memories of simple, fresh, local, and unadulterated food suggest not only our past but our future.
Why Community Was the Best Time of My Life By Hugh Perry
A Canadian community veteran sees seeds sown after the dispersal of ’60s-era communities sprouting in the evolved thinking of today.
Cultivating Peace for the Long Haul By Kim Goodwin
Is it possible that, contrary to activist assumptions, “If you aren’t at peace, you aren’t paying attention”?
When Short and Long Hauls Collide: A Cohousing Case Study By Anonymous
A new arrival to cohousing discovers the hard way that complex economics and conflicting interests can complicate living as a renter in a non-income sharing community.
Working Effectively with Especially Challenging Behaviors, Part Four By Diana Leafe Christian
Personal experiences with fellow community members lead to the development of important strategies to mitigate the effects of a slew of previously demoralizing and even debilitating behaviors in others.
● “Especially Challenging” Attitudes and Behaviors
● Recognizing Challenging Behaviors
The Early Years of Communities Magazine By A. Allen Butcher
A communal scholar explores the genesis of Communities and its early metamorphoses.
Cmag and Me By Laird Schaub
A long-time publisher reflects on his relationship with the magazine in this, its Golden Anniversary issue.
Coming Home to History (Review: The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity) By Chris Roth
A new view of history aligns to a remarkable degree with characteristics and trends observed on a personal journey in the world of intentional community.
REACH
Remembering Lina By Laird Schaub
Caroline Estes of Alpha Farm, groundbreaking consensus trainer and facilitator, led a life of dedication and service; as a friend, mentor, and grandmother of secular consensus, her influence lives on.
Vision #2: Making Digital Communities Free to the World
ON THE COVER: Caroline Estes (in beige shawl), her husband Jim (in black cap), and other community residents circle before a meal at Alpha Farm (Deadwood, Oregon), April 2, 2009. Founded in 1972, Alpha Farm, like Communities, turned 50 this year. A highly influential consensus pioneer, facilitator, and trainer, and longtime communitarian, Caroline died in July. See “Remembering Lina,” p. 64. Photo by Kate Harnedy, katehphoto.com @katehphoto.