Ah I love that! cool! i have some friends who lived at earthaven for a while and twin oaks...
the interpersonal drama is one of the main reasons Ini and i chose not to live in community lol! that and i wanted more control over projects and didn't want to be wading through consensus for every little thing! i have too many dreams to manifest and didn't want to be held back.
i hear ya on community is hard. it's definitely so beautiful and teaches us so much about ourselves and others and about being on earth, but it takes a lot of time and energy to navigate all of the interpersonal stuff. probably why most of them fail! that and funding.
i lived at dancing rabbit ecovillage (and the surrounding ones there) for a summer and loved it! it was the perfect level of involvement just being an intern/visitor. not too much drama, but a good taste. i met ini at an ecovillage in Canada and had major drama with the head lady there!! did not choose to stay lol! but learned a lot... seems to be a theme here ;) <3
Yes! Around the time I was growing weary with Earthaven, there was a Great War (my computer automatically capitalized that, but it's accurate) between the vegans and the raw food/bio regionalists. Nothing like watching vegans go toe to toe with people eating raw meat to totally turn you away from consensus forever. It was around that time that we were starting the school as well, and I really realized in the process of that creation the greatest limitation, for me, of consensus. It absolutely squashes dissent. If you live in a community ruled by consensus and you are not in agreement with any aspect, you have to either deny your true inclinations or sit in controversy forever. That school I helped start was direct democracy, so dissenting voices were always recorded. You might be overruled (once a kid tried to pass a law saying he was a God and needed to be worshipped at certain times of day), but your true feelings are on the record. Dissent is important. It's the basis of all radical movements, and that is my biggest beef with consensus. I have heard good things about Dancing Rabbit and have a good friend who spent some time there in their early years. Honest to God it's all I can do to maneuver a family. I have always loved the idea of community, but I can't even really find a functioning partnership with someone I have made babies with, so I don't feel super confident in making a bigger leap. I'd love to have more in-line playmates for my little ones, but otherwise I'd be happy to be the crazy, lone sea witch in the weird, earthen house.