When you grow up white and middle class in the Bay Area, California, “community” tends to be a fairly abstract concept. I think I’ve gravitated to various forms of community throughout my life: Boy Scouts, my college fraternity, the short-lived but intense camaraderie of archaeological digs, and the transient community of traveling and volunteering abroad. The older I get, and the more I learn about the price the world pays for our privileges and comforts, the more I think about what might replace capitalist modernity and look for positive examples; this search has brought me to intentional community.

I first came to Dancing Rabbit for a permaculture design course in September, 2016. I had only the vaguest notion of what permaculture was, or what I was getting myself into. Needless to say, my mind was blown. It was also my first visit to an intentional community, which was a transformative experience in itself. I returned in 2018 as a work exchanger and stayed most of the year. After one last attempt to make life work in California, I returned to Dancing Rabbit in 2019 and haven’t looked back. In my time here so far I’ve discovered passions for gardening, knitting, and natural building, and am planning to start wildland firefighting later this year.