by Deena Dawn Larsen
Editor’s Note: Deena wrote the following just after leaving her Dancing Rabbit visitor session last month. Since then she has applied to become a resident, and returned for a weekend writing workshop at the Milkweed Mercantile.
Six days have passed since I left Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage (DR). I continue to struggle with trying to explain my experience to people. What usually emanates from my mouth is a semi-coherent rambling of all of the intriguing things I experienced while there as a visitor. I have been told that there is a gleam in my eye and I am more animated than I usually am when I speak of my experience. The more I reflect and spend time in the world outside of DR, the more I am able to identify the essence of the appeal for me. It all boils down to sustainability.
Eight years ago I spent two weeks with 40 educators from around the country in a seminar on Gandhi and nonviolence. Our two weeks together were somewhat magical and transformative. I am still in contact with several of the people from that experience. DR provided me the same connections. However, what sets Dancing Rabbit apart is that DR is ongoing; they are a community that has found a way to live sustainably day in and day out. With energy, food production, water use, building construction and repurposing of materials, the members and residents of Dancing Rabbit have found a way to lessen the negative impact that we have on the earth.
We all have our own value structure, things that are important to us. In Dancing Rabbit, I found a place that not only shares many of my core values, they are living them: at DR they are walking the talk, so to speak. Compassion toward others, honesty in thought, word & deed, economically practical with resources, balance in nature, all attributes that are refreshingly noticeable and deeply appealing.
Many point to our history as a country and see that many of our ancestors were rugged individualists. We seem to have equated this with freedom and many see this as a positive attribute. However, I see that our sense of community was a more critical component of our development as a nation. We helped one another with the sharing of food. We traveled together, we helped out in time of need, we shared our labor and our resources. This mentality still exists in rural areas. Farmers often share machinery when one breaks down, help with chores when there is an illness or help rebuild when there is a fire. Dancing Rabbit is a true community that supports each person to be the best person they can be.
Stepping back into the chaotic culture of our mainstream society one does not need very long to notice the waste, the extravagance, or the inefficient way that we utilize our resources; one quickly picks up on the damaging way we treat others around us. Permaculture teaches us that all is connected. Dancing Rabbit taught me that we don’t all have to live this way. In fact, we cannot continue to live this way. It. Is. Not. Sustainable.
To cast aside any doubts, I am not drinking the Kool-Aid. I have not been brainwashed into thinking a certain way. If anything, my thoughts are more lucid now. My eyes are more open to the irrationality of the way in which we connect with the earth and each other. My task now in the short run is to find ways to mitigate my own impact and live as a model of what sustainable living looks like. I need to continue to learn to use resources wisely, grow and save my own food, and live more harmoniously.
I’m not ready to paint a sign that reads, “The End of the World is Coming.” Rather than doom and gloom, I find hope. In Dancing Rabbit I see a community that is celebrating its twenty-year anniversary this fall. While they don’t have all of the answers, they continue to work, to experiment, and to share. They have put structures and systems in place to help work through difficulties. In Dancing Rabbit I see hope for the future and hope that we can all learn to live a more sustainable life.
Deena teaches English and Media Production to grades 7, 8, and 9 at a junior high school in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. She lives on 3.5 acres of land five miles north of the city and five miles from the western shore of Lake Michigan. She is an avid bike commuter, gardener, reader, and sunrise photographer.
Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community and nonprofit outside Rutledge, in northeast Missouri, focused on demonstrating sustainable living possibilities. Find out more about us by visiting our website, reading our blog, or emailing us.