There are many paths which lead to Dancing Rabbit. Mine began in college, when, through my studies in anthropology, I discovered the world of ecovillages. Eight years later I landed at DR for a six-month stint in the work exchange program. Having no outside job to return to and the desire and ability to do physical labor, it suited me well. It allowed me to steadily get a feel for life at DR while learning the ins and outs of running a small-scale regenerative dairy.
While this is a beautiful way to explore life at DR, it does not suit everyone. It requires a one-month commitment and 25 hours of physical labor per week. For many folks interested in exploring ecological community living, the Sustainable Living Visitor Program is the ticket. The one to two-week program offers a comprehensive introduction to all things Dancing Rabbit: sustainable community design and technologies, regenerative farming, conflict resolution, community governance, co-operative structures and, perhaps above all, the experience that a different, more meaningful way to live exists in 21st century America.
In a moment we’ll hear from someone who arrived last spring via the visitor program, and is now exploring life at Dancing Rabbit.
But first, Thursday, May 7 is Give STL. One hundred percent of donations will go into our scholarship and sliding scale fund, allowing anyone to attend our visitor program at whatever price they can afford. By making the experience of sustainable community living available to all who seek it, we are ensuring that those with a vision of a better world are given the tools to realize it. Our goal is to raise $5,000, and the first $2,000 will be fully matched!*
Ways to get involved:
- Donate now and lend a hand to those on their journey to regenerative living.
- Mark your calendar for May 7, and donate on the big day!
- Share this email with friends and family and encourage them to donate as well.
*Thanks to our longtime friends, Ed Pultz and Wendy Soderland. We’re searching for more matching donations!
Now, let’s hear from Lindsey, a recent DR transplant, about how the visitor program played a role in her journey…
I participated in Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage’s visitor program and work exchange program, and I am now exploring residency. And while I have lived in several communities around the US over the past 20 years, I can honestly say, I have never experienced anything quite like Dancing Rabbit.
Most communities I have lived in or visited have been bonded together by mission statements that include elements of sustainable agriculture, experiential education, health and well-being, and/or resource and land stewardship. Typically, these missions have focused on a handful of projects or ventures that most, or all, residents participate in, and which are intended to support the community over time–physically and beyond.
At Dancing Rabbit, the mission of creating a sustainable society is both simple and expansive. What distinguishes it from my previous community experiences is the vastness and diversity of the projects fulfilling its mission. It’s a true village, in the sense that it is made up of individuals and families that have been invited to bring all of their passion projects and personal visions with them into their everyday lives.
As a matter of fact, the primary limitation I experienced in my two-week visit is that there could never be enough time to touch, or be touched by, the rainbow of projects and lifestyles alive at present–let alone all of the potential projects one’s imagination may conjure up, given the time and space for reverie!
And while this reflection may sound like a bit of a rave, I want to be clear: this village is not a getaway, or a retreat from real life–these folks are working hard to spin the fibers of a life rich in alternatives to the status quo. Residents are busy, and calendars are full.
So, what makes this pace and style of life different? Well, in my humble and limited perspective, the answer to that question is palpable in the conversations with the folks that live there, and the glimmer in their eyes when they get to share what they are creating, and dreaming of creating, with all of us who take the time to visit. They may be “chopping wood and hauling water,” but this (literal and metaphorical) wood and water is directly in service to the quality of their lives, and the lives of their loved ones and neighbors.
There is something so refreshing about offering one’s blood, sweat and tears into an ecosystem that directly supports and sustains itself, versus through the multiple degrees of separation our capitalistic systems have normalized for us all.
I highly recommend checking out the DR visitor program if you have interest in living in an intentional society that is “walking the walk,” or if you are seeking inspiration on creating alternatives to the systems that continually underserve and exhaust us all where you live. And if nothing else, come check out the program to simply be reminded that we can, and we will, create ways of being that are so much healthier and more fulfilling than those we are being sold.
Lindsey is a white and able-bodied woman, currently residing at Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, learning how to restore and steward the lands stolen from original Native inhabitants, including the Osage Nation and Illini and Ioway tribal people, among many others. She is always seeking practical beauty and aspires to excavate new layers of self, via the invaluable mirrors of both land and community. When not playing in the dirt, or swimming in lakes, she loves doing transformational circle work with women, reading by candlelight and learning new ways to move and be in her body.
If this is the kind of experience you think more people should have, please consider donating today, or by May 7.
In community,
Eric Mease
Villager // Land Steward // Development Lead