Intentional Community

How to Get Started

The Dream

A lot of folks right now are dreaming of starting or joining an intentional community. Many are deeply feeling the pain of mainstream living arrangements.

Intentional communities, and especially eco-villages, hope to resolve some of the biggest problems of contemporary life, using foundational principles very different from those of mainstream society, creating an alternative micro-system within the system.

Difficult Realities

Two of the biggest difficulties in starting or joining an intentional community are:

• Mindset and Skills: Even community-minded people generally have been deeply shaped by mainstream culture and bring problematic attitudes without realizing it, while also lacking many important skills (relational and practical).
• Recreating Oppressive Structures: A micro-system must find a way to exist within the larger system. This often means access remains limited to those with very significant financial resources, and power structures end up reflecting the same dynamics of social privilege and marginalization found outside the community.

These difficulties are not easily resolved.

Where to Start

Preparing to start an intentional community, or even to join an intentional community, can be a years-long or even decades-long process. Here are some places you might begin.

1. Join or start a local mutual aid project.
2. Learn about intentional community from resources like these.
3. Build relationship skills.
4. Build practical skills.