As a veteran of the 1960s rural hippie communes, all of this is music to my ears. Because I wrote a famous book about rural commune life in the 1960s and early 1970s, I was, and am, often asked by interviewers, "Why did the communes disappear?" To which I answer, "We didn't disappear; we're a bigger movement now than we ever were in the 1970s, and much better organized. Kudos to the succeeding generations of communal pioneers." In earlier decades, I would refer these journalists to the annually published directory of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. Now I just refer them to the Global Ecovillage Network online.
So, sincere thanks to all of you. I'm now 77 years old and the full-time caregiver for the great love of my life and partner of the past 30 years, who is semi-disabled at 88. Findhorn is the only community that I know of that welcomes new residents of our ages. It's OK. I feel better knowing I can have an ambulance arrive at the house in less that 20 minutes, because, if Joe falls, that's my best chance of safely getting him upright, and, possibly, saving his life. We both exercise and consume organically grown food and herbal medicine to stay well, but, at this stage of our lives, sometimes you need someone who can do emergency care.
Im so glad you enjoyed. Every time Im writing the wrong article, it takes forever. As soon as I figure out what to remove, thats when writing becomes easy. Honesty is ultimately easier.
Hi Nicole. I love this post! Bravo for naming jealousy. 🤢 🤣 👏 Another 'win for us all' when we can expand our perspectives and horizons, to welcome in the diversity of alternative paths.
Ha! Yes, it's annoying that I'm so committed to growth because it means I don't get to be lazy and settle for the narrative that makes me the most comfortable.
Thank you! I wanted to be a grumpy gatekeeper, because I guess I thought that would make me feel important and like my precious baby of community building won't get corrupted. But you can't really control that. You have to let it go about in the world and pick up its own momentum
That impulse is understandable given the depth of your knowledge and your work. And, superficially of aesthetics acts as a gateway on the path to real community, then so be it! 🙂
So be it! I adopted this phrase "most things are better shared", because I have felt this as a truth for me in my personal community journey. I am happiest when my nerdy passion is shared by more people.
I love this! How do we bridge the gap between aesthetic and structural revillaging? When the algorithm moves on but people are ready to linger - how do we get them to places like this substack?
Great post! What I've observed about communities since 1980 when I first went to Esalen as a work scholar, is that the biggest issues that have made many intentional communities not sustainable is due to the unhealed wounds and inadequate communication skills of the individuals. Until those issues are addressed instead of bypassed due to people having the idealistic fantasy that their internal pain will be healed and their problems solved by living with other people, nothing will change. I would love to know more about how that is being addressed in the current community trend.
Appreciate your post! I was just at a gathering titled “Connecting for the Common Good” hosted by Peter Block in Cincinnati. During the “open space” portion of the program I hosted a topic on “Doing the Inner Work of Community” How IFS and Jungian shadow work are necessary to build internal community so that we can minimize projecting our unprocessed material onto external communities.
"unhealed wounds and inadequate communication skills of the individuals" -- Amen, sister. The relational is the least understood aspect of regenerative culture. I also think that the classification of "aesthetic" versus "structural" has some limitations. Refer to my other comment too.
Let's work together to translate ourselves more! Of course there's always imposter syndrome/ comparing ourselves to others, but we can also share ourselves more, or collaborate with those who seem to have no friction sharing a message.
Totally! And there are people for whom that's their main skill. I saw a dramatization of Emma Goldman's life, and apparently the reason we've heard of her (and not Kropotkin or Proudhomne) is that she dated a guy who didn't get anarchism at all but was a great promoter.
This is great how you name the dichotomy of structural versus aesthetic re-villaging. It's an important difference, and it's very helpful to name it. Thanks again for your work, Nicole!
Can definitely relate to the irritating feeling of young girls saying all the right things on social media with no experience to back it up… Seeing the over 100,000 followers when we’ve been busy doing the work for over a decade and hover around 6000 followers and often feel like no one‘s actually listening. Interestingly enough, we have been busy trying to combine both the aesthetic and structural pieces. That being said, we are off grid, not really practicing the types of village that you predominantly address.
Since you named your jealousy, I'm going to name mine. Living in community with others sounds ideal and aligned with my values, but it sounds like absolute hell to my husband. His idea of fun this weekend while away for work was going to a baseball game alone and not talking to a single person. He actively avoids socializing with people. No parties. No chatting with strangers. Controlled, 1:1 situations are it. Not for you to solve, just acknowledging obstacles to even imagining a village - like social anxiety!
say more about "flashy month long pop-up villages in exotic locations". Pop-up villages I am increasingly aware of and are an important part of the solution for various reaons that I will not get into. I was 2 1/2 weeks at a 3 month popup village in Denmark called Regenera (https://regenera.community/) and I was quite impressed. Granted it is neither flashy nor exotic location. To be honest I think this is worth an article of yours, this for instance had me quite inspired and took me on an interesting trip: https://supernuclear.substack.com/p/what-popup-villages-teach-us-about
For the rest, please continue the interesting analysis and vulernable shares. I read you.
What a refreshing and important page to come across! I will be following for sure, and deep diving on your website. I've spent over 20 years of my life in various kinds of intentional communities. Two of them blew up in my face, rather spectacularly, and sent me down the road! But I still believe in the ideal! I actually started to fill out the village building trend survey, but realized that it's appropriate for those going into community/village, rather than those who have come out of it, like me! But I did have some lessons and observations from all those years, perhaps they would be helpful to someone?
As a veteran of the 1960s rural hippie communes, all of this is music to my ears. Because I wrote a famous book about rural commune life in the 1960s and early 1970s, I was, and am, often asked by interviewers, "Why did the communes disappear?" To which I answer, "We didn't disappear; we're a bigger movement now than we ever were in the 1970s, and much better organized. Kudos to the succeeding generations of communal pioneers." In earlier decades, I would refer these journalists to the annually published directory of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. Now I just refer them to the Global Ecovillage Network online.
So, sincere thanks to all of you. I'm now 77 years old and the full-time caregiver for the great love of my life and partner of the past 30 years, who is semi-disabled at 88. Findhorn is the only community that I know of that welcomes new residents of our ages. It's OK. I feel better knowing I can have an ambulance arrive at the house in less that 20 minutes, because, if Joe falls, that's my best chance of safely getting him upright, and, possibly, saving his life. We both exercise and consume organically grown food and herbal medicine to stay well, but, at this stage of our lives, sometimes you need someone who can do emergency care.
This was a great read, Nicole! Thank you for your honesty, it opens doors for all readers to up their honesty-game as well.
A thriving ecosystem is a diverse ecosystem. Different voices supporting a healthier style of living... I read win-win-win!
Im so glad you enjoyed. Every time Im writing the wrong article, it takes forever. As soon as I figure out what to remove, thats when writing becomes easy. Honesty is ultimately easier.
Yes to diverse village building voices!
Yes, that struggle-pattern in writing is so relatable! Actually stuck right now with a post, need to find out how to turn it around.
Thank you again for your nourishing post!
Hi Nicole. I love this post! Bravo for naming jealousy. 🤢 🤣 👏 Another 'win for us all' when we can expand our perspectives and horizons, to welcome in the diversity of alternative paths.
Ha! Yes, it's annoying that I'm so committed to growth because it means I don't get to be lazy and settle for the narrative that makes me the most comfortable.
Appreciating your both/and wisdom in your reframing!
Thank you! I wanted to be a grumpy gatekeeper, because I guess I thought that would make me feel important and like my precious baby of community building won't get corrupted. But you can't really control that. You have to let it go about in the world and pick up its own momentum
That impulse is understandable given the depth of your knowledge and your work. And, superficially of aesthetics acts as a gateway on the path to real community, then so be it! 🙂
So be it! I adopted this phrase "most things are better shared", because I have felt this as a truth for me in my personal community journey. I am happiest when my nerdy passion is shared by more people.
🙌🏻
I love this! How do we bridge the gap between aesthetic and structural revillaging? When the algorithm moves on but people are ready to linger - how do we get them to places like this substack?
Yes to having the substack more visible, but also, how to increase this as the mainstream narrative. Where we are all actively practicing village?
essential question! and how do we do that beyond the aesthetic for actual structural change?
Great post! What I've observed about communities since 1980 when I first went to Esalen as a work scholar, is that the biggest issues that have made many intentional communities not sustainable is due to the unhealed wounds and inadequate communication skills of the individuals. Until those issues are addressed instead of bypassed due to people having the idealistic fantasy that their internal pain will be healed and their problems solved by living with other people, nothing will change. I would love to know more about how that is being addressed in the current community trend.
Appreciate your post! I was just at a gathering titled “Connecting for the Common Good” hosted by Peter Block in Cincinnati. During the “open space” portion of the program I hosted a topic on “Doing the Inner Work of Community” How IFS and Jungian shadow work are necessary to build internal community so that we can minimize projecting our unprocessed material onto external communities.
That's wonderful to hear, and it's exactly what's needed!
"unhealed wounds and inadequate communication skills of the individuals" -- Amen, sister. The relational is the least understood aspect of regenerative culture. I also think that the classification of "aesthetic" versus "structural" has some limitations. Refer to my other comment too.
Here's a recent post from my Substack channel about emotional sobriety. https://thecosmicyes.substack.com/p/are-you-emotionally-sober
Oh dear. I have this same jealousy about you, having worked on this stuff pretty constantly throughout the 90s.
Let's work together to translate ourselves more! Of course there's always imposter syndrome/ comparing ourselves to others, but we can also share ourselves more, or collaborate with those who seem to have no friction sharing a message.
Totally! And there are people for whom that's their main skill. I saw a dramatization of Emma Goldman's life, and apparently the reason we've heard of her (and not Kropotkin or Proudhomne) is that she dated a guy who didn't get anarchism at all but was a great promoter.
(Also, I emailed you to see if you want to be on my upcoming interview series. Maybe that could be a start in getting the message out.)
This is great how you name the dichotomy of structural versus aesthetic re-villaging. It's an important difference, and it's very helpful to name it. Thanks again for your work, Nicole!
Can definitely relate to the irritating feeling of young girls saying all the right things on social media with no experience to back it up… Seeing the over 100,000 followers when we’ve been busy doing the work for over a decade and hover around 6000 followers and often feel like no one‘s actually listening. Interestingly enough, we have been busy trying to combine both the aesthetic and structural pieces. That being said, we are off grid, not really practicing the types of village that you predominantly address.
Since you named your jealousy, I'm going to name mine. Living in community with others sounds ideal and aligned with my values, but it sounds like absolute hell to my husband. His idea of fun this weekend while away for work was going to a baseball game alone and not talking to a single person. He actively avoids socializing with people. No parties. No chatting with strangers. Controlled, 1:1 situations are it. Not for you to solve, just acknowledging obstacles to even imagining a village - like social anxiety!
say more about "flashy month long pop-up villages in exotic locations". Pop-up villages I am increasingly aware of and are an important part of the solution for various reaons that I will not get into. I was 2 1/2 weeks at a 3 month popup village in Denmark called Regenera (https://regenera.community/) and I was quite impressed. Granted it is neither flashy nor exotic location. To be honest I think this is worth an article of yours, this for instance had me quite inspired and took me on an interesting trip: https://supernuclear.substack.com/p/what-popup-villages-teach-us-about
For the rest, please continue the interesting analysis and vulernable shares. I read you.
What a refreshing and important page to come across! I will be following for sure, and deep diving on your website. I've spent over 20 years of my life in various kinds of intentional communities. Two of them blew up in my face, rather spectacularly, and sent me down the road! But I still believe in the ideal! I actually started to fill out the village building trend survey, but realized that it's appropriate for those going into community/village, rather than those who have come out of it, like me! But I did have some lessons and observations from all those years, perhaps they would be helpful to someone?
Love your work! Your link to the 2026 Village Building Trends is broken... :-) here it is if anyone needs it: https://www.terrenity.org/trendsreport