Hi, I’m Jason. My partner, Melissa, and I are currently dreaming of co-creating an eco-minded community in a beautiful natural setting, location TBD but the PNW feels right in many ways at the moment. We are also very open to joining an existing community, depending on the details of its setup, values, location, etc.

As of Summer 2023 we are in the research phase, so we’d love to network with like-minded others in order to determine the scope of challenges and solutions that we’ll encounter. We have lots of ideas, but we need grounding and connections to move forward.

In an ideal world, we’d be able to buy or build an eco-retreat center at the heart of this community. Melissa is a successful retreat leader and yoga teacher, and having a retreat center would be a wonderful way to generate income, build connections, educate the public, and of course be shared among community members when not in use for retreats.

We are both very eco-conscious, progressively minded, educated, great communicators, and highly compassionate, while at the same time being very grounded, philosophically and practically.

Melissa has a lifetime of experience in spirituality and is professionally trained as a social worker (although not currently practicing). Jason is trained as an artist and largely self-taught in philosophy with a very strong materialist inclination, despite being very open-minded and receptive to the spiritual experiences of others.

Our ideal community would be a semi-communal, eco-minded, cooperative with some shared spaces & resources, like: well-equipped kitchen, large yoga shala/event space, well-stocked tool shed, library, laundry facilities, small shop with bulk consumables, etc.

Individuals and families could share in ownership of the land and shared spaces, but have full ownership of their own living spaces, which could be tiny homes, permanent structures, even temporary tent-like spaces.

It would address common misconceptions about social issues, environmental issues, economics, accessibility, hierarchy, etc., and weave education into every aspect of the design, process, and outcomes.

It also must avoid becoming just another failed social experiment, a bubbled community with no real impact on the wider world. It could possibly make use of the Small Group Method of decision-making outlined here: https://mflb.com/civ_dev_1/sgrp_essay_3.html

There is much more to be said, but this is all just brainstorming at this point and many details will likely change as this dream encounters reality and the co-creation process. Please reach out if you feel inclined for any reason, I will do my best to stay on top of my messages here.