Thank you for this video, Carol. That's a great short summing up of how such a lifestyle can be fully satisfactory
or causing an idealistic inexperienced "freeman to be" growing frustrated and leaving the island in disappointment.
What I've learned and witnessed in 2012, volunteering in such, often remote, places in Britain and Wales, finding
initiatives in Holland too, in 2013, is that some of those who leave the nuclear family-lifestyle, step on this path
for the love of life, wife, our planet, the creation of a family, securing a future for their kids, living in harmony with
nature, comfortable in their skin and thus... able to start from scratch.
They begin to create a home, a garden, all those living conditions and lifestyles presented in this video. Totally off
grid or with alternative power-sources, which offer the choice to use tv, internet, fridge and an electric hair-dryer.
Some have prepared themselves and made sure plan B is a second choice, ensured with financial resources, the
relative security of being able to withdraw from an un-successfull endeavor to live as a freeman. They are beginning
the work on unfamiliar territory, pun intended, in this state of acceptance: they don't know how it will work out.
This is often accompanied by a strong drive to just.... do it, listening to an inner voice or obeying an inner nudge.
They're the ones who usually find inspiration to work things out, due to their positive attitude and a heart as
companion, a loving wife, or both. They're not against "the world out there" and engage themselves with that world.
These people usually are fun to talk to and discuss practical issues, to work with and learn from, open minded, with fun.
They live through disappointing moments and conditions, with unsuspected weather-conditions, changes of
relationships close by or on distance and trial-and-success, building up confidence along the way, due to their
efforts: a work in progress, including their own inner development as a human being, worthy of being in touch with,
radiating their focus on a walk as much as possible in sync with their talk. An honest life and lots of common sense.
Those who are in conflict with whatever it is that causes them to feel hurting, fear or anger, in rebellion against.....
usually find themselves clashing with comrades in the place they live, while trying to create a life in freedom, off-grid.
Issues aren't left behind in the boat which brings them to the island of their dreams. I've seen some of those growing
out of their limitations: their tendency to work it out as a solitary freedom-fighter, in stubborn indignation.
Some also sank deeper in the mire of their personal misery, disappointment and frustration, growing depressed and
even finding skills to benefit from the goodwill of other members in the community. For example in being allowed to
not contribute work for the benefit of the whole, which usually is done in communities sharing an intention and
living by it. Sometimes this worked out well for community-members who felt pity combined with the need to have
someone around who is less capable of making life work, so that they thrived in their role of carer, which of course
isn't about care at all, but about allowing someone to indulge in a condition that at times almost sucked the breath
of life out of the communal room, during shared meals, as I perceived it.
I've discussed this, very carefully tip-toeing, with some members, who were pretty much grown attached to their role
and who didn't see any disadvantage in living with a member who lived like a parasite, making a difference by using
exstacy in weekends, entertaining the kids in heaps of giggles, gratefully thanked by mothers who enjoyed a couple of
hours off-kid
Of course (I've had a hard time learning the appropriate humbleness present in this) I have no right to share my perceptions,
as soon as I step into a community that is a system constructed in time and space, which is almost a being in itself, highly
in turmoil and resistance to a newcomer, who looks at it with fresh eyes and speaks her mind. I've learned a lot in those
corners of communal life and found kindred spirits amidst many colorful birds of paradise. These were happy, for being able
to vent an opinion that was "not done", a "no go" in the eyes of their fellow community-members. Also I've met a mother,
who visited the community she lived in for many years, much in love with the people and the place, but practically at the
end of her tether, when she lived with little kids through winters, with compost toilets on a 5 minute distance from the
shelter she lived in. She told me how relieved she was, once she lived in a village again, in a home with comforts, with her kids.
All these different looks at a life off grid, show that there's no manual and rule to live by, once you step on such a path.
When I think of my choice of living conditions once I've grown really old and dependent, I would choose such a place
far more than a care-home in a city. That is, when those around me are willing to support me, similar to the ways of a
tribal lifestyle, untouched by modern civilization, which treat their elderly, the Elders, with honor and respect, even when
they're pretty wild, with a mind of their own, but very good natured Last edited by B.B.Baghor on Thu Apr 21, 2016 11:36 am; edited 1 time in total