Commune Life is media made by communards, for communards.
We are a platform for sharing stories about life in community.
This is our wordpress blog. Here you will find writings and photo essays about income-sharing communities. You can find other kinds of communal content in other places!
Our Youtube Channel hosts commune videos, and our Facebook page is the best place to go for discussion with community members, and updates. You can also follow us on Instagram.
To use this site to find information about a particular community or topic, the three lines in the top right hand corner will reveal a drop down list that covers most of the subjects on the blog. There are nearly eight hundred posts on this blog, so it is a useful resource for finding all kinds of information about communal living.
Commune Life is made possible by our remarkable patrons.
We are 100% community supported. Everything we make we make for you! If you want to support us to continue to make awesome content about the communities movement, a great way to do it is by becoming a patron: patreon.com/communelife
LEF and Serenity Solidarity Visit Puerto Rico in Preparation for a January 2023 Distribution of Sustainable, Reliable Energy Systems
Earlier this year, Living Energy Farm, Serenity Solidarity, and El Departamento de la Comida organized together to bring two cohorts of activists and electricians from Puerto Rico to LEF to train on DC microgrid systems. We hope to bring inexpensive, reliable electrical systems to people suffering from the aftermath of Hurricanes Maria (2017), and now Fiona (2022). LEF was able to fundraise to cover travel expenses from Puerto Rico to Virginia, and folks started to arrive in June 2022.
The first Puerto Rican electrician to join the training program happened to be infamous, daredevil activist Tito Kayak. Ericka from Serenity Solidarity knew Tito from her days in the Catholic Worker movement. Tito was instrumental in stopping the military bomb testing in Vieques and has climbed the Statue of Liberty to hang the Puerto Rican flag in protest. Tito is a founder of Electricistas En Acción, a group of electricians that fixes electricity in people’s homes for little to no cost.
(Tito Kayak’s Statue of Liberty action, 2010)
12 other people came to train in two separate, 2-week training programs. The groups have some amazing initiatives and projects that they are working on in Puerto Rico, and we were moved to organize bringing solar panels, refrigerators, ovens, fans, charging kits, and lights to different people and projects connected to the cohorts that visited LEF. The overall goal is to eventually set up manufacturing and distribution of DC solar appliances in Puerto Rico, run by Puerto Ricans.
While the cohorts were in Virginia they learned a lot, but we also had some fun times with them. Donna Gasapo and Luis Oyola of Fireflower Farm hosted some of the cohort staying at their farm, and they organized nights out in Charlottesville. Some of the folx got to see the Louisa communes, Brenda from LEF organized river trips, Elenor from LEF helped with translating, and Littleflower Catholic Worker organized a few dinners and Karaoke nights.
(Brenda from LEF, Donna and Luis of Fireflower, and one of the cohorts from PR)
(Fireflowers with one of the cohorts)
(Littleflower, Serenity, and LEF members with the first cohort that came to Louisa.)
Ericka from Serenity held two events at Visible Records to support and publicize the work of activists who were part of the cohort, including the work of Tara Rodriguez Besosa, queer farmer and activist who founded El Departamento de la Comida. Tara was essential to finding people from Puerto Rico interested and available to travel to Louisa. Ericka met them through Amy Rose of Virginia Free Farm.
After the Summer 2022 training program was over, Debbie and Ericka began to plan a trip to Puerto Rico to see the sites that are going to have solar systems installed. Then, another devastating hurricane hit Puerto Rico in September 2022, Hurricane Fiona. They started to question if the time was right to travel to Puerto Rico, what kind of support the cohorts needed, if they were going to be able to get around the island, and if they would be using valuable resources – like gas and water – that Puerto Ricans desperately needed. After talking with many people that came to Louisa from Puerto Rico, Debbie and Ericka decided to push their trip back a month. The electricity situation was even more unreliable and unstable now, and people from the cohorts expressed that there was scarcity of water and gas and that we should wait until they were more readily available. When the scarcity dissipated, the cohorts said that we should come because the technology LEF is bringing is needed now more than ever. Some people are still without reliable electricity and because of climate change, there are sure to be more storms in future years that will knock out the electricity yet again. So in Mid-November, Debbie, Ericka, and Debbie’s Spanish-speaking uncle John traveled to Puerto Rico to start the task of evaluating the sites that wanted solar installations.
(Debbie and Ericka on the plane. Debbie hadn’t flown in 18 years before this trip!)
The first site we visited was Darshan Elena Campos’ projects- their home in a public housing complex where they want to be as off grid as possible, and Somos Semillas Antillanas – a proposed safe house for trans youth in Cabo Rojo. Homophobia is prevalent in Puerto Rico, as it is still prevalent in many places, with trans people, especially youth, being discriminated against the most. Elena’s safehouse is much needed for the trans youth in Puerto Rico! Elena traveled with Debbie and Ericka for much of their trip across Puerto Rico, helping with translating and driving. Elena is also very passionate about identifying and teaching about native plants and trees, and has started several gardens in their housing complex.
(Darshan Elena Campos, PHD)
(Somos Semillas Antillanas in Cabo Rojo, proposed safehouse for trans youth)
(Ericka and Elena in front of one of her gardens)
The next project we visited was artist and activist Licy Rodriguez’s Proyecto Arawako in Lajas. Licy is in the early stages of transforming 18 acres of land that she owns into a food forest and cultural center that helps Boriken people reconnect to their Arawak and Taino roots. She is an incredible artist who works towards decolonization, food and seed sovereignty, and Indigenous land access. She isn’t quite ready for a solar set up, as the project needs help clearing land and building their first structure on the land.
(Proyect Arawako artists and farmers Guaribo and Licy)
In a town called Arroyo, we visited one of the few Black Boriken farm owners in Puerto Rico, Miguel and his wife Dinorah. They are coconut farmers that need a new solar water pump and solar refrigeration. Tara Rodriguez Besosa and Millo from El Departamento de la Comida met us there. El Depa has set up a mentorship program for elder farmers in Puerto Rico, and Millo works with Miguel and Dinorah to get them help on their farm. Elena and Ericka cooked a lovely vegetarian meal for them as Debbie evaluated what type of systems they would need.
(Farmer Miguel in his workshop)
Puerto Rico has closed 100’s of schools since hurricane Maria hit, and people are reclaiming them and turning them into community centers that provide desperately needed services to the people. One of the reclaimed schools we visited was in Adjuntas and was retaken by a group called Centro Paz Para Ti. At Centro Paz, we met Alana Feldman Soler, who is director of the project. They are a feminist group that provides free water and a place to charge phones when the electricity is out. They are a center for women’s projects and offers educational services, works to eradicate economic dependence and geographic isolation of women who have experienced domestic violence, gender violence, and sexual assault. They offer resources and tools for women to help protect themselves if faced with domestic violence or gender-based violence. The services the center provides promote self-management and empowerment for women who live in rural areas.
(The sign at the front of El Centro Paz Para Ti reads “El Machismo Mata”, which translates to Death to Machismo. Machismo is a Spanish term that means toxic, forceful male behavior.)
(Members of Centro Paz Para Ti w/ Elena, Ericka, Millo, Debbie and Tara)
(Rainwater catchment hand washing station at Centro Paz Para Ti)
We visited several reclaimed schools, the next being Tara Rodriguez Besosa’s project, El Departamento de la Comida, or the Department of Food. El Depa is a non-profit collective that acts as an alternative agency in support of small-scale, decentralized, local food projects and farms. They have a resource library with tools, seeds, books, educational materials, and a kitchen with product-making equipment. While we were there we met with Vidal Carrion, a local business owner who came to Virginia as part of the cohorts, and Tito Kayak. El Depa members prepared a delicious vegetarian lunch for us, and we got to visit Tara’s personal farm, which is just down the road from El Depa.
(Tool library@ El Departamento de la Comida)
(Tara Rodriguez Besosa on their farm)
(Vidal Carrion and the hot water heater he built out of an abandoned refrigerator)
(Tara, Ericka, Millo, Debbie, Vidal, Tito, and Elena)
One of the larger reclaimed schools we visited was Fundación Bucarabón in a very remote area called Maricao. They offer education and services to farmers and women in Maricao and surrounding areas. We had to drive some pretty treacherous, flooded roads to get there. Activist Jacqueline Perez started this project by scaling the fence in front of the closed Francisco Vincenty Second Unit School in the Bucarabones neighborhood, and setting up services for people without asking anyone for permission. A few years later, they now have a lease from the Puerto Rican government on the school, help from Americorp volunteers, 2 donated AC solar systems, a thrift store where locals can get clothing and shoes, and have grand plans for a daycare center, a hostel where volunteers can stay when they are working on a project at the school, and more. The Fundación Bucarabón volunteers deliver prepared food made in their industrial kitchen to people in the area who are food insecure.
(Elena, Debbie, Fundación Bucarabón founder Jacqueline Perez, and Ericka)
(Fundación Bucarabón thrift store that sell items for $1 or $2)
(Fundación Bucarabón kitchen, where hot meals are prepared 3-4 days a week and delivered to food insecure locals)
The AC solar setup at Fundación Bucarabón is a top of the line system, with very high quality batteries. Mostly this works for their needs, but they are already experiencing difficulties running their heavy loads on the system, including their pump and refrigerators. This is due to the inherent inefficiencies in converting solar power to AC for use in appliances engineered to run on grid power. LEF is working with Fundación Bucarabón to convert these heavy loads to high-quality DC appliances that will have much more reliable performance.
Fundación Bucarabón also recognizes that the solar system they have, which cost many tens of thousands of dollars, is not affordable for the majority of the community that they serve in Maricao. They are interested in setting up a demonstration of lower cost DC systems for residential use, and possibly serving as a distribution site for these systems in the future.
(Debbie taking a moment to enjoy the beauty of Boriken)
Another excellent connection we made was with Zenaida Cortes. Zenaida is the president of the community association that manages a recreational center at Señorial park in Cupey, a suburb of San Juan. The park is shared by three adjacent neighborhoods. In the months after hurricane Maria, when the area had no power, the community center was set up with a kitchen running on gas, so food could be prepared by volunteers and distributed throughout the neighborhoods. In the years following Maria, public funding was slashed, and park maintenance was neglected.
But now, Señorial Park is undergoing a revitalization. A number of dedicated volunteers and organizers from the community have taken on its care and maintenance, cleaning and repairing the center, and planting trees around the park. One of these volunteers is Aidelise Darin, whose son, Epic, attended the training at LEF in the summer. (It was Epic who suggested we reach out to Aidelise and Zenaida).
Zenaida uses the center to organize fundraising events to support neighbors with medical expenses. The center is also used for a youth program in the summer. Zenaida is very interested in expanding the potential for the center to be a resource for the community during times of crisis and natural disasters. She is interested in setting up a solar refrigerator, so community members can store food and medications when the power goes out. She is also interested in a community charging station for phones and other electronics.
(Zenaida Cortes and Elena at Señorial Park)
(Elena, Zenaida, Aidelise, and Debbie)
Living Energy Farm will return to Puerto Rico in January 2023 to install DC solar systems at the project sites that were visited this month. Many of these projects and people are suffering from economic turmoil and can not afford the equipment LEF wants to install for them. Serenity Solidarity has pledged $1000 towards supporting Miguel and Dinorah’s solar system, and LEF is also helping to raise funds for these very important projects. LEF has raised enough to pay the thousands of dollars in shipping costs required to send the equipment to Puerto Rico. As you gather with your communities and families this holiday season, please consider donating funds to LEF to help make these projects energy independent. Let’s not just talk about racial equity and reparations – let’s push the movement forward!
The Twin Oaks Community makes hammocks. This is their specially designed hammock or as they say, “The Twin Seats Butterfly Hammock is a patented new type of hammock, innovatively designed for 2 users to sit or recline at varying degrees, with feet either on the ground or up in the hammock, all with good back support and angled toward each other for easy conversation.” I like what they say in the video about being a worker owned cooperative that is building a hammock to forge friendships.
Income-sharing communities have a long and rich history in the communities movement. From tribal life, to the early days of nuns and monks living together and sharing one home in a convent or monastery, to Oneida community in the 1800’s (the original makers of today’s Oneida silverware), our roots are deep.
The Oneida Community in the mid nineteenth century
Current income-sharing groups may vary widely in their lifestyles and values, but all share a central economic practice. Some groups live a spiritual life focusing on the word of God. Others define themselves as secular and focus on aspects of shared decision-making and ecological sustainability.
An income-sharing community is an economic unit unto itself. Income produced by members, either in a community-owned business or outside work, goes directly to the community. In exchange, the community provides for all the basic needs of its members, including housing, food, health care, etc. (Individual groups may define “basic” needs somewhat differently) There is also collective ownership of community resources, such as land, buildings, vehicles, etc. In many cases, neither money nor particular skills are required to join; simply a willingness to wholeheartedly join the community in it´s purpose is sufficient. This opens membership to a wide range of people.
One of the most attractive features of this type of living is the interdependence and the level of engagement we share with each other. There is a high level of involvement in each other’s day-to-day lives. Our co-workers are our extended family, and we come to know each other holistically. Members also have access to a variety of resources they might not otherwise have. For example, the community may provide a professional-quality wood-working shop for member use, or an outdoor hot tub, or free yoga classes by a skilled member.
The Oneida Building at Twin Oaks
“Great! Sign me up!” you say. What else does it mean to live in this type of community? Living so interdependently often means members need to posses fairly well developed social skills. The ability to cooperate with others, to keep agreements, and to resolve difficult interpersonal situations can go a long way in dealing with the conflicts that naturally arise out of such close living. A flexible attitude can help members respond to living with less personal financial autonomy than they may be used to. Most people who live with their own income are used to making decisions themselves about what quality of housing to live in, what style of car to drive, what type of food to buy, and how much to spend on favorite leisure activities. It can be challenging to make the same decisions with a group of people whose tastes, values and class backgrounds may be radically different from one’s own.
Income-sharing is definitely on one end of the spectrum of what it means to live communally. This type of community has never been a majority in the communities movement, and yet we have always been a strong presence. Much of this is due to our ability to focus resources, which in turn makes more time available to members who do networking and organizing.
Income-sharing is not for everyone, but those who choose to live this life find it a source of endless riches. It is a life full of unity and diversity, struggle and growth, and ultimately, deep community.
This week’s Facebook wrap up features a variety of posts from several different communities–but they all did pretty well.
Twin Oaks posted this picture of a panel in their kitchen.
For a simple picture of kitchen equipment, this did very, very well.
Glomus Commune makes most of its money through East Brook Community Farm which makes most of its money selling food–especially garlic–at Farmers Markets.
This also did very well.
Although Acorn Community makes their money selling seeds, they also encourage folks to save seeds.
In June of 2020, as the pandemic was raging away, I wrote a long post on Facebook which got over five hundred views and had 31 comments (admittedly, several were from me) about “Communes and Tribal Society”. I reprinted the post and most of the comments on this blog in August.
It’s a question that I’ve struggled with for a while. If humans are a tribal species, why do so many of us live (and feel we want to or need to) individually? In my post last week (which did horribly on Facebook, by the way), I began by mentioning I know several former community folks that now live by themselves.
My belief is that the reason for the paradox of humans being tribal and many current folks wanting or needing to live individually is that we have inherited a culture that glorifies individualism. I think that Theresa said it the best in her comment on my “Tribal” post: “It’s easy to think about individualism like it’s an individuals [sic] problem to fix,” she wrote, “like some personality defect, when actually it’s a defect of history.” Our society, capitalism, patriarchy, and white supremacy, have all worked to break those tribal bonds. Our history has gone slowly from tribes to extended families to nuclear families. Many, many folks I know have been raised as only children and love the idea of living collectively but have trouble dealing with the unfamiliar realities of close day to day living with people.
This makes the reality of creating communal living situations quite difficult. It has almost always been easy for me, but I was raised with four siblings all of which I mostly got along with (and, yes, sibling rivalry and having to learn to live and share with one another are real and difficult). I still enjoy my time with my siblings and we all get along pretty well. But I know that I’m an exception. Folks I know who did grow up with siblings often were hurt by them and may want nothing to do with them now. Abuse and trauma further alienates people from living together.
So how do we create a culture that supports community and sharing and connection? I’m watching folks crying out for this while I’m also watching communities collapsing. (I love this video that someone shared with me about how community can dismantle patriarchy/capitalism/the system.)
As I pointed out in my last post, this is not going to be easy. We are fighting an upstream battle. This culture encourages individualism and discourages sharing. We were taught we needed to make it on our own, and so were our parents, and their parents.
This society does not want communalism to succeed. The only way that we are going to be able to create a communal culture is to build community after community and when they collapse do it again. And again. And again. To reach out and join with those who crave community and work through all the hard stuff and create models for how we can live together and share more.
It’s what I am currently doing and it’s difficult much of the time to keep going when person after person expresses interest and then wanders off, partly, I suspect, because they begin to realize how difficult it’s going to be and partly because they get distracted by some other interesting thing that they decide to pursue.
Given how much is stacked against creating community, I’m not sure at all I will succeed, but I know that if I don’t try, it seems obvious to me that it won’t happen.
In the meantime, I would just like to ask everyone who is reading this to think about how you could share even a little more and create a little more community in your life. The only way we are going to create a communal culture is if lots of people keep moving in that direction. So while I know that many people want connection and community, it really isn’t going to happen unless we reach out and work together.
After my faux pas naming the Small Living Groups in Kaweah last month, I was surprised that Twin Oaks posted another random picture of Kaweah, but I took the opportunity to show I had learned from my mistake.
For some reason, this did very well.
East Wind has been posting a lot of harvest pictures lately (probably because it’s fall and they are doing a lot of harvesting). This time they posted a bunch of pix of their cabbage harvest.
commune life 