Starting from Scratch #7

by Raven

7: The Reboot

I’ve said it, Diana Leafe Christian has implied it, and most people assume it’s true. There are two approaches to being in community: join one or start one–but, of course, that’s not exactly true.  Life tends to not really be binary and while these are the two most common possibilities, there is at least another alternative and probably more–these are just not as common.  The one that I want to look at here is the one that I find myself facing now.  Although I thought that I would be starting from scratch this time (hence the title of this series) unless I found an ongoing community that I didn’t know of, it now seems that I may be doing something more unusual, helping with a reboot.

Communities usually evolve (the Twin Oaks of today is a bit different from when it started but the changes were gradual), or don’t (which often leads to the community becoming stagnant or stale) or they fall apart/dissolve/die, which is unfortunately quite common.  Once in a while a community rapidly transforms (like The Farm did with its “Changeover”) or almost falls apart and needs to start over.  I refer to those situations as reboots.

As I mentioned in my last “Starting from Scratch” post, I am currently in dialogue with some people who live in a place with “three folks and land and a house”.  They have also had two previous attempts at community building.  If I join them, I would be part of their third attempt.  I won’t say any more about this particular situation here because we are still in the exploration phase.  If all goes well, I will write more about this community on this blog soon.

What I want to look at now is the pros and cons of dealing with a reboot situation rather than really starting from scratch.  While these are not common, I’m dealing with a reboot and I suspect others might also find themselves dealing with one at some point.

PROS

• You already have land, buildings, and even some people, all of which can be hard to find.
• You probably already have some communal structures from the previous community attempt (policies, maybe, member processes, maybe, experience in living together).
• There are lessons that can be learned from what happened before–you can collectively look at the things that worked and the things that didn’t and try to figure out how to do it better this time.

CONS

• History can also be difficult–there may be a good deal of discouragement from trying to build community and having it not work out.
• Because you’re not starting from scratch, you’ve got to deal with communal structures that are already in place and you (collectively) may not agree with what to keep and what to let go of.
• There’s also something exciting about having a blank slate to start with versus having to start with the two things referenced above–discouragement and disagreement–which is what you’ve got if you’re dealing with a reboot..

Of course, each situation is different and what the particulars are will make a difference in whether it makes sense to pursue the reboot or not.  I will let you know in future posts how this one works out.