The 5 Best Things I've Experienced While Living in an EcoVillage

It truly is difficult to narrow my ecovillage-living experiences down to the five best. However, I have attempted to do just that, painting in broad strokes a picture of the vast array of experiences afforded by living at an ecovillage, even if only for a short period of time. Hopefully, my top five best ecovillage experiences, drawn from my own life, can illuminate the wonderful world of intentional communities, showing the diverse range of activities and benefits of the more natural way of life.

5 - Shoveling Humanure

Humanure is exactly what it sounds like - "human" and "manure" (see "There's Gold in Your Poop"). Properly cured, humanure does not smell nearly as atrocious as one might assume and is, actually, rather mild in odor. Shoveling humanure was a great experience because it involved making use of poop. Most people currently alive have probably not made valuable use of their poop, but I have.

Furthermore, there is something about shoveling shit that allows you to be positive about the experience, especially when doing it with a friend, as I did. Essentially, most all the time, you can claim you've done a worse job than anyone else, theoretically. Although, in practice, shoveling shit was not nearly as loathsome as one might assume.

4 - Building My Own Room

While living at an intentional community, I actually built my own bedroom. I thought about shelving as I was manufacturing my walls from recycled materials, used bamboo to hang clothes on in my closet, created my own personal feng-shui utilizing artistic pieces that would be made by myself and others that would follow and even experimented with natural air conditioning and storage of warmth using thermal mass. It was far from perfect, but there is a distinct feeling about living in a space you personally created - a wonderful feeling. Also, the view was magnificent, as views as intentional communities tend to be.

3 - Full Moon Celebrations and Drum Circles

Full moon celebrations and drum circles go hand in hand. Most full moon celebrations, invariably, included drum circles, whether they were planned or not. Such drum circles were often accompanied by other instruments, but not always. The most extravagant drum circles were during full moon celebrations, but small, spontaneous fire circles could be equally as fun.

For good measure, I might as well throw all celebrations into this grouping, as they all offered something beneficial. Additionally, the diversity of celebrations at an ecovillage or intentional community can be quite vast, as was my experience, which made the experience all the more beneficial.

2 - Acquiring Poison Ivy While Hooking Up in the Woods

It is what is. Like ecovillage life, it is a marriage of the good with the bad. It is two natural aspects of life that perhaps would be better left with paths uncrossed, but that's not always possible. It seems like much of modern society has forgotten that there is bad that comes with the good - convenience has many environmental trade offs. When I lived at an intentional community, poison ivy was always there to remind me that there is bad with the good. Furthermore, it's a fun story to tell.

1 - Taking a Solar Powered Shower

Bathing in a solar powered, outdoor shower - that can be as hot as any other shower - while enjoying nature above and behind the shower is a truly serene experience, that is difficult to match. Beyond the natural setting of the experience, the shower was powered solely by solar energy. Furthermore, many of the items used to create the contraption were recycled and readily available at your average junkyard or garage sale.