Before I regale you with tales of our first organised community experience on this journey – Narara EcoVillage (the focus of my next blog post) – I’d like to mention a couple of things that I was reminded of as soon as this trip began.

First, I have a lot of gratitude for the like-minded people that we have met along the way the past couple of years – and that includes our friends in Adelaide – who regularly show genuine hospitality, goodwill and generosity that has opened my eyes to the many different definitions of “community.” Heidi and I have certainly got some ideas of the kind of community dynamics we’d like to end up with (living proximity, outward focus, creativity, sustainability, simple living), but I am realising that community comes in all shapes and sizes, plus in unexpected places. It’s reassuring meeting pockets of folks who share our values and dream of something similar in their lives, if it isn’t already happening for them.

Our friends, the McPhersons (minus one other daughter/sibling in this pic), who share many of our values and interests and also live life beating to the sound of a different drum.

Campsite living 🙂

Secondly, I am often struggling to be comfortable with the idea that what we’re doing is just part of our life and not some diversion away from “normal life.” Society’s idea of what Australian life should look like has been drummed into my head (like for many people, I suspect) : own/rent a home in suburbia, one or both of you commuting to work each day, bring the kids to this or that, pay your mortgage, holiday once a year with everyone else, fill your home with lots of stuff, etc. This somewhat conformist vision is what gets sort of baked into our heads and we’re guided down these well-greased paths with ease.

With this journey that Heidi and I are on, I need to remind myself that this is my life and that’s a great thing. I don’t need to feel guilty about not having a 9-to-5 existence nor should I even consider this a finite trip. There is just as good of a chance that we could find some awesome community to live with as there is that we’ll come back to Adelaide. I’m sure Heidi would disagree with me on that as she has close ties with some friends there, but I think it’s healthier (and more fun!) to just roll with the experiences we are having and see what life presents us with. Even though I have been living a somewhat unusual lifestyle for awhile now, I am still only just allowing myself to absorb the idea that I am freeeee….liberated to some degree from those self-fabricated confines of mainstream society. I’m also grateful for having the chance to do it as well; this country still allows a level of freedom of choice, plus I’m healthy and capable which I try not to take for granted. And to this end, the type of community I hope to end up in will hopefully make feel these ways every day.

The view from my workplace

On that note, let’s have a look at Narara EcoVillage for a combination of both sides of what I’ve just been discussing here….