Just what it sounds like: A community, ie a group of people who (more importantly, to my mind) regularly interact and (less importantly) have a set of shared values, that has deliberately assembled to create that community (rather than unintentionally, as two families who move in next to one another and strike up a friendship), and that live together. Such communities often espouse beliefs or causes.
So, this includes monasteries, sororities and fraternities, collectives, communes, and, if you want to push it, a set of friends moving in to an apartment because they enjoy one another’s company and want to spend more time together. If you really wanted to push it, I suppose you could consider a marriage an ilc, but the kids definitely don’t fit the intentional part, should there be any, and a couple is a pretty damn small community.
There are all sorts of intentional communities out there, and Ro got me interested in the topic in general. He’s been talking about interviewing a monastery in the berkeley area to see how they do their stuff. I’ve been reluctant, because, well, catholic monastery. Ugh.
But at
I also ran into this group on gay.com that is a foursome, and a self-described protective collective. I grilled the chatter a bit on how it is they do what they do. The original couple started in 93, added a third in 97, and their most recent member in 01. A poly setup with some longevity. That’s pretty impressive.
Another one that I’d really like to check out is called “Stone Soup”, in chicago. They’re a group of activists that bought a convent and remodeled it, or something like that. What distinguishes them most in my mind is that they are spawning into a Stone Soup II. Most of these intentional community setups, and especially intentional living communities, are setup without any plan for propogation. They are, in essence, mules. Really cool mules, but mules are still not a self-perpetuating group. Kinda like homos (generally speaking) that way.
That is all.
For over five years I was part of a group called Sacred Lands, in Clinton, MA (www.sacredlands.com) One of the goals we were working toward was an ILC. Unfortunately, IMO the group just spinned its wheels on a lot of things without ever really manifesting anything, so when I moved to Maine, I felt myself pushed out by the group so to speak because I couldn’t make it to meetings every Friday. Now mind you, they were asking me to drive 2+ hours each way and usually a round trip in the same night. Sorry, but a bit excessive and certainly not good for the Universe, so I left.
I find the idea of an ILC fascinating and I am aware of many models in Massachusetts, but none in Maine, though the idea is very big in Maine, we are a “green” state if you will. Perhaps one day I will reconsider Sacred Lands if they get their stuff together.