Bok Choy

This blog technology is new to me (Kareen) and I have relied on Erin's articulate and thorough nature to give you an update of our travels thus far. However, I figured I should make my debut as this is a joint tour.

Not to be fatalistic but the world does seem to be unraveling, slowly but surely. As a society, we seem to have lost our hold on what is true and meaningful and the need for alternatives is pressing. I think my journey in this direction started with a course that I took on Gandhi and Globalization in India a couple years ago which led me to apprentice in organic gardening/natural building at Sirius Community (which is mentioned in postings below) and has now pushed me into exploring intentional communities more thoroughly.

But let's get back to "Bok Choy" - that's the name of one of the community members here at the Twin Oaks Community. I've also met Apple, Cherry, Cayenne, Pele and heard about Sky, River, Turnip and Sea-Cow (he wanted to be called Manatee but couldn't stand the thought of having 'man' in his name) - these are not peoples' real names of course, just what seems like identities that individuals have taken on that unfortunately, in my judgemental opinion, completely fulfill the stereotype of hippies living on a commune. To be fair, being at Twin Oaks is like being in another world, an alternative society that could necessitate a reinvention of who you are, a sloughing off of old habits. It's just hard for me to take it seriously when you've assumed the identity of a Chinese vegetable that I happened to dislike as a child (sorry mama).

So I am contemplating a whimsical move to 'Quinoa' as my community name and Erin is thinking of assuming the name 'Echinacea', both of which resonate quite nicely....if you can't taste my sarcasm, you don't know me that well...

Of course, most people in this 100-member community have opted to keep their boring non-fruit/vegetable/spice names and identity shifts aren't the main focus of community life.