Jessica started a thread the other day about “Our Desired Way Of Life” that really got me considering this issue even more than I usually do (which is saying a lot because this is a topic that occupies much of my thought.) One of the things it caused me to realize is just how alone I feel. I’m betting a fair number of people on this site feel the same way. Yes, I have friends and family, but in my case none, not a single one, shares my enthusiasm (zeal you might even say) for rewilding and bringing down civilization (two concepts which I feel are distinct yet intertwined.) And that is why I feel alone because I feel that I know no one who I feel I could trust with my life. To me a real community would include at least a few people I would know I could trust with my life, and they could trust me with theirs. And, to be honest, I feel that in today’s civilized world, with the intense distrust and hatred of the wild and natural as prevalent as it is, we could all use at least a few friends we trust with our lives. This site is about the closest thing I’ve got to that these days. As the insanity of domestication and civilization grows (or maybe just my awareness of it) seemingly daily, this site has been a much needed reality check. Your words and your virtual friendships have meant surprisingly much to me. Even though I haven’t posted much myself, I’ve been reading the posts daily for months.
Here’s the thing. In contemplating my desired way of life, I realized that I feel alone, cut off from real friends and community. But what am I going to do about it? I’m wondering, are there others who feel the same way as me who are hoping and waiting to meet others to form a real world community? Note that I’m not saying that I am wanting to abandon this virtual community. Rather, I’m just wondering if this virtual community might be a place where some of us can meet to form community in the real world as well, in addition.
In many ways I live a blessed life. Gratefully I have the ability to make changes such as relocating. Are there others who are similarly willing and able to take real steps to form community where you know you have people around you who you can trust with your life? Here’s what I want. I want to live simply and as primitively as possible, I want to have community of like-minded people to do this with (note that community could be just a few people, at least to start,) and I want to have people (or at least one person) who I can trust with my life, people I can collaborate with to actively defend the wild, to actively halt the destruction of civilization, to halt its encroachment on the wild.
I recall a thread from a few weeks ago where Urban Scout made a comment about people who visit this site and make comments to the effect of “while you are all talking the talk I’m going to go walk the walk.” Urban Scout didn’t seem to have a favorable opinion of those comments. I know I run the risk of sounding like one of those people with this thread. That really isn’t my intent, though. I want to be clear. What I’m saying is not that I want to abandon my virtual community because I think I can do better. I’d just like to know if there are others in this virtual community who, like me, would like to form a real-world community as well.
I’d also like to recognize the efforts of Incendiary Dan for his community-building efforts in the New England area. I hope that those events continue, and I’m looking forward to some of the outdoors events/hikes/etc. What this thread is about, though, is to find out if there are others who want to join together in forging a community outside of the constructs of civilization.
I have no idea what sorts of responses I’ll get to this, nor do I know if anyone will respond. The only other thing I’ll say is that I’m quite serious and willing. And, I’m certainly not going to project any sort of artificial timeline or requirements on how this community might evolve. I don’t know where it might be or who it might be or any of that. And, please feel free to reply to this thread in any way you want. You can reply directly to what I’ve said, or you can advertise your own community building efforts or plans. Makes no difference to me. I’d really just like to get a conversation started about this. I feel that surely I can’t be the only one feeling this way.