What a wonderful dream come true! How absolutely fabulous this dream has come true! So very happy for all of you. If I had nine friends to do this with I’d do it in a heartbeat but then again I’m a baby boomer and we just don’t dream that way I guess. Lovely to live it vicariously through you though. Special indeed!
Rae, I think that's one of the best things I've read. I've been involved with groups of people who have accomplished a lot and then drifted apart. Still we have our memories.
I have three major dreams: 1. Publish (to great acclaim) the novels I've been working on my whole life. 2. Own a major league baseball team (will never happen unless I win at least 2 huge lotteries lol). 3. Own a radio station, or at least start podcasting (it's possible - never say never).
I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and now I live in Midtown Atlanta. I miss the woods. I credit all of my wild and expansive creative leanings to the woods and to my my mother. I've longed for exactly what you describe in this story for most of my life. A creative, loving community with a place to gather and be outside and AWAY. Who knows, the way my life has so radically changed of late, maybe I will yet, have the chance to experience something like this. Thanks for sharing the story.
The woods really do have some special magic that changes the energy and just makes me feel....better. I feel like one of the keys to making stuff like this happen is just getting serious about the intention and starting to talk about it with people around you. Sounds like you are doing that and I'm rooting for you!
My success: traveling to Australia for two weeks (which was not nearly long enough). From finding an impossibly cheap ticket to getting a tourist visa with almost no effort, everything came together. I traded a Monday for two Thursdays (thank you International Date Line!) and enjoyed nearly every minute. Might have to share the full story sometime... *adds thought to list of topics for future missives*
Pioneering community as humanity seems poised at the edge of the abyss is beautiful and inspiring. I wonder about the kids you nurture at PADDY'S, but that's another story I hope you write about some day.
Lovely words. It's all a huge experiment! To me it seems like a wonderful environment for kids, but we'll see. I'm fully expecting some of the kids to hate it and rebel and develop a taste for luxury hotels 😂
This is just amazing. I love stories like this so much. My husband and I had this big dream to go in on a “family camp” type property with his siblings when unexpectedly, doors opened for us to buy a 23 acre avocado ranch on our own. His parents live there now, and we have plans to put in a “party pool,” haha, and airstreams, auto camp style.
A group of friends and I have had this dream for 25 years and are *this close*… Can you provide resources for the legal side of the maintenance agreements and purchases? The internet is 98.7% filled with “don’t do it” and not “how to do it wisely”.
This is so beautiful. The story actually really surprised me, in a good way. I thought it was going to go in the direction that you had found some semblance of living the dream between work, career, parenting, and passion projects. I.e., all the “big things” in life or at least the areas we spend most of our time had achieved dream status . But this piece is actually a reminder to me that maybe not all of the big things need to be so idyllic for one to also comprehensively live a dream in this life. What a gift of a reminder. And seriously, kudos to you all for pulling this off. You deserve all the joy that the space and land brings.
Reading this and confessing to just a twinge of jealousy; less for the place itself and more for the fact that there were nine of you who found each other and loved each other enough to commit to this kind of togetherness. So beautiful.
This is a wonderful win and celebration of our humanity when we come together in community! Yay you!! May it be so for many years!
Here's to hoping! So far so good. Thank you for the well wishes :)
If I were to have a dream, it would be to move to a cozy little cottage by the sea and sand. 💙😇
What a wonderful dream come true! How absolutely fabulous this dream has come true! So very happy for all of you. If I had nine friends to do this with I’d do it in a heartbeat but then again I’m a baby boomer and we just don’t dream that way I guess. Lovely to live it vicariously through you though. Special indeed!
<3 Thanks for all the lovely words! I guess your generation set up my generation to do such things
It certainly looks that way and we were happy to do it! 😊
We boomers had a different way of doing things...hence the ashram, and chicken statues.
Yes, we must have been in some ways inspired by the communal living efforts of the 60's
Rae, I think that's one of the best things I've read. I've been involved with groups of people who have accomplished a lot and then drifted apart. Still we have our memories.
I have three major dreams: 1. Publish (to great acclaim) the novels I've been working on my whole life. 2. Own a major league baseball team (will never happen unless I win at least 2 huge lotteries lol). 3. Own a radio station, or at least start podcasting (it's possible - never say never).
I love that even the communities that have drifted apart are still an important part of your memories and, I assume, who you are!
Lol major league baseball team...not my particular dream but I love that 😂
I grew up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and now I live in Midtown Atlanta. I miss the woods. I credit all of my wild and expansive creative leanings to the woods and to my my mother. I've longed for exactly what you describe in this story for most of my life. A creative, loving community with a place to gather and be outside and AWAY. Who knows, the way my life has so radically changed of late, maybe I will yet, have the chance to experience something like this. Thanks for sharing the story.
The woods really do have some special magic that changes the energy and just makes me feel....better. I feel like one of the keys to making stuff like this happen is just getting serious about the intention and starting to talk about it with people around you. Sounds like you are doing that and I'm rooting for you!
Reading this has made me smile ear to ear! Sharing this post with friends.
If I can make one person smile ear to ear then my work here is done! :)
What a push to dream!!!!!!
Doooo ittttt!
My success: traveling to Australia for two weeks (which was not nearly long enough). From finding an impossibly cheap ticket to getting a tourist visa with almost no effort, everything came together. I traded a Monday for two Thursdays (thank you International Date Line!) and enjoyed nearly every minute. Might have to share the full story sometime... *adds thought to list of topics for future missives*
Sounds like an amazing trip!
Incredible! I need to re read this I’m just in awe!
Yay! It's possible!
This sounds amazing! 😍
So warm and cozy. Thank you so much for sharing!!
Definitely warm and cozy, and also sometimes cold and rainy and a lot of work, but always worth it.
Pioneering community as humanity seems poised at the edge of the abyss is beautiful and inspiring. I wonder about the kids you nurture at PADDY'S, but that's another story I hope you write about some day.
Lovely words. It's all a huge experiment! To me it seems like a wonderful environment for kids, but we'll see. I'm fully expecting some of the kids to hate it and rebel and develop a taste for luxury hotels 😂
A possible outcome, but don't count on it. Allow for surprises as the mysteries unfold.
This is just amazing. I love stories like this so much. My husband and I had this big dream to go in on a “family camp” type property with his siblings when unexpectedly, doors opened for us to buy a 23 acre avocado ranch on our own. His parents live there now, and we have plans to put in a “party pool,” haha, and airstreams, auto camp style.
Woohoo you're doing it!! Amazing! Also, the fact that it's an avocado ranch is...dreamy. Can we say guacamole for life?
Excited for you to start building it into a community space for the family!
A group of friends and I have had this dream for 25 years and are *this close*… Can you provide resources for the legal side of the maintenance agreements and purchases? The internet is 98.7% filled with “don’t do it” and not “how to do it wisely”.
This is so beautiful. The story actually really surprised me, in a good way. I thought it was going to go in the direction that you had found some semblance of living the dream between work, career, parenting, and passion projects. I.e., all the “big things” in life or at least the areas we spend most of our time had achieved dream status . But this piece is actually a reminder to me that maybe not all of the big things need to be so idyllic for one to also comprehensively live a dream in this life. What a gift of a reminder. And seriously, kudos to you all for pulling this off. You deserve all the joy that the space and land brings.
Reading this and confessing to just a twinge of jealousy; less for the place itself and more for the fact that there were nine of you who found each other and loved each other enough to commit to this kind of togetherness. So beautiful.
This is so cool. I’ve been reading the newsletter supernuclear to get Inspo 🌲