Sixties Chick

A couple of weeks ago I saw Brad Pitt interviewed by Larry King. When asked what had sold him on doing his latest movie, he talked about his friendship with both the writer and the director and then added, “As I get older, it’s more about the company I keep. Who I spend my time with becomes much more important than anything else.”

Me too, Brad. That’s why the next phase of my life will be spent living in a commune. (At this moment, readers roll eyes and wonder aloud, “How could she still be such a hippie in 2009, and what kind of communist is she anyway?”) Yes, a commune.

And there is no arguing with me about this one. To my way of thinking, it solves a whole lot of problems – the lack of time, the lack of money, the lack of human interaction. The lack of community. It provides the perfect solution to childcare, elder care and pet care, not to mention ridiculously high utility bills. Sharing resources, living within a group of wonderful people could make life easier, could make the pesky job of staying alive much less cumbersome. Certainly much more enjoyable.

So here’s the vision. Some land in a beautiful place. A main house or lodge along the lines of the Iroquois or Algonquin long house only not necessarily in that shape and not made of elm bark. This is the communal space for cooking, eating, music jams, sing-a-longs, film nights, discussions and dance nights.

For those already nervous about their privacy and their needed alone time, there will be yurt-like structures surrounding the lodge just for that. They will be beautifully simple, low maintenance structures made from materials still to be determined. Not to worry, though, we will forgo the traditional felt covering made from the wool of the sheep of the Central Asian Steppes. Compact and cozy, these yurts will be big enough for cooking, eating, sleeping, bathing, working and lounging.

Imagine this. Each of us in this happy group is doing what it is he or she likes to do. The ones who like to go out into the world and make money still get to do that. The ones who like to take care of the kids get to help out the ones who are the parents. Those who love to play in the garden get to provide the food. Those who love to cook will get to nourish us all. The old ones who like to sit around and tell stories will have ready listeners. The chores, the stuff no one likes to do will be shared. So will the sadness, so will the laughter. And someone will always be up for a hand or two of poker, or scrabble or dominoes or a walk or a talk.

This notion of mine is nothing new, hardly radical. There have been intentional communities right here in the United States as far back as 1804, way before my coming of age in the ‘back-to-the-land’ movement of the 1960s. Whether founded for political, egalitarian, alternative family, mystical or religious principals – communes seem to make sense to a lot of people. For me, just like for Brad Pitt, it’s all about the company I keep.

Right now, I don’t have the land, the funds, the fellow commune-ists. The “how” completely escapes me. I only have the vision. But I’ve lived long enough to know, it always starts with the vision.

This entry was posted on January 11, 2009 at 5:53 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.