Sustainable Tarpon Springs - Imagination and Intention

There really is no limit to what any of us can dream or imagine...which, to my mind logically leads to the conclusion, IF we can imagine or vividly envision anything, it MUST be possible.  (Of course, time travel hasn’t manifested yet, but within the realm of possibilities it seems like we just haven’t touched upon the perspective leading to its manifestation!  And perhaps the limitation is because too few have believed?)  Okay, too esoteric for a Tuesday morning - I agree.

Throughout our lives, Jimmy and I have imagined being part of a Community.  When we first collected our dreams, packed our retired UPS step-van, and headed for the Great Northwest, we were looking for people and a place where we could live by more direct means.  We ended up in a tiny town called Tum Tum (Heartbeat in the Native tongue) - a place so small that you could miss it if you blinked.  Through mystical means, we found a little farm house on three acres in Scott’s Valley to rent for $100 a month, and we inherited twenty-five Australorp chickens and three goats.  Both our boys were born right on that property.  (In a previous blog you saw a picture of the fantastic garden Jimmy grew each summer.)

We ended up connecting to two very opposite types of community models when we first arrived - one, a farm commune with an open marriage (which wasn’t our thing), and the other, a faith community of very loving, charismatic, joyful folks who were immersed in living out Gospel values together.  We gravitated to the latter, and were deeply nurtured by the vision they shared.  It was heartbreaking when economic realities forced us to leave the area, but we were also ready for a new model at that juncture.  Everything happens for a reason, and we ended up heading to Seattle.

Living in the Pacific Northwest, in spite of its noteworthy rainfall, we experienced a ‘community drought’.  We had many friends and acquaintances, but lacked the daily sharing of our lives.  We had connections within the ‘art community’, but we hungered and searched for alignment in the areas we most valued - people living with nature, growing food, and finding a more resilient network of friends.  We also yearned for folks with whom we could truly share a more energetic, global consciousness too.

Feeling our days in suburbia were numbered, about seven years ago we started an active quest exploring intentional community options.  We traveled to The Farm in Tennessee, and then to the Greater Earthship Community in Taos, New Mexico, but neither of us really felt the experiences entirely resonated with us.  Last September, getting very serious about this quest, we took a long road trip, but still didn’t find an affordable place to settle, nor did we meet ‘our people’ which was our highest priority.

Finally, giving up on ‘the intentions our imaginations had created’  - we came to Tarpon Springs because our daughter and her husband bought a house nearby.  Little did we know, it was the beginning of our Universe clicking into place!  Through this humble blog, we have met our own personal ‘harmonic convergence’ - and found other people from our planet!  And now, the intentional community we have only dared to dream about is beginning to manifest!  Inspiration, Imagination, and Intention are all coming together in Tarpon Springs!  Who would have thought?!