Today is the first day of my nearly 7
week trip that I feel depleted and tired. I've spent the past 7 days
as a guest in two different states surrounded by beauty and loving
hosts and welcoming friends but the introvert in me is like an
electric car that needs to be re-charged. So, for tonight, I found
an RV park near Benton, TN on a river. It's hot but the a/c is
working and I thought I'd take some time to add to my blog. I'm
hoping the evening air cools off so I can sit out and read “How
Yoga Works” on the river bank. Robin and Mark gave it to me to
read when they heard of my interest in getting back into yoga and
given Robin's background as an Iyengar yoga instructor. It's been a
great read so far as it talks more about the philosophy behind yoga
than the physiology.
Last Thursday, I left Mark and Robin in
Highlands, NC and drove 2 hours through the mountains to Blue Ridge,
GA—a place I've vacationed a number of times. I even thought about
buying a second home there because it is so easy to make a direct
flight from Houston to Atlanta and drive the 90 minutes to the
mountains of NW GA.
So, when I dined with Ken and Tina last
weekend at the Restorative Circles workshop at Earthaven and told
them I was looking for a place that offered four seasons, they both
recommended that I visit their communities—Earthsong in Athens, GA
and Heartwood in Blue Ridge, GA. It turns out that Heartwood was
hosting a festival called Dancing Tree over the weekend so I thought
it would be a good time to visit and get a feel for that community.
Ken Banwart started the Heartwood
community about 5 years ago with another like minded, wealthy
entrepreneur. He bought a house up on the mountain and refurbished it
to his liking. His co-conspiritor—Bill decided to build his home
from scratch and plans to have it finished by October. One of the
“community” authors whose work I read said you need money to
start a community and it appears they are both the financiers of the
community that's being started there. Ken's home is full of
creativity and intimate spaces and it's obvious that he built it to
be shared by others. He graciously offered me a place to stay while
I was there. In addition, his lovely and talented daughter, Magan,
flew in from NYC to collaborate with her father on a work related
project. Tina drove over from Athens (her and Ken are dating) for
the weekend and brought two Earthsong community members Baxter and
Laura to join the fun at Ken's home. We visited and participated in
yoga and community meals and listened to live music---the
instrumental kind and the kind of music that critters make around
Ken's house—croaking toads and confused roosters and chickens.
Before all the other guests arrived on
Friday, I had the opportunity to hang out with Ken and his close
friend Julian for their regular Thursday get together where they work
on the latest creative project around Ken's house, harvest fresh
vegetables from Ken's garden and Julian prepares a sumptuous, meal
with the booty from the garden.
Julian is an accomplished painter and
poet and lives nearby in a home with electricity but no running
water. Ken gave me a copy of the book of poetry that Julian wrote.
Together they plan to turn a selection of poems into a theatrical
production. Magan arrived around 9pm from the airport in Atlanta and
I enjoyed getting to know her and appreciated hearing about the great
adventures that her and her dad had shared together. All of my new
friends were warm and welcoming and generous with their thoughts and
talents and hospitality.
Heartwood represented a departure from
the type of community that I thought I wanted to visit as they are
newly forming. However, Ken inspired me to visit when he said it's
the kind of place that new members could have a hand in co-creating.
They're especially interested in offering retreats there and with my
training and development background, that piqued my curiosity.
While Ken and Bill's homes are quite
spacious and thoughtfully crafted with communal gatherings in mind, I
didn't get to see where the other few in the community lived. I did
see some of the common structures like the outdoor stage down by
Burdine Pond and the outdoor yoga platform, the gardens, and outdoor
workshop. It was inspiring to see two men like Ken and Bill heavily
invested in nurturing and growing a community with like minded people
interested in healthy living and collaboration in the beautiful Blue
Ridge Mountains.
Heartwood was my 7th
community to visit to date. All of them have offered features that I
like. For example, gracious hosts willing to open their homes and
hearts and to share their experiences with me. Beautiful locations
in the mountains. Cool, crisp weather with water views. An affinity
to outreach and retreats and workshops that would allow me to
contribute my experience and talents. Twin Oaks offered the
opportunity to blend work and living like no other community I'd yet
seen with their income sharing model but I'd have to spend more time
there to truly understand how it works in reality. They do have a 3
week visitor program and a conference there in the fall so I might
participate in one or both of those to get a better feel.
So far, I'm so thankful to have met
such creative, open, gracious and kind people who enjoy sharing their
lives and journeys with me. It's been enriching and empowering to
see what's possible.
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