Vision With Me

By Dave Bonta, a co-founder of Rah Rah Village

August 8, 2024

Visioning: Imagining the World you want when you wake up tomorrow.

For the last 5 weeks or so I have been involved with three separate events that are exploring intentional community.

One is a study group examining the book "Everyday Utopia" by Kristen Ghodsee. We meet regularly on Zoom to chat about the book (a little) but more about what kind of steps someone would take to get more aware of and experienced in, understanding and developing intentional community.

Concurrent with that, we here at Rah Rah have also been involved with our own hosting of Eco Village tours, both virtual and in real time. We have hosted individuals, families and even a whole group of 15 "EcoVillage curious" that visited Rah Rah on July 9th.

AND, if that wasn't enough to fill the plate, I also have been zooming with Daniel Greenberg of the f.i.c. on yet another initiative to help create a "Council of Communities". This effort revolves around the idea of how established intentional communities can begin to explore synergy, learning and exchange from each other.

All of these activities are worthwhile and would at first glance seem disparate and disconnected from each other, but I have noticed a theme running through them that is quite fascinating. All three events are heavily engaged in the art of "Visioning". Sometimes we get caught up in wordsmithing in trying to declare our visions, and we are forgetting the simple idea of imagination. In all 3 examples I have mentioned, we're all of us, everyone, engaged in imagining the World that we want to wake up to tomorrow.

Indeed when our facilitator, Nissa, of the EcoGather book study group presents her ideas of the kind of community she is developing, she is inviting other members to share their vision documents.

Likewise, when I led the tour here at Rah Rah I said: "What you will see here today largely hasn't happened yet!" I invited the tour group to "put on their imagination goggles" and join me in envisioning what could be... in a little while. We toured the 28 sites of Rah Rah here that day, and truly, most of them have not been developed out fully yet. But they could be if we can see them long enough to reach them.

The same idea is true with "The Council of Communities"idea. Imagine a time when communities "cross pollinate" with each other, like a green class of diplomats, sharing strength, expertise, experience and bodies. Ben Franklin said nearly 250 years ago, that he could envision a time someday, "Where everywhere I put my foot down, I am in my Country." He was not envisioning an American hegemony, but rather a fully shared globe. The idea of a "Council of Communities" gets us closer to that vision, but here is the point; The VISION is the thing! We don't get the World we want without it.

Napoleon said "Execution is everything!" and that is quite valid, but we don't get to execute anything, no plan at all, if we have not created it first, and you need to have envisioned it in the first place. We need to share our visions about how to make this World more to our liking.

So, yes, everyone -- put on your imagination goggles and vision with me!