[Serzen]

Well I'm in the middle of another existential crisis. I'm really ok, I'm calm and stable (I only feel guilty because I'm sleeping too much but that's because at the moment I'm not studying. I'll retake that next year so I'll be pretty busy in the morning, which I'm really eager to do). Sometimes I'm a bit sad, I think it's because all I'm doing is working (I don't like my job but it's useful for now) and I go running too.

The thing is that I've been thinking a lot that I would like to live a different lyfestyle. I would like to live in an Ecovillage to pursue a more meaningful, richer and healthier way of living. I haven't told anyone I know and I won't do it because most likely they will come up with the typical answers: You're crazy, that's insane, that's stupid, blah blah blah. I don't know, they may be right or they may be wrong. In any case, I won't know for myself until I try that out.

Most probably, I will continue studying Philosophy, which I love, then change my job when I finish with that. If I see I still can't be happy around the city, then I will change my lyfestyle. I think that's better than just going away all of a sudden, but on the other hand that may be the change I need, idk. For the time being I'll just visit some Ecovillages and if possible stay a few days with them whenever I have time so I can experience how they live.

If anyone has experience with this I would be glad to hear them. I want to hear other opinions, too.

Thanks for your time.

[Jom Tones]

Hello, pola_paris. I have not experienced life in an ecovillage. Your post has piqued my curiosity about how you intend to assimilate "solitude is bliss" with the consensus decision-making community living entails?

I suppose a crisis may be avoided if you were to find a community of like-minded individuals, and no longer felt the need to live alone away from society.

The existential issues I assume refer to concern over personal responsibility in a group setting. Sartre defines "anguish" as the emotion that people feel once they realize that they're responsible not just for themselves, but for all humanity." It seems a life of solitude attempts to avoid that responsibility.

Kosha Joubert, when president of the Global Ecovillage Network, has defined an Ecovillage as:

an intentional or traditional community consciously designed by its inhabitants, in which people consciously value what they have and integrate this with innovative technologies to make their lives more sustainable, and the whole process is owned by the people living there. The aim is to regenerate social and natural environments. In this view, achieving sustainability is not enough; it is vital also to regenerate the social and environmental fabric of life, and across all four dimensions of sustainability: social, environmental, economic and cultural. (Emphasis added).

Responsibility for personal behavior therefore appears to be an aspect of both existentialism and life in an ecovillage. Further, that responsibility has an accountability to all humanity.

Your aspiration "to pursue a more meaningful, richer and healthier way of living" is admirable if the focus is to benefit both you and mankind.

[Serzen]

Hello there, thanks for your reply.

First of all, I will clarify that I don't intend to live alone, away from society.

What I love about solitude is that I can be alone from time to time, especially some weekends and during nighttime (my favourite time of the day). By doing that, I can focus on myself, think, smoke my pipe. By reflecting, I can connect and re-connect with my inner self and not only improve my own relationship, but also the relationship I have with others.

Some other weekends, I go out with my friends. Don't get me wrong: I like people, just a few, but I love them.

I know what Sartre said, it is quite interesting.

All the same I've been thinking about things a lot and arrived to the conclusion it is quite improbable that I will away. You never know, though.