The Mission of Mesa Life
An Intentional community is typically a planned residential area designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork. The members of Mesa Life together demonstrate that to have a life connected to the natural world one must work together and celebrate the seasons and life’s transitions throughout the year.
This is our mission for living in community.
The Village of Mesa Life…
- is a demonstration of community living in balance with the natural world,
- honors life’s natural rhythm,
- stewards the land, the vision and the mission,
- is where one engages humanity daily saying goodbye to isolation,
- is where one can garden, cook, eat, dream, pray, cultivate relations to make this place home,
- welcomes you to join in ceremonies, community fires, projects, workshops and to connect and steward the wild nature of this place,
- is governed by a council with a consensus decision making process,
- invites you to visit, join the community, participate!
The term “intentional community” is overused. For Mesa Life to ask “What is our intention to be a community?” suits the mission better. And the answer to that question would be something like this: “To provide a refuge for like-hearted people to love and rever the natural world, to have ‘home’, and to heal from the strains and stress of the modern world”.
We aim to demonstrate a way of life akin to ancestral traditions, living on the land in harmony, raising our children with joy and being invitational to others who seek solace from the disconnect of the western ways while living a connected way of life. We have not thrown away modernity but we seek to have a standard of living that takes only what is necessary and gives back for all that is received. Our goal is to regenerate life, so abundance continues for the next seven generations.
Being open to learning opens a doorway to the wisdom of the heart. Heart knows no fear, so decisions may come slowly, but from a foundation of consensus. A problem cannot be solved with the same consciousness that it took to create it, therefore, we seek to be heart-centered when making decisions while rooted in ancestral shamanic tradition.
This imbalance between ecology and economy, he says, leaves people stressed and unhappy.
“The happiest people I have seen in Britain, or anywhere, are those who live close to the land and people who use their hands – craftspeople. All over the world they transform the world. They effect transformation…They restore the dignity of work by hand,”
~ Satish Kumar of Schumacher College, quoted in the article by John Vidal, “Soul Man”, The Guardian
This is not a solitary endeavor, but a dynamic community that invites people to visit, participate in a program or retreat, a ritual, camp on the land and become a part of the greater vision of the village and lifestyle of Mesa Life. At Mesa Life, we live Lifeways, a way of life not of consumption and continuous growth but a life that is in tune to the natural cycles. Our goal is to demonstrate that life can be fulfilling in this way, that it is rich and has a natural feeling of fullness because we celebrate the seasons within the cycle. By living in a small village the community has a deep commitment to caring for the land and the ceremonies and rituals that mark these seasonal changes, in nature and as we grow from birth to death.
While members follow their personal spiritual paths or traditions, as a community we engage in shared life-cycle rituals and healing. Each person has a role, owns a share in the project, sits on the council and has equal rights in making major decisions. Initiated shamans who live and serve the community also mediate relations with the natural world and at times with each other. With this blend, we discover an economical and ecological way of life that supports rootedness, balance and interdependence.
