Ecolyte is a word I made up, but if it were to be in the urban dictionary, I think it would mean an eco conscious, health conscious person who cares about the planet and humanity and recognizes and accepts diversity of all aspects of people, including such aspects as culture, sexual orientation, gender orientation (recognizing gender as a spectrum rather than as just male/female), romantic orientation (someone who at least knows what the words polyamory and monogamy mean), spiritual orientation and so fourth. {Personally I think that all humans abide by the same spiritual laws, no matter what religion you are or what you do with your life, the rules are probably the same for everyone anyway.}
When I decided to move to Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Missouri, I began this blog. Here I document my ecovillage adventures and beyond. I have learned that being an Ecolyte means so much more than just a silly word I made up to describe myself as an eco person when I moved to an ecovillage.
2012
After two three week visits to Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Rutledge, Missouri, I have decided to move to the ecovillage. I started this site to document my experience. In case you are reading this and don’t know, Dancing Rabbit is a 15 year old ecovillage of at least 60 full time residences for people who have chosen to live ecologically sustainable and socially rewarding lives. We use all solar and wind power for electricity, we build all our buildings and dwellings out of renewable or salvaged materials, we share 3 biodiesel vehicles between all 60+ people, we grow organic gardens, we make use of rain catchment systems, we take advantage of thermal regulation and passive solar to heat and cool our homes, we have our own village currency system, we have a common house where many people cook, shower and socialize, and we compost and recycle as much as possible including composting our own human waste which is called humanure. Dancing Rabbit is extreme eco living, like the awesomeness of extreme sports, but it’s an Earth friendly lifestyle instead of a sport.
I was already looking for a more green and ecofriendly life when I randomly saw the Dancing Rabbit episode of 30 Days on a computer in 2010. After that, I was excited about the ecovillage concept and I did a ton of research online on intentional communities around the country and the world but I decided that Dancing Rabbit was the closest match to what I wanted in an eco community so I went for a visit. Now I have visited DR for two three-week sessions, both in September. During my first visit in 2010 I applied for residency but was uncertain if I would be capable of moving if I had to wait till spring, and by the time spring came I was not able to make the move. The second time I visited I brought my mom and boyfriend with me. My boyfriend and I had been together for almost 4 years. We met when we were living in Seattle (where I grew up) and moved to the Washington DC area in January of 2011. After my second visit to Dancing Rabbit in 2011, I still felt like the ecovillage is where I need to be living, even though my boyfriend wouldn’t be coming with me. We are still friends and he lives back in DC with his wife and son. My mom loves the ecovillage and has declared it her new “summer camp.” Now I am more certain about my physical and financial ability to actually live at DR and I arrived in March of 2012. My name is Allison, but since there are already two similar names at Dancing Rabbit, I have changed my name to SunGee for the purposes of living at the Ecovillage. I also have a bio on the DR website if anyone really reads this stuff: SunGee’s Bio.
6/2014
We’ve had some humid and rainy weather and my mushroom logs have fruited a lot. My mother is visiting her “summer camp” as she lovingly calls DR. I’ve been spending a lot of time on getting my new business going, doing the website and going to business school so I’m not posting a lot on this blog because I’ve been so blissfully busy with becoming a Life Improvement Coach. Woo hoo!
9/2014
I decided I would go to my hometown of Seattle for part of the winter to do a workshop tour in order to gain more visibility with my new business by getting in front of people rather than sitting in my room on the internet at Dancing Rabbit. I’m leaving on the train at the end of the month and will be away from home until next year.
12/2014
I recently made a stunning realization when asked by a Rabbit, “So do you plan to come home next year?” Originally I had of course, but after reading this month’s blog post I am sure any eco conscious human may be able to deduce why the decision is now a very confusing one for me to make. Since I moved away from Seattle in 2010 my eco ideal lifestyle seemed like a fantasy, perhaps 20-50 years in the future. Now, just 4 short years after living in this city and coming back to my hometown for an extended period of time, I can see that my eco ideals from home in Rabbit Land have percolated into the mainstream like the best infection ever. The mainstream is catching up to our eco ideals at lightening speed and includes technology and resources we don’t have at home.
The Ecolyte 