A MONTHLY EMAIL PUBLICATION of the FIC since 1999, serving over 4000 subscribers. October 24, 2004 1 New Online Communities Directory Available 2 Featured Bookshelf Titles At Sale Prices 3 FIC Events This Week! Plus Report On Recent Event 4 Communities Magazine Fall Issue & More 5 Join The FIC & Bring More Connection To The World! _________________________________________________________________ 1 NEW ONLINE COMMUNITIES DIRECTORY AVAILABLE _________________________________________________________________ As reported last week in a special issue of this newsletter, we are very pleased to announce the successful launch of the new Online Communities Directory website! http://directory.ic.org The Directory is a free searchable database of intentional communities. You can browse through the alphabetical community list or search for communities based on location, keyword, and various aspects of community living that are important to community seekers. Communities from around the world are already updating their listings via a web based interface and new communities are being added daily to the list so that seekers can have the most up-to- date information possible. If you live in an intentional community come to http://directory.ic.org today and add or update your listing. There is no charge of any kind for this service. If you're pressed for time, we highly recommend a quick visit to the site to add or edit your community name and contact info. Our online database will be the primary source for the next print edition of the Communities Directory, scheduled for early 2005. So update your listing today to be sure your community is accurately described in the next book. FIC is also pleased to be collaborating with the Cohousing Association of the US on this exciting new resource. Please forward this announcement to friends and associates who might be interested. If you have questions about the online Directory, information about the status of a listed community, or notice any problems using the directory please contact directory ( at ) ic ( dot ) org The online Directory is a project of the nonprofit Fellowship for Intentional Community, funded by many generous individual donors. _________________________________________________________________ 2 FEATURED BOOKSHELF TITLES at SALE PRICES by Catherine Nicosia, Community Bookshelf staff _________________________________________________________________ PEACE IN EVERYDAY RELATIONSHIPS: Resolving Conflicts In Your Personal And Work Life by Sheila Alson and Gayle Burnett 2003 * 220 pages Resolving conflicts peacefully is, first of all, a choice. It also requires commitment, insight and skills. In this practical guide written in open, accessible language, two successful conflict-resolution specialists outline how we can successfully negotiate both the big conflicts and the smaller disagreements that we encounter in our daily lives. They emphasize how to do it so that neither party or side feels like a loser. The authors draw from a variety of disciplines to map pathways to peace and the real-life examples they use make the methods they teach very meaningful. A great resource for both beginners in this field and those who are more experienced. Regular price $15.00 Sale price $12.00 (20% off) http://store.ic.org/products/email-spec-offer-oct2004a.html ---------- We're extending the special offer on the We'Moon Datebook and Calendar one more month. Act now as quantities are limited and standard mail orders must be placed well ahead of the the holiday gift season! ---------- WE'MOON 2005 DATEBOOK Sacred Paths Spiral bound size 8" x 5-1/4" Now in its 24th year of publication, We'Moon is a best-selling appointment book, astrological moon calendar, earth-centered spiritual guide and a multicultural handbook in natural rhythms. It is created for, by and about women. The 2005 theme is Sacred Paths. We'Moon '05 contains inspirational art and writing by women on the growing edge of international women's culture. We'Moon offers a kaleidoscopic view of ageless women's wisdom and contemporary feminist perspectives on the power of nature, our sacred earth and the divine feminine. Regular price $17.00 Sale price $14.00 http://store.ic.org/products/email-spec-offer-sep2004a.html ---------- WE'MOON ON THE WALL 2005 Folded size 12" x 12" We'Moon on the Wall is a twelve-month wall calendar featuring gorgeous art and jewels of writing exploring the theme of Sacred Paths. Pictures are a selection of those in the 2005 deskbook. Celebrate the colorful face of international women's culture. Regular price $13.00 Sale price $10.00 http://store.ic.org/products/email-spec-offer-sep2004b.html ---------- Shipping/handling on these items is as follows 3.00 S/H for first item 1.00 S/H for each additional item All prices shown here are for Standard Mail postal delivery within US. Enews special offers are valid through [[offerdate]]. Information, catalog, ordering http://store.ic.org/community-bookshelf.html Community Bookshelf RR 1 Box 156 Rutledge MO 63563 800-995-8342 bookshelf ( at ) ic ( dot ) org _________________________________________________________________ 3 FIC EVENTS THIS WEEK! Plus Report on September Event Fellowship Organizational Meeting Two Days from Today FIC Art of Community Conference This Week Report on September Twin Oaks Communities Conference _________________________________________________________________ FELLOWSHIP FOR INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING Miccosukee Land Co-op outside Tallahassee FL October 26-28, 2004 In the midst of socializing, committee work, and gearing up for the Art of Community weekend, we'll have an FIC board meeting. The anticipated agenda includes 1-Round Two of the strategic planning initiative we launched in the spring. 2-Compensation issues 3-The Fellowship's role in promoting greater collaboration among nonprofits committed to the value of cooperation 4-Checking up on a surge of interest in regional networking. Check this site for updated info http://fic.ic.org/artofcmty.html For last minute information try emailing Jenny Upton jenny ( at ) ic ( dot ) org ---------- THE FIC'S ART OF COMMUNITY CONFERENCE Teaching Farm of the Florida Coalition for Peace & Justice Halloween weekend Oct 29-31, 2004 near Gainesville FL The conference includes workshops, demonstrations, videos, networking, a benefit auction, Halloween costume ball, live music, as well as a Land Blessing for a nearby newly purchased 102 acre EcoVillage site. The conference will provide numerous opportunities for learning about cooperative and sustainable lifestyles. Workshop topics include: * Consensus/Facilitation * Permaculture * EcoVillages * CoHousing * Forming Communities * Bio- Diesel * Elders In Community * Agriculture and Community Camping and vegetarian food is included in the registration fee of $95. Other lodging is available nearby. For registration or information http://fic.ic.org/artofcmty.html Art of Community 16318 NW Highway 441 Alachua FL 32615 artofcmty ( at ) ic ( dot ) org 561-716-8295 Extensive calendar of intentional community events http://www.ic.org/events/ ---------- REPORT ON THE SEPTEMBER TWIN OAKS / FIC COMMUNITIES CONFERENCE by Valerie LivingWater of Twin Oaks Why did the communard cross the mid-Atlantic region? To get to the Twin Oaks Communities Conference! About two hundred people gathered in central Virginia on Labor Day weekend to participate in the gathering. Members of over 30 different communities each brought "their piece of the puzzle" to the weekend. Several of the most engaging and well-attended workshops included Permaculture by Patricia Allison of EarthHaven, Leadership in Cooperative Groups by Laird Schaub of Sandhill Farm, and How to Start a Community by Tony Sirna of Dancing Rabbit. Many people enjoyed our Stories by Founders of Community, in which we offered a selection of funny, challenging and poignant tales by founders of Dunmire Hollow, Tekiah, Little Flower Catholic Worker, and more. Saturday night found us celebrating a diversity of talent at our Sharing Stage, which included a professional opera performance by a member of Ganas community, native american drumming and getting down on the dance floor with some klezmer-funk fusion by Twin Oaks' own Vulgar Bulgars band. Participants also had a chance to bring home a "souvenir" from the weekend during our benefit auction, which raised about $1000 to help support the FIC in it's mission of bringing community into the lives of those who are hungry for it. Some participants of the conference come back year after year, and in 2004 they found some things had changed! We had an increase in the number of people of color participating (although still a fraction of overall participants) which included members of a co-op system of 7 houses in Philadelphia, and a couple from Nigeria. We spiffed up the kitchen with some new infrastructure in response to feedback we'd received last year. We had more kids than usual, so this meant an expanded child-care scene including a separate kid's party/marshmallow roast on Saturday night. We're sending out a thank you to everyone who participated and who supported the general effort. We hope to see more of you at the festivities in 2005. Next year in Utopia! _________________________________________________________________ 4 COMMUNITIES MAGAZINE FALL ISSUE & MORE Spiritual Communities theme Upcoming Issue Diana Christian's book reprinted _________________________________________________________________ The Fall 2004 Spiritual Communities issue of Communities magazine features articles exploring various aspects of spiritually oriented communities, from how they function to how emotionally challenging it can be to live in one! Articles include * Avoiding Spiritual Community about why Communities magazine hasn't featured this topic as a theme for the last 10 years * Rocky Mountain High about life at Lama Foundation in New Mexico * Why I'm Moving to Findhorn by a self-professed "cynical New Yorker" who can't stop returning to this famous British community * On the Edge of the Abyss about the search for spiritual community -- and what happens when you find it. "Truth Practice" and Social Justice explores the idea that living in community intimacy, spiritual practice, and social justice activism are mutually reinforcing. Spiritual Beings, Material World by an ecovillage founder in Bolivia asks us to ground spiritual aspirations in the hard, humbling work of serving others in the physical world Doing the Work explores the diverse spiritual expressions at Camphill and Catholic Worker communities. Also see Burning Man! Art, Culture, and Community through the Gift Economy, about an increasingly popular annual temporary community in the Nevada desert, and other feature articles. Columns include * Shaw EcoVillage: Bicycle Power and Activist Youth in the Inner City * Tree Bressen's process column: Working On Your Issues With Someone (Whether Or Not They Join In) * Shivalila: Yes, We're Still Here * Do We Really Value 'Diversity'? Asking the Hard Questions at Wild Sage Cohousing. ----------- Coming up in next in the Winter 2004 Student Co-ops issue: Are co-opers moving on to other forms of community? Moving to the suburbs? Keeping ties with their student co-ops? How else do co- ops influence their members later in life? Current debates in the student co-op movement: student vs. non- students, diversity, 'community co-ops.' Why a student co-op handbook is so necessary for this type of community; tips for writing one. Get a sample issue, renew or subscribe here http://store.ic.org/products/communities-magazine.html http://store.ic.org/products/communities-magazine-sampl.html Sample issues by surface mail $6 US - $7 Canada - $8 Other Subscriptions one year 4 issues $20 US :: $24 Canada :: $26 Other Order by phone fax or mail FIC * 138 Twin Oaks Rd * Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 fax 540-894-4112 ----------- CREATING A LIFE TOGETHER: Practical Tools to Grow Ecovillages and Intentional Communities Communities magazine editor Diana Leafe Christian reports that her new book had it's first reprint in August 2004, 14 months after its launch last year. The first printing (New Society Publishers, 2003) was 3,000 copies; the second, 2,500. Creating a Life Together continues to be a best-selling title available through the FIC's Community Bookshelf mailorder book service. Single copy $23 plus $3 S/H Standard Mail US delivery http://store.ic.org/products/creating-a-life-together.html Order by phone fax or mail FIC * 138 Twin Oaks Rd * Louisa VA 23093 800-462-8240 fax 540-894-4112 _________________________________________________________________ 5 JOIN THE FIC & BRING MORE CONNECTION TO THE WORLD! _________________________________________________________________ If you enjoy the information that reaches you via this newsletter, you're probably the kind of person who likes to bring people together, who appreciates cooperation and community. Those things are important to us, too--so important that we've centered our organization around them. And we'd love to have you with us. This e-newsletter, the Communities Directory, our Bookshelf and online store, Communities magazine, our regular member newsletter, the phone calls and emails we answer every day, the events we sponsor, the workshops we give...these are all part of meeting people's need for greater connection, around the world. Your $30 membership contribution or $100 donation today will help us do an even better job. Please consider joining the FIC now. For more info on membership benefits and to join online using our secure server go to http://store.ic.org/products/fic-membership.html To request a membership form by mail, or to email, or to talk with a human, contact us at RR 1 Box 156 Rutledge MO 63563 800-995-8342 fic ( at ) ic ( dot ) org To learn more about the mission of the organization visit http://fic.ic.org/index.html Thank you for your interest, and thanks for everything you do to promote and sustain community.