It is my observation that people who come to the @gardenofeden to escape never really make it here. Those who make it are those who are coming toward something that inspires them, rather than running away from something.

I understand this perspective, though I don't think it is applicable in my case. Yes, I wanted to escape the system. But, I already knew what I wanted before I found out about eco-villages.

I wanted a place where the predominant sentiment is not to consume, consume, consume. A place where I could put in work, not to make some corporations and bankers even wealthier, but so that I and those around me could benefit. I hoped to find somewhere were unity is the priority, rather than the survival-of-the-fittest attitude that is so ripe within the culture of today.

I hadn't the slightest inclination that their were communities outside of the system that were embodying these characteristics until someone who knew me very well suggested that it may be something that would be great for me.

Alas, I obviously didn't go though with, and now I find myself on a different path. But it is an option that I keep open for the future even though I am no longer feeling the need to escape.