In a rapidly globalizing world where automation and renewables are rapidly making carbon neutral travel a reality — cheap eco friendly travel becomes available to the masses. This shift will accelerate culture.
Now, more people travel the world as a way of life than ever before — and a truly global culture, no longer reserved for the most fortunate, comes to exist.
Spaces, like Arc 38 — are here to get us familiar with this global experience, now as preparation for the future. At ARC 38 people come from all walks of life coexisting in a moment or two together, and finding connections that are shared and meaningful. These nurturing experiences remind us we are all part of a beautiful global family.
This mutual understanding between all people is an essential component of the shift in a global culture we are witnessing.
In my search for spaces that would serve NYC artists and creatives in plugging out of the urban cityscapes and take their work into new settings, the phrase Intentional Community came up quite often. While I can agree on many of the values that these spaces espouse – cooperative ownership of resources and work space, sustainable off the grid energy systems, growing our own food, regenerative permaculture and agricultural techniques etc. I held issues with some of the stigmas folks related to those communities that didn’t resonate fully with me.
The view of many intentional communities as “early retirement homes for activists” particularly didn’t sit well with me; with potent, powerful agents of change cozying up in their little slice of utopia, instead of sharing Eden with the rest of the world with the vigor of their former activism.
My other contention comes from the insularity of community that remote communities foster. I’m inclined towards roaming beautiful landscapes and sitting underneath clear night starry skies far enough from civilization to not blot out the magnificence of the Milky Way Galaxy swirling above us, and I also really like being able to leave at any time and return back to Babylon, and all the conveniences of fiber optics high speed internet, the subway, and 24 hours bodegas and groceries.
There are many who feel similarly drawn more Arc 38 as you can just walk to the Wassaic train station and be back into Grand Central Terminal by the end of your day trip. 
Many of our friends feel like they don’t have the luxury to get out of the city, many people are not fortunate enough to know a resource like the ARC exists.
Many of us are losing touch with our roots in the soil and on the land, leading us into a collective death spiral of petrochemical dependency and processed pesticide laden foods that cause serious physical and mental degradation to the general public. Instead of cutting off from the rest of the world, the ARC 38 signifies a the opposite of complacency with the state of the world. Sharing this land with each other calls people back to reality — which is why the most important thing we can do, is make our community as accessible and inspiring as possible. The world needs others to create more spaces that get city people back into nature.
These are some of the reasons why hostels and ecotourism oriented farms like Verdenergia or many of the kibbutz found in Israel, and urban guest houses, some with postings on Airbnb to expand their reach to more adventurers, have and continue to be some of my favorite expressions of community. Spaces like these and our regional neighbors Omega Institute make me optimistic about striving to create a world where all are given opportunities to learn and develop all they want, to provide a service to society, to engage in growing their own ideas, through long and short stays on the land.
This is the season we come together to build our community, and show how strong our membership ranks for seeking grants and investor generosity. Support our shared vision and land your stake in our global community of regenerative living Today on our membership page here.