a season at Sirius 🥏

reflections three months at an intentional community in Western MA

Sirius | November 2024 | Retro…

in the garden that Linda has tended for over 40 years, we sit and meditate. i hear the sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind, birdsongs and the sharp calls of crows, the swaying of tall, dry grass.

now, much of that life has passed to its next stage — bare trees wave fractal limbs above a garden whose flowers and crops are dying back. beds have been dug, shaped, and amended; sown with garlic or left to sleep till spring comes again.

the mast year of acorns have fallen and been collected, the Asian pears plucked, the paw-paws packed into the walk-in freezer to extend their sweet taste into the winter. chard and lettuce have been transplanted to the greenhouse, windows washed, and fires lit in our buildings.

What is Sirius?

in august of 2024, i moved into an intentional community called Sirius. it’s tucked away in the woods of Shutesbury MA, about two hours from Boston and three from NYC.

Sirius was built by decades of spiritual devotion and the hands of master carpenters, starting back in 1978. the forest is a mix of pine, oak, birch, and spruce, and the Connecticut river lies not far away.

you can wander the paths behind the main buildings and find marvels like a labyrinth, a stone circle, and a swamp ringed with vibrant green

moss. there’s a quiet, steady soul to the land and the buildings, but what i love most of all are the people who animate this shared home.

there’s a shared commitment to living with an open heart, to working with our hands, to partnering with nature, and choosing joy in the world that raises my spirits when I walk around the land.

at the same time, there’s a great deal of question in the air — like much of the world, we’re asking who are we, what do we stand for, and where are heading?

one of the most compelling ideas to me is that of fostering a bioregional education center — a hub for demonstration, practice, and networking where people can come to learn about building social and ecological resilience with the land and participating as part of a broader, regional movement to shift towards an economy that works for all.

today, sirius is composed of an intergenerational mix — 35 or so full members plus a crew of 6 interns, including myself, who co-steward the land we live on. we come together as a community on saturday mornings for “joyful productivity”, where we work together for three hours, meditate, and share a lovely vegetarian meal.

outside of this time, there’s a number of community circles that meet weekly to oversee various aspects of the community, shared dinners, and occasional events held in the Octagon, a gorgeous eight-sided room with polished wooden floors that holds our spiritual center.

the primary business model of Sirius at this time is our guest department, which hosts individuals, workshops, and retreats.

The Intern Program

In the three months since I joined in august, the bulk of my time has gone into maintaining our community gardens and executing a few construction projects.

we’ve done a major rehaul to the frog pond (at the expense of traumatizing the native tadpole/frog population), built a 10 x 20 shed for the backhoe, built a garden door, learned how to sauter wires after cutting them with a power saw (oops), and many more little things.

we’ve worked with concrete, cob, and carpentry; and taken a variety of classes including permaculture gardening, social forestry, tree identification, soil and composting, and family constellations.

all said and done — we’ve been busy, silly, and created many delightful moments that i doubt i can convey properly in words, in this way.

so here’s a different taste of sirius in the form of some of my favorite photos from our time, taken by the tremendous energy ball of love that is my friend Mariasha (see at the end)

teddy’s hat, filled with three types of freshly foraged edible mushrooms…(though i only remember the black trumpet)

frogs sit inside the community center greenhouse, resting in the midday sun.

Llani and I pouring out the temporary frog sanctuary, one week after removing the water, coating the whole pond in a layer of concrete mix, raising one side with new rocks, and letting it all dry.

me with the lovely spirit who took all these photos! a few words about her: Mariasha keeps a list of all the great things in life. she greets me and others with a loud, joyful, singsong voice and a tremendous hug. she hosts community celebrations, gives me beautiful leaves, and give of herself to everyone so generously. she’s a great leader, and i’m honored to call her my friend.