Creavolution

An excerpt from ‘The Rucksack Letters’ by Steve McAllister. Available now at www.inkensoulpress.com.


I spent the other night at a commune called Zendik Farm, which touts, among their philosophies, an idea called "Creavolution," an amalgam of creativity and evolution whereby those who live the ideal have greater control of the person they become. I'd thought much about this idea before I even knew there was a name for it, and upon hearing more about the commune's founder, Wulf Zendik, the more interested I became.

At Zendik Farm, fewer than fifty people populate the 200+ acres of North Carolina hillside, spending their days caring for the animals, the gardens, and the several buildings which create, for the most part, a self-sustaining community. Working between six and eight hours a day alongside the people they live with, they are given more time, energy, and help to put into their personal relationships, growth, and artistic ventures, which are sold on weekly road trips to pay for the remaining costs of taxes, food, and utilities.

I'm not quite becoming a devotee, and only stayed at the commune for one night, but the idea of taking a more active role in the person I become astounds me. All of us, in some way or another, make choices every day that affect who we become, but how much of what we do is actually who we are?

I wondered, after they gave me a ride to the interstate, how much control I had over my own life and the man I might become. Then I strapped all that I own to my back, and started walking toward Tennessee.