From my Anarchapulco 2025 talk. This article adapts the story I shared onstage about finding a home at Greenbriar Intentional Community. Watch the recording for the full presentation.
Before I lived at Greenbriar, my family lived in a converted school bus. We traveled across the United States on the Bitcoin Bus, taught people to set up cryptocurrency wallets, and spent time with homeschool families along the way.
I loved having our own home while sharing space with other families. We could have autonomy and still have people nearby. That experience helped me understand what I wanted when it was time to put down roots.
Get clear about the life you want
By 2020, I needed a place in Central Texas where I could park the bus. I wanted woods, other homeschooled children, room for my chickens, and a place where the kids could walk to their friends’ homes without going out into a public street.
I wrote down those needs and asked for recommendations. Four people from different parts of my life suggested Greenbriar.
I had actually called the community years earlier while looking for somewhere to park near Austin. At the time, the commute and the small number of resident children did not fit what we needed. This time, I called again.
Show up and meet the people
I remember lying in a hammock, talking with Dave on the phone and laughing until I cried. He invited us to a community potluck. My husband and I decided to go.
When we arrived, there were peacocks walking around, children playing, and old school buses that held part of the community’s history. We had found a place rooted in the free school movement, with people who had spent decades building another way to live.
It felt like stumbling into a hidden world. I had lived in Texas for years, and here was this community I had almost forgotten about.
Choose a working community that fits your family
After years of activism, I was tired. I respected the people starting new communities, but I needed an established place with a foundation already in place.
Greenbriar had that. It also had work to do. Living in community includes maintaining roads, water lines, electrical systems, cabins, and the relationships that make those things possible. The practical work does not disappear because people share a vision.
What I found was a working model I could participate in. I could help the school, apply for grants, and have a voice in decisions that affected our daily lives.
Make room for people to have a say
Greenbriar operates through consensus. In the talk, I described how slowly that can move, even when everyone agrees a project needs to happen. We still have to work through who will do it, how to do it, and how to use the resources available.
That can be exhausting. I am also grateful to have a say. The school’s approach values the voices of children, parents, teachers, and administrators, and that matters to me as a mother and an educator.
For a closer look at the school itself, read my Greenbriar Community School interview.
Practice the communication that community needs
A successful community requires good communication. At Greenbriar, The Four Agreements offer a useful practice for people who disagree: be impeccable with your word, do not take things personally, do not make assumptions, and always do your best.
I have also spoken about using those practices on our event team. Read how we put The Four Agreements into practice at Anarchapulco.
Find your own version of home
Greenbriar gave me the support and foundation I needed. That does not mean the same location or structure will be right for every family. Some people want to start a community. Some want separate homes near friends. Others need something established, as I did.
The useful question is what your family needs and whether the place you are considering can support that life. For us, finding roots made room for a different kind of freedom.
Visit Greenbriar Community School’s website for current information. The circumstances, programs, and residency details discussed in the recording reflect the time of the talk.
Recording: Anarchapulco 2025. Adapted from my presentation, rather than reproduced as a word-for-word transcript.