The dead end of a dirt road might not be inviting for most, but one local community has created their own neighborhood within the wilderness found at the end of that road.
Earthsong, a sustainable living community, is tucked away in between small roads behind the Georgia Square Mall located off of Atlanta Highway in Bogart, near Athens. The land is used by the community's nine residents as a garden, a walking trail, a library and elaborate homes -- all made from the earth, with the earth.
The sounds of the river can be heard as soon as you turn down the gravel road, only to be overshadowed by windchimes, clucking chickens and barking dogs. The homes are spread apart by a few hundred feet, but neighbors feel more like family in this subdivision. Tinsley refers to each resident by first name and usually knows what going on in their lives. She said those that find themselves in Earthsong are there because they felt the pull of the earth taking them there.
In 1993, Tinsley packed up her belongings and moved to Alaska for four years. Before moving, she lived in Athens and worked at one of the largest medical practices in northeast Georgia. In Alaska, she worked in psychiatric hospitals and helped design therapy programs for patients suffering from severe depression and anxiety. She said living for two years in the wilderness of Alaska changed her in ways she never predicted and helped her to discover who she really was.
"I went to Alaska and fell in love with the place and the people," Tinsley said. "I let my hair grow out, I didn't have my nails done anymore. I just went and lived in the woods, in nature and just fell in love with the woman that is my true self."
When Tinsley returned back to Georgia from Alaska, she drove to Athens Regional, where she had a job lined up, and thought back to her time in the wilderness.
"I drove into the parking lot, I got out of the car and I thought, 'I can't do this, it's not me.'" she said. "All I wanted to do was pitch a tent and see clients."
So, she navigated to the land now known as Earthsong, pitched two tents, and lived in one for two years -- the second one acting as her office for her psychotherapy patients. Known as the "tent lady," Tinsley offered her patients blankets and an open ear as she helped others find the beauty within themselves. Twenty years later, she is still working as a psychotherapist for couples and those struggling with addiction. She sees patients in her home almost every day during the week.
"Within 15 minutes of being in a forest setting, your blood pressure changes, your heart rate changes, your brain chemistry begins to change. Within an hour, if you're depressed - it's lessened; your anxiety is greatly lessened." - Tina Tinsley, Earthsong founder
Tina is not the only Earthsong resident who uses her skills in this unique community. Gaia, the gardener, tends to the organic crops on a daily basis, while other residents pitch in with taking care of the dogs, cats, ducks and chickens that live on the land, too. Baxter, a builder, has helped to hand-make every structure on the land. The library, pictured to the right and below, is one of the most beautifully elaborate structures on the land because of the manmade tree etched onto the side of the building using sand and dirt from the earth.
To be as sustainable with electricity as she is with everything else, Tinsley signed a contract with Arcadia Power when she began to work on the land. The agreement with Arcadia is that five percent of the energy used on the property is recycled as solar power. Though it's not technically the most sustainable method, it is one of the only methods that does not require cutting down the trees that make the community feel like home.
"You either know this is your cup of tea or not. So it attracts the people who feel comfortable in this kind of habitat." - Tina Tinsley, Earthsong founder
"People are so hungry to connect with themselves to connect with the land, to connect with our fellow human beings, that's one of the things we're working on is how to do that well. So it's a connection to land, self and one another and we seem to be able to do that more naturally and humanely in a forest environment."
© 2018 Sarah Hammond and Kaley Lefevre
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© 2018 Kaley Lefevre