Harbin Hot Springs, California
(Page 3 of 4)
July/August 1984
By the Mother Earth News editors
Recently we opened a second restaurant to offer more variety in the types of food we serve. We also have a wide-screen projection TV, where movies are shown, and a rumpus room with table tennis and a piano. Another recent plus for our members is an exchange program we've begun with Esalen Institute in Big Sur. But our oldest and favorite facilities are the pools themselves: five naturally heated, clean baths of different sizes and temperatures.
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Our main income is derived from operating the hot springs resort and from renting space to outside conference groups. Many visitors come for an hour or two or for the day, while others stay overnight in our rooms or camp.
The four conference buildings we've constructed or renovated are capable of handling from 5 to 300 persons, usually for weekend workshops. (Members are often able to attend these at vastly reduced rates.) In addition, many classes and programs-usually free are offered by members.
Aside from construction, members work mostly at jobs connected with visitors or with community administration, such as office reception, bookkeeping, housekeeping, landscaping, security, teaching, child care, massage, or special projects. Some of us have small businesses or are able to sell our own work, and a few have outside jobs. Our community includes therapists, school teachers, musicians, artists, contractors, cooks, laborers, skilled trades people, lawyers, an M.D., an airline pilot, and a computer manager, to identify a few. Many of us came here with the specific intention of lending our energies permanently to creating a better life situation, while some of us simply wanted to stay awhile to learn new skills or to take time out in our lives for reassessment while relaxing in the natural hot pools. Often the second kind of motivation has been transformed into the first.
Each resident member must work 24 hours a week for the community, pay $48 per week, or arrange some combination of the two. Our payment rates for members' labor are low to permit much of our generated income to go toward making overall improvements. Members can cover the cost of their food and their personal expenses by working extra hours for Harbin if they have no other source of income. Most of us put in from 25 to 40 hours' work each week here ... but usually in a much more relaxed manner than that of our counterparts in the business world. Cottage industries are encouraged and sometimes assisted.
Decisions are not made by the entire community but by committees: The majority of the members of each are the same six people. A larger body of 15, known as the Sponsoring Members, decides who will and who will not live at Harbin Hot Springs. Applicants must obtain and maintain the sponsorship of five members of this body, a process that's not difficult for the majority of candidates. Anyone who joins the community can participate in its governmental structure by demonstrating commitment, competence, and willingness to take on responsibility.
