What I Learned About Community at the Bellingham Workshop
2025 Bellingham 7-day Straw Bale Construction Hands-on Workshop
Straw Bale Construction Workshop
Bellingham, WA 2025
“May the community, love, & collaboration be always felt on this land! Thank you for sharing this with us all!”
What is community?
I’m not sure I’ll ever have a single, perfect answer—but after this workshop in Bellingham, I know mine is a little clearer.
What I saw and felt during our time together, both within our workshop group and in the neighborhood pod our hosts have nurtured since the pandemic, was this: community is a choice. It’s the choice to show up for one another, to stay curious, to laugh together, and to dive into life’s adventures—whether it’s breeding goats for the first time or raising the walls of a multi-generational family home.
Over seven days, I watched strangers step onto a homestead where our hosts have built their lives around those very values. And as the week unfolded, that same spirit of connection took root among us.
I saw the sweetness of community bloom—through learning, inspiration, and growth that belonged to all of us. Strangers became friends. Friends left with plans for future visits, each of us carrying a piece of this slice of pastoral heaven in our hearts.
To our hosts: words fall short. Thank you.
To our incredible participants: words fall short again. Thank you.
As I look back on the moments we shared, I can’t help but smile. If you want a glimpse of what community really feels like, watch the video reel from our week together. It’s the best way I know to share the magic of what we built.
With heart and bits of straw glitter in my keyboard,
Dainella
