spontaneity vs process
From: Lynn Nadeau (welcomeolympus.net)
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 12:21:01 -0700 (MST)
>facilitate the birthing of
>> ideas.  If you can help someone get "their heart's desire" in cohousing then
>> go do it!

The tricky part comes (with some regularity at RoseWind) when one 
person's "heart's desire" is something that grates on other people - a 
planted tree that someone else then has to water or watch die, a part of 
the common-house porch that got carved, painted brightly, and a sculpture 
added to, all unilaterally because it was someone's artistic inspiration. 
(It's hard to take someone at their word that they'll gladly take it all 
down and replace it if people don't like it, after watching them work for 
hours and hours on it.) 

There's always this tension between planning/process and spontaneity. As 
one more inclined to pre-process things, I keep thinking that if we just 
could come up with the right guidelines, then *within* those guidelines 
our spontaneous handypersons and artists and landscapers could indulge 
their urges in ways that wouldn't in turn make *other* people feel *less* 
included in the community. But it's still an unresolved undercurrent. 

On the other hand, those of you who have visited here or seen pictures 
know that RW has also found ways to include a great deal of artistic 
contribution by members in our common house and grounds. At least we 
haven't compromised into total beige-ness....

Lynn Nadeau, RoseWind Cohousing
Port Townsend Washington (Victorian seaport, music, art, nature)
http://www.rosewind.org
http://www.ptguide.com

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