Cohousing-L Mailing List: do you really value diversity?

[Eris Weaver (eris]

In my seventeen years of cohousing - as a resident, facilitator, 
trainer,
and consultant - one of the paradoxes I see over and over in CohoLand is 
the
tension between desiring diversity yet wanting to live with like-minded
folks. We kinda can't have it both ways...if you claim to value 
diversity, you need to include political and ideological diversity as 
well. (While cohousers do seem to skew
left politically, I am quite sure there are not only some Republicans 
but
possibly Trump supporters among us.)

I am very aware of how frequently someone will say something along the 
lines of "I think we all agree that..."  and all I can think of is that 
if there IS
someone in the room who does NOT share that belief, the message they 
receive
is "you don't belong here" and someone less assertive than I might just 
keep
their mouth shut and NOT share their diverse point of view. I try to
eliminate that sort of phrase from my speech, ESPECIALLY when I am up in 
the
front of the room with the resulting extra power & influence that gives 
me.

I guess I'm asking for all of us to just be aware that not everyone in
cohousing thinks the same...

********************************
Eris Weaver
Founding member, FrogSong Cohousing in Cotati, CA
Graphic Facilitator & Group Process Consultant