Cohousing-L Mailing List: Power of Place

[Sofistic (Sofistic]

Greetings:

Has anyone read Winefred Gallegher's "The Power of Place?"  It is a nice
piece of work that examines how physical surroundings affect psychological
states.  It seems that this rather long-running thread keeps coming back to
that topic.

But it is not just the buildings that influence PsychSpace, as it were.  I
have a sister who moved into a complex of small cabins that were run down and
little more than huts. 

She is a master gardener and soon had developed a small world around her
cabin that was inviting, with miniature herb, vegetable and flower gardens
surrounding her space.  Within a year, other people were growing small
gardens like hers, and soon the landlord began repairing and repainting the
cabins.

Now, the complex is inviting to drive into and the overall mood of the
tenents is much better (with a couple of exceptions) than it was.  The whole
subculture -- if you can call it that -- has changed, all because of a
gardner who made life more pleasant.

I don't believe my sister ever even suggested to others that they grow
gardens or paint their cabins or decorate them.  They just began doing it one
person at a time.  The power of place....
Barry
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Barry Savage
HumboldtS [at] aol.com

The Humboldt Institute
P.O. Box 3578
Eureka CA 95502 USA

Using the Power of Research
For Community Empowerment
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