Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Should cohousers rebuild (or redesign) the wheel

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Oct 22, 2004, at 11:03 AM, Chris ScottHanson wrote:

> This may be a fundamental flaw in the cohousing personality (if there 
> is such a thing), the desire to start from scratch, do everything 
> yourself, to not depend on other people for anything.  It applies to 
> developing cohousing, as well as living in cohousing.  Those moderate 
> souls, those sustainers -  they bring the balance and the wisdom to 
> make this experience less than tortuous.

I think this may be a result of the way cohousing has developed -- 
because groups had to do everything themselves in the beginning, they 
attracted strong people who wanted to do everything themselves. They 
made it a virtue. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

it is also very hard to tell a fellow cohouser, please don't do that -- 
you don't know now and it will look awful. Or it will cost us more to 
fix what you broke when you tried to fix it.

The impulses that drive people to cohousing are very contradictory. We 
have people who say that anything you do yourself is better than what a 
professional can do, and others who definitely prefer the professional 
job.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org