Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Sociocracy For All: Two New Events Ahead of Our 6th Annual IC Conference

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Sep 16, 2026, at 5:12 PM, Neil Planchon via Cohousing-L <cohousing-l [at] 
> cohousing.org> wrote:
> 
> Fumbling Better Together 

Wonderful title. 

I remember when Takoma Village was newly moved in 2001, we had a discussion 
about facilitators being subjected to criticism as if they were paid 
professionals. What that what we wanted?

People who were working in businesses and colleges where they were subjected 
daily to professional expectations were bringing them home. And we as a group 
were still figuring out how to put our shoes on even to get to meetings.

Over the years many people became professional facilitators, but the cohousing 
experience was an excellent way for people to practice and develop skills in a 
non-judgmental context.

My favorite meeting facilitation story comes from a group in Canada where they 
don’t do agendas for meetings and find the facilitator after they have all 
assembed for meetings. Amazingly they are still going strong.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines
Riderwood Village, Silver Spring MD
Founding member and 25 year resident in Takoma Village, Washington DC