Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Closing dances, Burning Souls

[Sherri Zann Rosenthal (76671.1561]

At the risk of prolonging what is already a disproportionately long thread, I
toss in my opinion on the conference's closing ceremony, along with other
conference thoughts:
I read and, theoretically, agree with David Mandel's take on watering down
relious traditions. But, in practice, I really liked the dancing and singing,
and appreciated the attempt to get us to interact with each other on an
experiential, rather than mental/verbal level. 

This year's conference was very different from last year's. Last year, I felt
people were jockeying for position in this new movement. People were very quick
to offer up "the answer" to any particular situation. This year, I think the
Burning Souls' Day, while perhaps not entirely satisfying on its own, set a very
different tone for the entire conference: one of dwelling in questions, of
questing for what we don't yet know. It legitimized talking openly about how
hard and confusing creating CoHousing can be. I believe that one result of this
openness and authenticity was a deeper level of trust between participants, and
that this directly lead to the enormous organizational shifts for the better
that took place. For example, I think people trusted that they could step
forward to coordinate a conference, knowing they would be supported in the work
by the rest of us. And I count as an exciting shift Zev and Don's decision to
incorporate the CoHousing Network as a non-profit umbrella that includes the
CoHousing Journal.

I think there is a parallel of sorts between the Burning Souls' Day, which was
so different than what we might have expected from last year, and the closing
dances. Both might have seemed a waste of time, or even counter-productive, to
the committed rationalists among us. As a recovering rationalist, I can only say
I really appreciated the heart and, dare I say it, soul that the organizers were
able to incorporate in this year's conference. The special bonds that formed
between people in this conference are evidence that, even as the brows of us
rationalists were knitting in irritation, hearts were being moved.

Many thanks to the conference organizers for the tremendously thoughtful
planning and execution of this wonderful conference, and particularly to Ellen
Hertzman and Kathryn Lorenz for having the courage to take the pre-conference
day in a very different direction--and one which may not have been fully
appreciated on that day.

Finally, a question for the list: Do you have ideas for an experiential closing
ceremony, I mean, activity, that would not incite the
anti-religion/spirituality/New Age/pagan sentiments that the Dances of Universal
Peace appear to have? After all, we are CoHousers: let's get practical about
this. (BTW, thanks B & D for your hilarious forecast of CoH Conferences to
come.)

Sherri Zann Rosenthal
Eno Commons CoHousing, Durham, North Carolina
Where a portion of our Vision Statement is headlined, 
"Appreciation for the Spirit in Life."