Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Building Community -

[THESHLIFE (THESHLIFE]

I just read Zev's recent E on L and I can certainly understand how he's
feeling.
In regards to the religion/coho thing.
Yes to Zev, and in this case, I have, added to the thinking of what coho is.
 I feel, I can do that, for me.  Yes, I've sort of re-defined cohousing, for
myself.  That being the diversty issue.  Diversity is bottom line, for me, at
the moment.  

Another important issue, is spreading the idea of cohousing.  
It is my belief that cohousing is good for people, and good for the planet.

To get the people in this country, interested in the idea, it has to have a
positive image.  People, generally, not always, but gernerally are afraid of
something odd or different.  The image of cohousing has to be good and has to
be normal. - Yes, what is normal.  Let's just call it normally accepted.

I'm getting deep here, but here goes.  
All higher levels of animals on this earth are social.  Primates, dolphin,
even canine and feline etc.  
We, as the highest of all, still maintain an instinct for a social life as we
do for sex.  We established the village, town, neighborhood etc.  These are
all examples of how we've arranged ourselves to be with other humans. To
exhange, to support, to cooperate and work together for survival.
We have also come up with urban sprawl, which as led us to a anti-social
envirionment.

Back to the cohousing . . .
Cohousing is one of the first ways for us to get back together.
The idea is to bring people together and have them live together in a peacful
supportive environment.

We must endevour to bring cohousing into mainstream thinking as much as
possible.  To do that, cohousing has to have a general and a good image.  Add
religion to it in any way, then the general image of the concept is no longer
appealing to the mainstream. 

Having religion as the center point is the problem, not religion in the
community.  If people begin to hear about a cohousing community forming
around one belief system, they'll automatically have a different image of
cohousing.  Limiting the cohousing to that one area.  What ever it may be.
 Menonite, survivalists, Jews, big game fishermen, or what ever.

The idea is to get cohousing out there with no religious, economic, cultural
or otherwise ties, what so ever.  Now if a group of Menonites get together
and want to make cohousing that's great. Do it, support it, encourage it,
build it. Cohousing is cohousing. Use cohousing models, use what ever.  But,
if you put a label on it like, Menonite Cohousing, and have Peter Jennings
get ahold of it? Get ready for the movement to take one giant step backwards.
End

The conference - was great.
I didn't attend the ritual dance.  I chose not to along with my group. We did
the timeline game with Bruce C.  If you didn't want to do it, then you
should've done the timeline or something else.  This is what started this
spiriuality thing too.  Zev's right, give it a rest.  How about that
conference?!!

Burning Souls was one of the best things to happen to me since I was first
able to comprehend the concept of cohousing.

All the enthusiasts of the US were in one room, expressing themselves and
talking about dreams and desires.  

We, as a group were doing things mostly by common sense.  We never had any
real interaction with others in the same process.  We all found out,
especially for me in the Burning Souls, that we were doing what mostly
everyone else was doing.  That was a major boon to our psyche.  It reinforced
our determination and inspired us.

The seminars were stimulating and informitive.  However.,
the opening slide show, was not very good, for me.  I though it very little
to do with cohousing, today.  Yes, cohousing should have, and I hope will
have a role in reforming our society, but that's a long way off.  Moving a
creek put me to sleep.

What the conference really offered was a place where we could all exchange
ideas.  One on one.
I learned about Straw bale- steel frame construction. A major thing for me
and my group.  
This is something I'd really want to talk about on the L.  If it can offer a
savings, it can make cohousing less expensive, rather than more expensive,
which in turn could help spread the growth of the movement, quickly.

I love the marketing seminar. too
But I've written way too long for any normal L entry.

Thank you all for your patience with me and my ramblings.

We must all stick together.  Building and spreading the ideas of Coho is our
bottom line.  Every person counts.  Working together will enable and empower
you, me and the movement.!

All the best to everyone.  And thanks to people like Zev and the rest at RMCA
for working so hard to make the conference happen.

Two years is too long for another.

Gary
Southernmost Cohousing/Broward Commons