Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: cohousing v. other uses of your energy

[Monty Berman (mberman]

Dear Hopeful,
        For starters, the energy, as well as the commitment, time, and expense 
have  been  enormous in the over four years of creating the First 
Neighborhood of EcoVillage at Ithaca. At least, this is my personal take. 
A paper on this aspect could easily be written. I would just say that the 
question of whether or not it has taken away from my doing other things 
is not exactly a relevant question. I, and I believe many of the other 30 
households, have wound up in this project as a result of a value system 
and lifestyle to which our cohousing venture is the answer. Thus, there 
is no other focus for my energy that would take precedent. Our endeavor 
incorporates the foresaid values and lifestyles that we most want to 
honor in our living. Doing ALL THAT THIS VENTURE TAKES could be said to be, 
and I've never used this term personally before!, our kharma.
        Again, MY take on your question.
        Thanks for asking.

Monty Berman, EcoVillage at Ithaca, resident of the presently being-built 
First Neighborhood (of a potential five neighborhhods).

On Tue, 28 Nov 1995 baschel [at] ksg1.harvard.edu wrote:

> Hi.  I've been a lurker on this list for a while, am very interested 
> in cohousing, but not quite at a stage in my life where buying a home 
> seems plausible (maybe soon).
> 
> My question, which is both a matter of personal concern and related 
> to a paper that I'm in the middle of writing, is to what degree do 
> you feel that the energy required by developing cohousing has taken 
> away from other things that you would like to do.  If so, what has 
> suffered?  I know that people involved in cohousing probably give 
> more to their communities than average, but would they give more or 
> less if they weren't doing cohousing as well?
> 
> Thanks a lot,
> 
> Elizabeth
> 
> "No one has the right to despair.
>  We all share the responsibility to hope." -- Oscar Romero
>