Community Connections <– Date –> <– Thread –>

[Fred H Olson (fholson]

Bill Christensen, billc_lists [at] greenbuilder.com
is the author of the message below but due to a problem 
it was posted by Fred the Cohousing-L list manager:  fholson [at] cohousing.org

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--------------------  FORWARDED MESSAGE FOLLOWS --------------------
Hi Cohousers,

I'm stepping out of lurk mode for a moment to pass on a request from 
a friend.  I suggested the Intentional Communities Directory, which 
she's going to get a hold of this week.  But if any of you have any 
particular suggestions/invitations, please direct them to Katrina.

BC

-------begin forwarded message -------

From: "Katrina Davis" <katrina [at] ccms.net>
Subject: Community Connections

Dear Friends,

Please read this and forward to anyone that you think might be a good
connection for me.  Thanks!
******************
As most of you know, I am about to start on a big adventure of exploring for
a new place to live.

My home outside of Austin TX in the beautiful Texas Hill Country is just
about sold, I believe, and I am looking to move to a high, drier climate.

So, I'm wondering if you might know of any communities, (or have friends
interested in the same) that might match my interests.

Ideally, I'd like to live in another Intentional Community.  I have lived in
an Intentional Community for the past 11 years, and can't imagine living
without that sort of support.

Here's my criteria:

5000-8000 feet elevation

No (or very low) mold & fungus spore counts and juniper & oak pollen counts.
I have developed allergies to these things and want to give my body a break
from them.   Also, not too windy a place.

An Intentional or Co-Housing Community with a strong element of Spirituality
as a foundational component.  Preferably, there would be people meditating
together every day. or at least an option or possibility of that.  If not
meditation, some sort of established daily Silence practice, such as
"Centering Prayer". I have been meditating for 16 years and it's a very
important part of my life. I want to live with others that feel this way.

Also members of the community eating together every day....or at least
several times a week.

I know this description sounds somewhat like an Ashram or Monastery....(I
think we can chalk that up to the fact that I think I"ve probably spent many
lifetimes in that mode and it feels the most comfortable & familiar to me
<wink>)   ...or to the fact that after doing the "American Dream" of
building my own custom home on 2.5 acres of land and maintaining it for 7
years as a single mom, I've realized, as many people are currently
realizing, that it is a very unbalanced way to live.   Takes too much life
energy.  and isolates you.  But I'm not really the ashram type this
lifetime.  I think I need to be engaged with the "world" this time, instead
of living in the retreatant type lifestyle of an ashram or monastery.

My preference is to live, hopefully, with an eclectic group of people,
including babies, children, teens, young adults, folks my age (30-40's) and
the elderly. The full spectrum.  It's especially important to me that there
is some strong focus on creating a high quality of life for the elderly in
my community.  I'd like to enjoy the good, beneficial, life-supporting and
enhancing elements that small villages or tribes (in the past) have had.

Prefer to be in a somewhat rural area, outside or on the edge of a small
town, or, outside a town of about 10,000-50,000 population.   I'm ready for
a break from living near a city of 1 million.  I think that's how big the
whole Austin Metro area is now.  It's *very* important to me to breathe
fresh Clean Air outside and to be able to see *lots* of stars at night.

If I can't find a good match in an existing community, one option I've
considered is to buy, with a group of interested people, a Bed & Breakfast
or Campground or something like that, that  has a main house with some
detached cabins or rooms, that would fit  the Co-Housing model.  I have a
vision of a beautiful estate-type home, where 8-20 (or so) people live
together, eat together, meditate together, work, play, and support each
other.  Some own, some rent.  A few cook, a few garden, a few do the
geek-computer support stuff, some work at home, some work away, some travel
and rent their space to visitors.  Relatives are welcome to come to vist
and/or stay for awhile.   We have a big hot tub and maybe a lap pool.
Maybe one of our members is a Pilates &/or Yoga instructor and I'd love it
if one was a Network Chiropractor.  ... a Tai Chi teacher.   Does this sound
like Paradise?  Yes!! It does to me.  I think it's time to create it, or
find where it's already happening and live there.

I will have a chunck of money to invest when I find the right place.  And
I'm sure there are many other people interested in doing this same sort of
thing.  That's why I'm writing.  To find those doing it or ready to do
it...and connect.

I know there are lots of communities that already exist that may have some
of these elements.   However, I haven't found out about too many that are in
the geographic areas I'm considering.  I'm assuming that I will probably be
most interested in the areas of Northern NM,  Northern AZ,  NV, UT and CO,
because of the molds issue. Also,  I'm a south Texas girl, so I'm not sure
how I will handle the cold, so I'm more interested in the areas that have
lots of sunny days in the winter.  I think I might be able to handle the
cold, if it warms up to 50 or so most winter days.   One of the areas I'm
very  nterested in is Pagosa Springs CO, and possibly Durango.   My purpose
in sending out this email is to find out about other areas that I can visit
and check out.  I may also travel to some other areas (CA, Ashland
OR)....but I know I definitely don't want to live in an area with high
humidity, as that usually correlates with high mold levels in the air.

Please contact me asap, if you know of any places like this. Or people with
the same dream.   My intuition is that there are many of you out there, that
know of a perfect place, but just need some investors and others with some
energy to make it happen.  I've got some $$ and energy.   Let's get together
and see what we can create!!

If all goes as planned, I will be leaving Austin around Dec 18th to start my
exploration-adventure.  I need to find some places to stay, while I'm
exploring.  I'd like to collect as many names of possible places to visit
that I can, and then try to narrow it down to about 20 to visit during the
next few months.  And then try to narrow it down abit more, till I zone in
on the perfect place.

If you know of anyone that would be willing to have me stay with them for a
few days - a week or 2 possibly, and that might be "tuned in" to these ideas
and could introduce me to some others that might be interested, in their
towns or areas,.... I would really appreciate it if you could please forward
this email  to them with a note asking them to get in touch with me.

I really need to line up some places to stay.  asap. I'm starting my journey
in less than 2 weeks.  Wow!   I definitely don't want to do the motel thing
any more than necessary.  I feel confident that I'll be able to connect with
some wonderful kindred spirits along the way.  I will be happy to give money
for a place to stay.  I'm thinking $15-$30 a day, depending on the place. Or
house-sitting or staying for free would be great, too!  But I want it to be
a win-win for both of us, me and the person I'm staying with.    I hope to
be able to spend a few days or a week checking out the area, for Spiritual
connections and groups,  health food stores,  getting a feel for the
Consciousness of the people in the area, work possibilities, etc.  So, I'd
like to have a comfortable home-base to do that from while I'm in each town.

Please forward this email to anyone you think might know of such existing
communites,  be interested in the creation of such a community, or be
willing to house me during my travels.  Thank you very much!

Enjoy Each Precious Moment,

Katrina  Davis

katrina [at] ccms.net
512.858.2287
512.656.9616 mobile
www.ClearMindsOpenHearts.com

-------end forwarded message -------


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Bill Christensen
billc [at] greenbuilder.com

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