Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Cohousing and Heart Song Community

[Rowenahc (rowenahc]

This looks like the old discussion of whether cohousing should be called an
"intentional community."   I think your statement that "cohousing fits into
it" is the key.  What you have is an intentional community that shares some
features with cohousing as it is generally understood.

In our community, cohousing means physical proximity, neighborly
interaction, sharing of tasks and joys, support and warm friendships rather
than a spiritual quest.  We at Cambridge Cohousing embrace our differences
and even the atheists among us often choose to join respectfully in a
variety of religious celebrations and rituals in the Common House.  One
thing we learned is that a watered-down "one size fits all" celebration
satisfies nobody, so now we have a range of full-fledged religious based
activities which don't try and pretend they aren't! But I don't think
proselytizing for any faith would be considered acceptable.

We have also had some interesting discussions around the common house fire
about our various spiritual journeys.  We have some tireless people who work
devotedly for their causes: "living lightly" by recycling, energy
conservation, and buying organically raised food; providing free hospitality
to folk who are accompanying family members for hospital treatment in
Boston; starting a local chapter of Amnesty International; and many others.
However, beyond "The Golden Rule" we don't ask or expect community members
to practice or participate in any faith-based or spiritual activities.

Rowenhc
-
Michael said:
Here's a brief introduction to what we're doing and how cohousing fits into
it.  You'll see why I call cohousing a means rather than an end.

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