Cohousing-L Mailing List: Affluenza,Timeday and cohousing.

[Racheli Gai (racheli]

I think many cohousers found themselves getting in further
debt in order to "make it" into cohousing, so that we're
further away from a life of simplicity than we were before,
at least in some respects.
While some intentional communities don't require the kind
of financial resources cohousing demands, a not-that-distant
issue of Communities magazine underlined the difficulties
many face in self-supporting themselves once they join - since many of
these communities are not in areas where job
opportunities are plentiful...
The way I understand it, how to simplify, and what kind of
"simplifying" is worth pursuing is not such a straight-forward issue.

R.



>On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 17:14:09 -0500 (CDT)  writes: Graham Meltzer
><graham [at] grahammeltzer.com>
>> A problem for cohousing as a model, and for many members on a 
>> day-to-day practical level, is that members generally maintain their 
>> mainstream, often high pressure jobs.  They have mortgages and they
>still like 
>> to take skiing holidays in Winter or trips to Europe in the summer.  So

>> they're still in that loop, of having to work to support a lifestyle
>which requires that they continue working etc. etc.  

>These members you describe taking skiing holidays or trips to Europe are
>in the almost invisible minority here at Tierra Nueva.  We have one
>retired senior who takes regular Elderhostel trips, one or two a year. 
>And one single dad who travels with his kids to interesting places.  The
>rest of us have kept our "mainstream, often high pressure jobs" to pay
>the mortgage, educate our kids, keep heath care coverage.  When vacation
>rolls around, most of us go camping or fishing.   Many of us squeeked
>through qualifying for our mortgages and may have to continue working at
>those mainstream jobs long after normal retirement age.   We have several
>families who struggle to keep one parent at home with the kids.  All of
>us worry about health care costs and availability.   Many of us add hours
>of social and environmental activism to our already full days.

>Having our cake and eating it too?  Well, we do have some kick ass common
>meals together, and more often than not, it is somebody's birthday, so we
>do eat lots of birthday cake.   Last night it was homemade pumpkin pie,
>all made from scratch, to celebrate two birthday guys.  Yum.

>Patty Mara Gourley, Tierra Nueva, central CA coast



























>mmmmm

>________________________________________________________________ The best
>thing to hit the internet in years - Juno SpeedBand! Surf the web up to
>FIVE TIMES FASTER!
>Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!
>_______________________________________________
>Cohousing-L mailing list
>Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
>http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L

-- 
-----------------------------------------------------------
racheli [at] sonoracohousing.com (Racheli Gai)
-----------------------------------------------------------


_______________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list
Cohousing-L [at] cohousing.org  Unsubscribe  and other info:
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L