Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: shared work agreements in cohousing communities

[Dahako (Dahako]

Hi all -

I have a bit of a twist on this discussion because my time contribution to 
community work tends to have huge variations.  I can, and have, worked a lot of 
hours on limited time projects (such as facilitating a series of meetings on a 
contentious issue, or serving on an ad hoc team carrying out 
design/planning/implementation for a drainage project).  Between projects 
("obsessions" is the 
word my daughter uses), I prefer to fall back to minimum contribution - 
taking my regular turn on the cooking team, showing up for the odd meeting or 
two, 
babysitting kids, sharing beer, hibernating.  Also, because my job involves 
working on disaster recovery, I sometimes have time demands that shift my 
energy 
almost entirely out of the community.

I really like what Rob and Tree said, partly because none of the workshare 
rules I've ever heard in the communities I live in (or see posted on this list) 
allow for real life variation over time in how people contribute.  Most of the 
ones I've heard go along the XX hours/week or month line, when I may kick in 
50 hours one month and 3 for the next two.  

Anybody else in this boat?

Jessie Handforth Kome
Eastern Village Cohousing
Silver Spring, Maryland
"Where I recently got talked into working on the team tackling pet policy."