Cohousing-L Mailing List: Call for articles, Communities magazine, Fall '04 issue

[Communities Magazine (communities]

 Hello,

    This is a Call for Articles for our Fall '04 issue of Communities
magazine on spiritual communities.

    I'm sending this Call to everyone who has written for Communities
magazine in the past, or who has inquired about writing for us.
    (Or maybe you're someone I hope might submit an article.)
    I'm sending this to the Cohousing L List as well.

    If you're interested, please tell me your article idea by JUNE 18th, or
if you can write fast, by JUNE 21st.

    Deadline for completed articles is JULY 5th, 2004, FOUR & A HALF weeks
from now. 


    I. ARTICLE CONTENT - FALL '04, SPIRITUAL COMMUNITIES ISSUE

    * What are spiritual communities and why do people start them?

    * What do people hope to get out of them?

    * Are spiritual communities easier to live in, or more difficult, than
secular communities?

    * What are the unique joys and challenges of living in a spiritual
community? 

    * What makes a community "spiritual"?
    Please respond to one or more of these questions in terms of your
community, or spiritual communities you've lived in or are familiar with.

    If you include what your community spiritually believes and teaches,
please couch it in terms like 'We believe that..'  or  'According to our
beliefs . . .'  or '... as we see it. . ." or  'As we teach, ....' etc.
       Please don't make blanket dogmatic statements of spiritual truth.
Such statements can easily be un-dogmatized by adding phrases like those
above. 
        I 'm strongly allergic to pronouncements by folks who believe they
have Spiritual Truth  and others sadly don't.  This is probably why I've
successfully avoided calling for issue on spiritual communities in all the
10 years I've been editor. So thanks in advance for couching your beliefs in
phrases that show that you know that these are your group's beliefs, but not
necessary the God's Truth (or Buddha's or Jesus's or the Ascended Masters'
or Krishna's).  It'll make my job easier, and will make me a lot happier as
your editor. Thanks very much!

    To send article ideas, contact me at communities [at] ic.org. Or call
828-669-9702.
        
    II. PHOTOS. If you'd like to write for this issue, we will need to
either borrow hard-copy photos or snapshots of people and or communities to
illustrate your story, or very high resolution digital photos.

    NOTE: We cannot use most digital photos, unless you have a good quality
digital camera, with a resolution of 3 megapixels or more. This will produce
images which  are 300-360 dpi at 5x7 or 8x12 size. This means the images
will be a high enough resolution to use used as lead photos for articles, or
for the cover.

    The photos can be vertical or horizontal, black & white or color. We
return the photos after the issue is published.

    Important: Please don¹t submit an article unless:

    (1) YOU CAN MAIL US HARD-COPY** PHOTOS OR SNAPSHOTS BY OR BEFORE THE
ARTICLE DEADLINE.

    --or--

    2) YOU CAN LET ME KNOW IN ADVANCE THAT YOU WON'T HAVE PHOTOS. In this
case, if we use your article we'll commission an illustration, but we need
plenty of advance warning to know that.  Thanks!

     
    If you're going to mail photos, please mail them to Diana
Christian/Communities magazine, c/o [note new address]: 1025, Camp Elliott
Rd., Black Mountain, NC 28711.

    III. PERMISSION. Please send the article only when anyone you need an OK
from (such as fellow community members) has already been given. It¹s
difficult for us to get ready to run an article, only to find out that the
author hasn¹t gotten official permission to publish it yet. Ooops.
    --------

    If you¹re interested, please let me know. I can send Writers Guidelines
if you don¹t already have them. communities [at] ic.org  NEW PHONE: 
828-669-9702.

    Thanks very much! I look forward to hearing from folks inspired by this
issue theme.

    Diana Christian
    Editor, Communities magazine


P.S. IV. THE SUMMER '04 ISSUE

    Thank you, everyone who responded to the previous Call for Articles for
our Summer '04 issue "A Day in the Life," out in late June.  We're happy to
be publishing articles from people around the world.  They include:

    "By the Plume of Popocatepetl" -- In Tepoztlán, Mexico, Giovanni
Ciarlo's day at Huehuecoyotyl Ecovillage ends with a ceremony honoring
community elders. 

    "Summertime ? and the Livin's Busy" -- Liz Walker at Ecovillage at
Ithaca gives a tour to visiting architecture students and cooks a meal for
80. 

    "A Spring Day at Tamera" -- At this eco-spiritual community in Portugal,
Elizabeth Stewart works on a Middle East peace project and tutors teenagers
in English. 
ssage to a fellow member, counts towards community labor credit.

    "La Caravana Arcoiris por La Paz (The Rainbow Caravan of Peace)" -- This
nomadic band of performing eco-activists--now in Iquique, Chile--stilt-walk
and perform in the marketplace for free vegetables, and offer afternoon
workshops on dance improv, clowning, permaculture, consensus, and more. By
Alberto Ruz.

    "Pilgrimage in a Desert Monastery" -- In the mountains of Syria at Deir
Mar Musa monastery, Dianne Brause enjoys sunrise from her rock-niche cave,
fasts for Ramadan, and attends a mass sung in Arabic.

    "Seeing the Forest and the Trees, Part II" -- Can a founders of a
visionary business in community honor their values and still make a living?
Earthaven's Forestry Co-op almost succeeded.

    Plus "Living 'Lord of the Flies' at Strange Farm" by Sean Gaston, and
"How To Really Support Ecovillages (Not Just Hugs and Theories)," by Enrique
Hidalgo in Ecuador.