Cohousing-L Mailing List: Key Principles of Cohousing [was Is cohousing a consumer product?

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Sat, Mar 11, 2023 at 7:57 PM rebecca.selove <rebecca.selove [at] gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks everyone for the interesting comments.  As a member of a forming
> community I have a question for those of you who have lived in cohousing 10
> years or so: what do you think are the key principles that ought to be
> explained to people who are checking us out?

I would suggest that explaining principles and “contracts," as others have 
suggested, is probably not the best way to explain how a community works. 
Instead, describe what happens. How is this or that space used? What kinds of 
gatherings occur each week? 

What are the points of view that are affecting a decision you are making? Give 
an example of how a problem was solved, even if it is an old one. 

People may be happy with doing things this way or that but not agree that it is 
the result of believing in a certain principle. And some people rebel a the 
idea of “contracts”. Their fear of community is based on being constricted in 
one way or another.

Sharon
----
Sharon Villines, Washington DC
"Behavior is determined by the prevailing form of decision making." Gerard 
Endenburg