Sometimes it’s time to change

A major revelation occurred while sick with the flu recently. First time ill with influenza in many, many years, and I was vaccinated, too. During my illness and recovery, however, insights emerged for me to understand and now share. Have struggled in recent years with the idea of living in an intentional community. Struggled with the pros and cons of people choosing cooperative living. Grew up in a conventional nuclear family. Much of my adult life, however, was spent living in intentional communities of one kind or another, and also with others in quasi-or-semi-intentional communities. I’d placed high value on sharing resources, minimizing individual space, minimizing expenses, supporting each other in living the lives we chose, and all the joys and life lessons from living cooperatively with other people. ICs made economic, environmental, and ecological sense. One learned and improved skills in effective communication and conflict resolution. Such communities were a great cure for loneliness and a wonderful place both to raise children and to age in grace. People had the freedom to explore and practice living alternative lifestyles such as polyamory. They provided a network for spontaneous social interaction of a kind rapidly disappearing from our fractured, mobile, technologically-focused civilization.  Continue reading →