Comments for A Visionary Communal Center

Comment on from New Community Vision by Terry Edlin

Terry Edlin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 02:50:00 +0000

Thanks so much, Natalie. I was just thinking today that diamonds are carbon until they are cut and polished. Our communities have the same potential. There are jewels and fertile fruit within our communities. It is our job to create the conditions in which these potentially vibrant people and resources can flourish.

Comment on Proposal by Terry Edlin

Terry Edlin — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 04:17:04 +0000

I am so excited by your vision and all of the input you’ve received. Let’s talk soon.

Comment on Sustainability by marla n

marla n — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:00:30 +0000

WOW!…Beautifully thought out plan..Thank you for sharing..and hope it is chosen!

Comment on Proposal by Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:14:22 +0000

Thank so much, Ric, that is a great idea. I will look into their community.

Comment on Proposal by Ric

Ric — Tue, 24 May 2011 13:43:52 +0000

Natalie,

This is an exciting proposal. I just wanted to give you a heads up on Reba Place Fellowship, a Christian intentional community that has been in south Evanston since 1957. Your vision is an exciting one and Reba Place might be a hepful ally.

Ric

Comment on Proposal by Natalie

Natalie — Thu, 19 May 2011 04:06:30 +0000

Thanks for your input! Can’t comment on my commenters, but I do agree that there is no need to wait until we have the perfect setup to serve our communities. It’s just that a public space dedicated to community and care might inspire service on a larger scale. In my vision the center would be anything but insular, and instead depend on public participation.

Comment on Proposal by Debbie

Debbie — Thu, 19 May 2011 03:24:00 +0000

I have just read the proposal as well as all the comments. Interesting concept. I do wonder how each of the people that have commented are contributing their time as well as their talents to their respective communities currently. Can you not just start with serving your community, ie the public at a soup kitchen for instance. Or do your ideas only work within the criteria you suggest as an enlightened type of community that seems insulated to mainstream society? Just asking.

Comment on Proposal by Natalie

Natalie — Wed, 11 May 2011 00:38:24 +0000

Thanks so much Casey, for your thoughtful criticism. I think that there would indeed have to be a shared intention, something along the lines of living in harmony with each other (meditation is helpful here), harmony with nature (i.e., sustainability), and a commitment to serving our community. I think that by living and working together, sharing a meditation practice, and serving the public, we will build strong relationship skills. I’m also hoping that we could hold various workshops, both spiritual and worldly, where we could learn specific skills. I’m looking forward to learning more about Intersubjective Meditation!

Comment on Proposal by Casey Capshaw

Casey Capshaw — Tue, 10 May 2011 17:06:41 +0000

I love this intention.

Personally, I would lead with skill building in interpersonal relationship. Here in Boulder, we have been pushing the edge of this concept with what some of us are calling Inter-subjective Meditation…which is a rather heady way to describe a way of relating that is decidedly non-intellectual. It is about feeling, communicating feeling, and receiving the communicated feeling of others.

The practice combines responsible communication, awareness of the present moment and facilitating inner exploration.

The result of this practice for us has been a deep shared reality that happens very fast. From this shared reality, mutual respect and appreciation naturally arises. With this mutual respect and appreciation, anything is possible.

We have not set a shared intention with our Boulder group beyond deepening our connection. Boulder is fairly progressive in the areas you mention, and we each seem to get our fill of engagement in many of these areas individually, outside of our relating groups.

We draw on the work of Susan Campbell http://www.susancampbell.com/
Authentic World in San Francisco http://www.authenticworld.org/
And many coaches and therapists in the Boulder region.

The power of starting with deep, healthy relating is that the group deepens connection and learns to deal directly with challenges(and opportunities), as they arise.

It is my belief, that without a shared practice in authentic relating, any endeavor such as this is doomed to fail…or merely flounder, no matter how ideal the intent. This is, after all, an exercise in community and communities function best with shared reality, shared vision, and shared intention.

Let me know if I can support from afar

case

Comment on Communal living by David

David — Sat, 07 May 2011 22:36:41 +0000

Like your Zen background. Eastern enthusiast here, too. Over the years, I have been interested in and made modest attempts at creating something similar (sans the community center). If interested, check out chicagocoop.net (“Small Intentional Community”). It’s an old post that didn’t produce much response. But it’s still a dream. Good luck w/ your own dream. Best wishes!