Comments 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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

By: Mary Watson

Mary Watson — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:21:46 +0000

David Brooks in his book “The Social Animal” points out the importance of community as a support for working families of lower to middle income. As an example he mentions the high rise apartments which were thought to be an improvement for families living in old, derelict houses but instead destroyed the support systems in the communities which had developed over many years. The high rise apts became crime ridden and a type of ghetto. Brooks emphasizes the opportunities available to wealthier families and the time for encouragement to their children create a divide between the classes. If a support group, in the form of this community center you propose, was able to provide this encouragement to poorer families, you may find the children are much more able to cope and excel in school and in life.

By: Natalie

Natalie — Mon, 02 May 2011 21:46:46 +0000

Hi Mary Anne, thanks for posting. You are correct that it would be a co-housing situation, except for the fact that the whole community has to get behind the idea, so it must also be a community center. I think that in order to be environmentally sustainable and carbon neutral, it would have to be within one large building, but I’m no expert on green building. I sure hope that you can come to the meeting, but if not, please post here whatever you find on co-housing that might be helpful. Thank you!

By: Mary Anne

Mary Anne — Mon, 02 May 2011 11:13:55 +0000

Just Google “Co-housing in America”

And this is the Association for the USA:

http://www.cohousing.org/