Building community... with Alacrity and Emotion

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What does it take for a community to thrive?

Communicates: We share information, ideas, news, and especially wisdom (life experiences that lead to awareness, frames of reference that serve us).

Quickly: To me this means that we share these energies when they are fresh, alive, and perhaps more meaningful to the community than if we wait. (Quick does not mean rushed. Sometimes sharing needs to ripen.)

Alacrity: Brisk and cheerful readiness! Oooh, how community benefits from that kind of generosity.

Emotion: There’s such richness in how we feel, especially when expressed. Art expresses emotion. Heartistry does, too.

Consider someone sharing something they read, like the above quote. It’s true, the quote alone might get you to consider how well it fits for you and what emotions might arise.

Here, I’ve taken this quote, which did need to ripen for 10 days since I saw it again, and… did you notice? I added my own frame.

Tribes → Community

Seth Godin wrote this in 2008, 13 years ago. For me in the 2020’s, my hope is the “strong loyalty to a tribe” captured in the mixed energy of the expression tribalism can move towards…

Cultivating an intentional community that serves its members profoundly well… while the benefits of its thriving ecosystem also extends out to every other we-space the members of the community are a part of.

How does that feel to you? What would you add?

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Commenting on the fly here … I’ve actually just started thinking about moving into co-housing.

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Co-housing is something @Cathy and I’ve dreamed about for a long time. In Asheville there are lots of experiments in co-housing, ecovillages, and more. It’s a challenge. And feels like a worthy one. I’m grateful for the people who are actively figuring that out.

I’ll be curious what you discover!

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I love this! Because yes, thriving to me includes having the benefits of a healthy ecosystem ripple out to nourish others as well, while also rippling inward to the depths of our being… There’s a balance of Yin and Yang continuing to transform, in each individual and in the immediate and larger communities.

(Baby waking; more later!)

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I have dreamed of living in co housing since the 1960s. But it would have to be with people who are curious, loving and hopefully fun. Yes I am a dreamer and maybe this won’t happen in my lifetime but who knows, it just might - somehow.

I often said if I won a big lottery I would like to create some co-housing with a place for healing traumas and more. There would be massages, food sharing and cooking, a place for music - playing instruments, singing, dancing, a creativity room, and oh so much more. It still excites me to think about this.

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