Category Archives: Intentional Communities

Cohousing Part I: Creating community and reducing social isolation Michigan State University Extension According to the UK Cohousing Network, Cohousing communities are intentional communities, created and run by their residents. Each household has a self-contained, personal and private home but residents come together to manage their community, ... and more »

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Cohousing Part I: Creating community and reducing social isolation - Michigan State University Extension

(Note: this piece was originally composed in response to Rebecca Bratten Weisss recent postwhere she wrote about how the evils of the world can often accompany the members into the life of lay intentional communities. Father Stephanos writes about the same phenomenon as a feature of the Benedictine monastictradition.Michael)

Here in the monastery we must work hard to screen out applicants who may have motivations or qualities that are unhealthy, mistaken, or unvirtuous. We dont always succeed at that.

During a mans formative years in the monastery before we permit him to profess perpetual vows, the man can hide his flaws until weve allowed him to make perpetual vows, and THEN the real person comes out. However, once hes in perpetual vows it can be very hard to deal with him, to get him to change and grow, or even to encourage him to leave if we determine that is necessary.

Sometimes during the formative years of a potential monk, we may see signs that he would not make a healthy, reasonable, basically good monk, but we, as a community, may fail to agree to confront the issues, and the majority of us might vote to let the man into perpetual vows. Then afterwards we end up struggling with the results.

Community life is hard work. It would be even more problematic and unrealistic if the monasterys goal were to be an Us-against-the-Outside-Option. That is not what St. Benedict had in mind. Rather than a mentality that would say, We are Christians inside the monastery, and people outside are not, St. Benedict wrote of the pride, stubbornness, and other vices that every monk has inside himself.

We monks with our personal flaws and gifts are a challenge and a support to each other in striving to be men of justice and charity in living together. It would be unhealthy, unwise, and unvirtuous if the monastic option were that of seeing the people inside the option as the good guys, but seeing those outside the option as the bad guys. No! For the real St. Benedict each man inside the monastic option is both a good guy and a bad guy. He wrote of his urgent expectation that the laity and clergy outside the monastery should hold those inside the monastery accountable for living virtuously. If all the monks were to connive at corrupting the monastery, St. Benedict wrote of having the laity and clergy outside the monastery step inside to stop it; he even said it would be a grave sin not to intervene. That is a real option a mandate from St. Benedict himself.

Fr. Stephanos Pedrano, O.S.B.

Prince of Peace Abbey

Oceanside, California

(image via Wikimedia Commons)

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Saint Benedict's Mandate - Patheos (blog)

Rosanna Xia, Los Angeles Times (TNS) 12:59 p.m. CT April 7, 2017

Varun Soni, dean of religious life at USC, speaks during a ceremony of prayer and remembrance for USC psychology professor Bosco Tjan, 53, of Cerritos.(Photo: Allen J. Schaben, TNS)

LOS ANGELES Varun Soni straightened his shoulders and grasped the lectern, his dark suit flanked by the stately white robes of priests and ministers.

A beloved professor had been stabbed to death. As USCs head chaplain, it fell to Soni to help the hundreds gathered outside that day to process their loss.

And so he spoke to them of the stories hed collected, the pain hed shared, the grief he had witnessed. And he offered words to help them, though not from the Bible or any other religious text.

People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel, he said, quoting Maya Angelou, before he bowed his head in a universal Amen.

Soni is an unusual college chaplain. He is a Hindu. He has a law degree. In 2008, when USC hired him as its dean of religious life, he was the sole head chaplain at a major American university who was not only not a Christian but not an ordained Christian at that. Today, at a time when differences religious and otherwise grow ever more fraught and complex, he remains all but alone in breaking the Protestant chaplain mold, except for a rabbi at Dartmouth, another at Wesleyan, a Buddhist at Emerson.

Its very, very hard to divorce the pomp and circumstances of academia from particularly Protestant traditions, said Dena Bodian, president of the National Assn. of College and University Chaplains. Chaplains like Varun enable us all to rethink what chaplaincy in higher ed could look like.

The job, after all, is about much more than Christianity. As USCs spiritual leader and moral voice, Soni oversees about 90 campus religious groups including atheists and agnostics, Bahais and Zoroastrians.

Inside and outside the lecture halls and dormitories, he bridges what he sees as the gap between the slow-moving wheels of academic change and a new generations impatience with tradition. He counters the tendency to split apart and subdivide with a message of tolerance, coexistence and respect.

If we want to know what religion is going to look like in the United States in 20 years, just look at whats happening on college campuses now, he said. Particularly at a time when our country is so polarized, and people arent speaking to each other.

"If we want to know what religion is going to look like in the United States in 20 years, just look at what's happening on college campuses now," said Varun Soni, dean of religious life at USC.(Photo: Allen J. Schaben, TNS)

Soni himself exemplifies the many in the one. He holds five degrees from Harvard Divinity School, UC Santa Barbara, UCLAs law school and the University of Cape Town, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation in religious studies on Bob Marley as a spiritual figure who used his work to spread a divine message. As an undergraduate at Tufts University, Soni studied in India at Bodh Gaya, where Buddha attained enlightenment.

Hes consulted for the Obama administration, produced a graphic novel and advises celebrity religious scholar Reza Aslan. The son of immigrant doctors, he was raised in Newport Beach, where he went to a Catholic elementary school and learned from his best friends, who were Jewish, and his grandfather, a Buddhist who grew up around Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhi, thats why I went to law school and studied religion, Soni said, nodding to a framed portrait hung alongside the Dalai Lama and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in his office. Those are my guys people who brought together the spiritual and the scholarly world for the purposes of social change.

What better place to bridge these two worlds than a college campus?

Its not easy, Soni acknowledged, to guide a generation that grew up seeing religion as a source of terrorism and patriarchy, whose institutions covered up child abuse and preached discrimination. More and more millennials are rejecting formal religion but seeking a spiritual sense of purpose.

It helps that Sonis approach centers more on commonality than God.

Were oriented around meaning and purpose and authenticity and identity and significance, he said. My concern is that as students leave traditional religious congregations, they havent been taught how to build an intentional community of like-minded people in a way that creates empathy and compassion and a sense of belonging. Thats compounded by the fact that this is a generation that was born into technology . You may have 500 friends on Facebook, but what does that mean in real life?

Around campus, hes facilitated interfaith retreats, promoted LGBTQ Bible studies and taught courses on misunderstood religions such as Islam and Sikhism. My programming is my pulpit, he likes to say. After the Trump administration announced a travel ban that alienated Muslims, his phone rang nonstop. Empowered by Sonis inclusive approach, dozens of students, professors and religious leaders rallied alongside their Muslim peers and attended a local mosque, where they joined in the midday Jumah prayer.

Varun does a good job of keeping us moving in the same direction, said Dov Wagner, a rabbi at USC.

Soni, who is 42, could be mistaken for a graduate student. His hair is cut in a fade. He often teaches in jeans. He knows how to speak to a generation used to abbreviations and hashtags.

One afternoon, he walked his students through the religious history of northern Indias Punjab, where his family is from. He rolled up his sleeve to show them his Sikh kara, a delicate steel bracelet he has worn since his mother gave it to him when he was small.

Traditionally, these are much thicker and protected ones wrist when you went to war, he said, attempting to mimic a sword fight with his hands. Luckily, my days of swordplay are over.

After class, one student came up and said he was Punjabi as well, then shyly reached out for a handshake.

Right on, Pun-ja-bis! Soni cheered.

Soni tries hard to reach everyone. As a way to include students who dont believe in God, for instance, he hired a humanist chaplain to collaborate with other religious leaders on campus.

Because of Varun, these other chaplains arent threatened by me, said Bart Campolo, who uses his skills as a former pastor to guide students in a secular way. Im not here to attack anybodys belief system. They realize Im just another guy trying to help students answer lifes ultimate questions.

Eugenia Huang, whose father died a week before she went off to college, said she was grateful to encounter Soni at a freshman dinner, at which he urged students to feel free to come talk to him.

I really liked the idea that he was about spirituality, instead of forcing any religion down my throat, Huang said. You often see people turn to religion when theyre sick or experiencing pain, and so I had always viewed it as something for the weak.

Now a sophomore, she is taking Sonis global religions course, which has changed her thinking: Im learning that a lot of the times, people turn to religion for the community and they just want to know: Whats our purpose?

Soni also has inspired a number of non-Christian students to pursue careers in religious leadership.

Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago has led the way in bringing college students of different faiths together. Founder Eboo Patel speaks of students whove learned from Soni as if theyre top players in a fantasy draft. The Buddhist who went to multiple divinity schools in order to one day be a campus chaplain like Soni. The Muslim doctor who is studying religious diversity as it applies to healthcare.

You dont get interested in that unless youre influenced by somebody like Varun, Patel said. Now multiply that by 25 or 50 young people a year, and multiply that by 10 or 15 years, and think about the number of people who are going into everything from diplomacy to chaplaincy to medicine to business who have a really refined sense of religious diversity.

As an ever more diverse group of religious leaders seeks positions on ever more diverse campuses, universities will need to let go of outdated assumptions about what a head chaplain should look like, said Adeel Zeb, the imam at the Claremont Colleges.

Were at a crossroads, said Zeb, who was elected recently as the first Muslim to lead the national group of college chaplains. If you start defining a chaplain as a spiritual healer, an ethical leader and emotional healer on campus, regardless of anyones faith traditions, if you start focusing on the human emotions and the human spirit, it enables more diverse possibilities.

One day in February, dozens of USC religious leaders of many faiths gathered in a conference room next door to Sonis office. It was their first all-chaplain meeting since President Trumps inauguration, and each came troubled by the anxieties their students were feeling.

Soni sat back and listened to his colleagues Episcopalian, Catholic, Mormon, Buddhist, Jewish weigh in on the hatred unleashed by the recent political rhetoric.

So what should our role be, running our different groups on campus? Soni asked. Is an attack on one religion an attack on all religions?

Campolo, the humanist chaplain, brought up the words of German Pastor Martin Niemoller, familiar to everyone in the room:

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak for me.

A fellow pastor led the group in a prayer. They stood in a circle, raised their right hands toward Soni and vowed as one to lead their communities on the path they all shared.

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Most college head chaplains are Christian. At USC, a Hindu leads the way - San Angelo Standard Times

PLUMSTEADVILLE, Pa. (AP) When it comes to the joys and challenges of raising foster and adopted children, "it really does take a village," said Mary Pappas, a Perkasie mother of five.

"You can feel very isolated."

Inspired by the role a supportive "village" plays in building healthy families, projects known as intentional neighborhoods are taking root across the country.

Within these communities, foster and adoptive families live and build relationships in a neighborhood of seniors, single-parent families, couples and others.

When Mary and her husband, Mark, who have two biological children, two adopted children and a 2-year-old foster child, learned of the pioneering concept and a plan to build one in Central Bucks, they were intrigued.

"The goal is not to be separate, but to bond with other neighbors," said Mary Pappas. "The common goal is to keep kids safe and build community."

It's a model that is proving successful, including Treehouse, in Easthampton, Massachusetts, which opened in 2006.

Pappas visited the village with other Bucks County residents as part of a program "Revisioning Foster Care in America."

"Treehouse was pretty amazing," Pappas said. There, elderly residents have bought homes to be part of the community by walking children to school, baby-sitting and mentoring.

Similar communities are operating in Tampa, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Portland, Oregon.

Recently, a Bucks County nonprofit, BeTheFamily, began searching for a property to create a neighborhood, said Marco Munari, a founder of the organization.

While not part of a church, the new organization is an outgrowth of a Doylestown church's ministry that started 10 years ago to support adoptive and foster parents, said Munari's wife.

"We have a passion and a desire to wrap around those marginalized in our community and are just taking the steps necessary to find the right location for our family and those we will be serving," said Michelle Munari in an email.

In an informal presentation to Plumstead supervisors recently, Marco said such neighborhoods are designed to provide "a sense of belonging, self-worth and community through direct involvement and relationships."

Still somewhat rural, Plumstead is of interest to BeTheFamily because the organization's vision includes a therapeutic farm where residents could help with farming responsibilities, Michelle Munari said. She and her husband stressed that the effort is still in its infancy.

Experts on child welfare and foster care agree the need for quality foster homes is great, as is the need for caring communities to support them.

"There's a drastic shortage of quality foster homes," said Debra Schilling Wolfe, executive director of the Field Center at the University of Pennsylvania. "It's a national crisis."

The intentional neighboring model is a "really wonderful way of giving back. It's a community taking responsibility for the care of kids," she said.

Wolfe cautioned there are also concerns about communities where foster and adoptive children live together.

"It's very easy to be idealistic, but foster kids bring with them baggage from earlier homes. ... Their trauma has to be addressed," Wolfe said. Foster children, and their foster parents, also have unique safety and confidentiality issues, she noted. More evaluation of the model is needed, Wolfe said.

It's because of the special needs that Mary Pappas finds neighborhoods designed specifically to support those with foster and adopted children appealing.

"People say oh, my kid does this or that, but they can't appreciate the difference in a foster child," Pappas said. "They are rooted in different trauma. They have loss experiences from their first family."

To be in a community where others understand that would be helpful to parents and children alike, Pappas said. "I would love to see it happen."

As a real estate agent, Pappas said she is keeping an eye out for potential properties in Bucks County.

Lynne Rainey, executive director of Bucks County Children and Youth Services, called the concept innovative.

"The safety and welfare of children is a community concern," she said. "We all share in the well-being of kids."

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Intentional neighborhoods take root across country - LancasterOnline

A few years ago, I started writing a novel that was loosely based on my recollections of having grown up in and out of a series of attempted religious communities. As I wrote, I collected material from others with similar experiences, and the anecdotes piled high. Eventually I realized that some of the stories were so over-the-top, mere realism would be insufficient to convey the bizarre intensity of life on the outside of the ordinary parameters of modern American experience, and a sort of magical realist/ gothic mashup would be better. Magical realism as a sub-genre has a special place in tale-telling of post-colonial or marginalized communities. And there is something post-colonial, something of the feel of the immigrant, when you come out of community life and dwell in the mainstream. As my collection of anecdotes piled high, I found myself thinking, repeatedly, damn, this is good. I HAVE to use this one. Of course, in the ethos of the storyteller, good usually means excruciatingly bad, painful, embarrassing, tragic.

So, yes, escapees from intentional community have stories to tell, and many are painful. My own experiences verge more on the grotesquely humorous, and some of my memories are happy ones, so even now, when the experiments are over, I still can understand why something like the Benedict Option would appeal to people. In a way, it is a beautiful dream.

Because, you see, the Benedict Option though not by that name was around for a good forty years before Dreher sat down to write. My father was one of several who came up with the idea. While running a raucous bar in Chapel Hill, NC, he was also reading Thomas Merton and Louis Bromfield and Ralph Waldo Emerson, and eventually came to the conclusion that the best bet for Christians in the modern world was to come out and be set apart. He even drew on his understanding of St. Benedicts communities, with a special stress on the notion of ora et labora.

Because my father opted actually to do the thing, instead of sitting in an office writing a book about it, you have never heard of him. Which means, I suppose, that his attempt was fairly successful. But these attempts are never all that successful.

My novel The Serpent Motif ended up being 180,00 words long, which means too long to interest agents for hard-copy publications, so Im trimming it down a bit while I work on another, shorter project. And from a theoretical standpoint I could also wax overly verbose, on the idea of intentional religious community, why it is attractive, and why it wont work. I have had first-hand experience of just how things can go wrong, and lots of second-hand stories about other ways they can go even more wrong.

And theres something touchingly tragic about it: because on a fundamental level, one can see the appeal of the idea, and many of those who attempted it did so with the noblest of intentions.

Sam Rochas recent review of The Benedict Option details some of the areas in which Drehers conceptualization fails. Rocha, like me, has first-hand experience of what an attempt at community feels like. Fr. Stephanos Pedrano, guest-writing for Steel Magnificat, details why the Option isnt especially Benedictine.

And there are other problems: when you try to come Out (or In?), whatever you feared in the World comes in with you, into your microcosm. Its ironic that my fathers first community was called New Eden. Into every Eden, a serpent will come. We tend to bring it in with us. Want to escape from overweening tyrannical power? Too bad, you probably brought it with you, and you will find the community dominated by whichever leader (usually male) has the loudest voice and the least empathy. Want to escape from sexual perversion? Ha. Have I got some stories! Its amazing just how perverse people can be, on the land, when no one is looking. Want to escape from a welfare system in which those who dont work wont eat? I can assure you, you will be shelling beans or building a cabin while nearby some hanger-on rambles on forever about how misunderstood he is. Tired of nitpicking bureaucracy? Your community will be filled with nitpickers, happy to call you out if your daughters skirts are too short, or if your sons have been listening to evil music like (gasp) Simon and Garfunkel.

Communities like this tend to attract those who are unable to get along in the ordinary world, and whatever it was that made them unable to get along, they will bring in with them.

But the main thing I want to touch on, here, is why the idea of radical separation into intentional community is delusional from the start. And that has to do with money.

Money creates systemic dependence. Thats why agrarianism is a needed component in any marginally successful effort. Independence from the System means creating an alternative inter-dependence on the land. Back in the late eighties, my family and others were involved in ongoing discussions about this, with others involved in Caelum et Terra, the brainchild of Daniel Nichols. Nichols, like my father, gets the hipster cred here: he came up with the Benedict Option before it was cool. Too bad they didnt patent it.

Now, today, David Russell Mosley writes about Michael Martins Sophia Option, as an alternative to Drehers approach. Martin is a biodynamic farmer (I have him to thank for my fine horseradish planting), and understands better than a journalist what is entailed in creating a network of interconnections that differ from those in the neo-liberal capitalist system. I would suggest that any attempt at intentional community that neglects agrarianism is already problematic, because it means that one remains absolutely dependent on money, and therefore on capitalism, and therefore on industry, and therefore on the whole global military industrial complex. Which means, if you think youre set apart, youre just fooling yourself. You are living immersed in structural evil, and limply virtue-signalling.

But even with agrarianism, its impossible to avoid money. We tried. We lived on someone elses land, so there were no taxes. My parents had no money-earning work outside the home, but we lived almost entirely on garden produce. We had electricity, but no running water, no telephone, certainly no television. We heated our home with a wood stove, and my father spent all day every day all winter just cutting wood, with a bowsaw and axe (no noisy chainsaws to disturb the tranquility of nature), in order to keep one room of the house livable.

But we still needed a little money, and relied heavily on donations from those who remained complicit in the system. Which means we were complicit in the system, even if we pretended not to be.

The Onion had a funny piece, recently, about how Noam Chomsky trying just to enjoy a normal day, but everything he sees reminds him of our dependence on neoliberal global imperialsm. I sympathize. I would like to create a culture in which I know that nothing I use is made by slave labor or via environmental despoilment. I would like to rely entirely on hand-tools that dont depend on fossil fuels, and derive my energy from renewable resources. Forget about the incredible challenges of going off-grid in our society. The challenge even buying work clothes that dont tie me in with slave labor is so great, I occasionally have what my husband jokingly refers to as Noam Chomsky moments.

Unless we run off into the wild and live by foraging, and clad ourselves in natural fibers, we are locked into the System.

And even if we were to do this, the System would go on.

Unless, of course, it collapses: this was what I was raised to believe would happen, and now I regard with amusement the feverish attempts of Preppers to prepare for it.

In the Prepper mind, once the System collapses, well all be living like survivalists, foraging and hunting, growing things from open-pollinated seed. But this is again sheer fantasy. We have so depleted our natural resources, the only way a nation of Preppers would survive off the land is if most of them were killed off in the apocalyptic event, first. As it stands, an America full of trigger-happy survivalists out there bagging game for their families will wipe out the deer population in no time at all. I suppose eventually the Preppers will get around to eating one another. Radial inter-dependence on community, indeed.

So what we have to admit is that no matter how diligently we attempt to distance ourselves from the System, we are still locked into it. Or else living on a mountain dressed in goat-hide, eating one another.

So as Christians who take a serious moral stance in relation to structural evil (though we may differ in our ideas of what structural evil is: what I fear is not at all the things Dreher fears) what do we do? There have to be a range of middle grounds between total acceptance of a system that generates destruction, and the sort of radical self-sufficiency that leads to degradation, failure of community, and ultimately cannibalism (metaphorical, if not literal). I hope that, at least, the publication of Drehers book will open up more space for these conversations. But in order to sort out what is and isnt possible, we need to start by being honest with ourselves about just how dependent we really are.

Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jean-Fran%C3%A7ois_Millet_(II)_001.jpg (This painting of The Angelus by Millet was iconic in my upbringing, an image of the dream my father had of the life of work and prayer on the land)

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my family did the benedict option before it was cool - and here's why ... - Patheos (blog)

Were not really Pagans. We have a Pagan veneer over the top of a Christian and secular life. Until we have permanent lands that we live on, are born on, and die on, we wont be Pagans. Wade Mueller

Those words by presenter Wade Mueller caused a noticeable change in the room during his presentation onBuilding an Expanding the Pagan Homelandat Paganicon. Attendees shuffled in their seats, some leaning forward as if to agree, while others leaned back, distancing themselves from that statement.

Wade Mueller [Courtesy Photo]

His presentation focused on how Pagans can create new homelands and why it is vitally important that we do so.

The importance of a homeland

At the beginning of his presentation, Mueller noted the paradox in members of earth-based religions meeting in a hotel to discuss creating a Pagan homeland. He then noted that while Paganism is growing, the numbers of permanent Pagan places are, in his opinion, dwindling.

We are now a religion of nomads yet all of our traditions are based on place. If we want Paganism to to move past where we are now, a social gathering, we need to do something different, stated Mueller. That something different is to buy land to create Pagan communities, businesses, and worship centers.

Attendee Steven Posch appeared to agree, Paganism is tribal, its not what you do in your own room. We need the social skills to become a tribe. If we are still going to be here in 100 years we need to do this.

In Muellers view, modern Pagans arent truly Pagans because we havent yet connected to our Gods as deeply as our ancestors, Right now its chaos. The Gods dont respect us. We turned our backs on them. The onus isnt on them to reach out to us, we need to reach out to them.

He says the only way to regain that connection is to live as Pagans on the land where you were born, where you grow your food, raise your children, honor the Gods, and rest your bones when you die. He believes those activities change the land itself, making it more sacred over the generations and encouraging the Gods to be more present and repairing the broken relationship between humanity and the Gods.

Why Pagan infrastructure projects fail

Mueller outlined how modern Pagans in the USA have typically tried to create lasting infrastructure and why those efforts so often fail. He said a few people come up with an idea to buy land or make a community center. They then appeal to the larger Pagan community to become involved and try to build consensus. That, in Muellers opinion, is where the problem starts.

The problem is when you take into account the opinions of people who will not help do the work or contribute to it, he explains. Thats where we go wrong. The decisions need to be made by those who are contributing.

His advice is to get a small group of very dedicated people who share the same clearly defined vision. He suggests no more than 2 to 5 people. If you have a group of 5 people who are all on the same page, getting together $10,000 to buy a few acres of land is easy, says Mueller.

It may take some time to raise the funds, but he says people who know each other and are committed will put $50 in the pot rather than buy an amber necklace for themselves.

He advises keeping all decision making confined to your core group and not asking the community what they want. He warns this may cause hurt feelings in the wider community as they hear about your project and want to become involved, but to not give in out of fear of hurting feelings.

Feelings dont help. Feelings dont put nails in walls.

He added that leaders willing to undertake such an important task must stay true to their vision and not let it get diluted or hanged by those outside their core group, You have to be willing to say this is who we are, this is what were doing and not back down.

He adds thatyou dont ask the community what they want built, you build it and the community will come and enjoy it later.

A second reason why many Pagan infrastructure projects fail, according to Mueller, is because the founders and the community are looking to benefit now themselves, rather than making sacrifices for the benefit of the next generation.

Mueller says Pagans need to come to terms that what they build is not theirs to enjoy, but for their descendants, Separate yourself from the now.We are building for the next generation so they can be Pagans. Thats our sacrifice.

Mueller is no stranger to sacrifice. When he was 23 he says he realized he could either devote his energy to raising a family or creating a Pagan intentional community, but not both. So he opted for a vasectomy and his legacy is the land he is shaping.

He encouraged attendees to be practical, understand that they will lose money for at least ten years, and to focus on what they are building for the next generation and be willing to make that sacrifice.

Mueller is looking to compile a list of other Pagan groups who are active, own land, and are open to the public or forming an intentional community. He hopes the groups can share tips and encourage other groups to take the plunge.

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Wade Mueller speaks on the need for Pagan homelands | The Wild ... - The Wild Hunt

Work as we know it is changing. With an emerging gig economy, and the advent of technologies that allow us to work from almost anywhere, many self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs are discovering that sometimes, working from home can be a little lacking: not much social interaction nor professional networking.

So it probably makes sense that communal coworking spaces have boomed in the last few years, catering to these independent professionals who crave the community and perks that working from home can't offer. But there's more to it than just having a nicer space to work in. If you're already working from home or from a caf, and are curious, here are a few surprising reasons to try coworking out, and why the burgeoning coworking movement can benefit local communities as well.

Perhaps one of the main reasons why people join coworking spaces is to feel less isolated. Coworking spaces can provide not only inspiring, shared office spaces and amenities like real meeting rooms, they can also help people network, swap skills and build their businesses in an organic way -- something that's much more difficult if you're working from home.

Of course, there's also the trap of sterile, "soulless" coworking places as well. So how can one separate the wheat from the chaff? As Brooklyn-based Friends coworking space founder Tina Roth-Eisenberg puts it:

Unlike most co-working spaces, I believe in keeping things small. Small community, small space. I dont believe in looking at it like a business. A co-working space should have a value system in place that everyone understands, that creates a kind, safe, supportive environment where people feel at home.

Read more: Successful coworking spaces should be built like 'intentional communities'

Another big reason for going the coworking path is flexibility and a better work-life balance. Without the need to be tied to a specific place and time to work, many location-independent professionals now have more options to balance work with play. I noted:

But why work where you live if you can take your work with you and travel? The rapid growth of co-working hubs around the world are fueling an emerging trend where some entrepreneurs, self-employed digital nomads and remote professionals are opting for what's called a "startup retreat", "co-working retreat", "co-working vacation" or a "co-workation" -- a more structured, exotic version of a regular co-working space membership, one could say.

Even if you can't travel to far-off, exotic places to cowork, one can even join a mobile coworking space that makes daily rounds for biking, hiking and surfing (of the beach kind). And if you really can't get out and have kids, you can find a coworking space with childcare.

Read more: Can co-working vacations offer a better work-life balance? Mobile coworking bus lets professionals work, hike, bike & surf Why aren't more co-working spaces offering childcare -- and a list that do

The Wing

Much has been written about how this generation's young people value perks when it comes to choosing a place of employment. That's no different from selecting a shared office space. Many communal work places offer in-house gyms, yoga classes, climbing walls, playgrounds and one even has its own plant army. And hey, if you also want to only cowork and network with women entrepreneurs? There are spaces for you, too.

Read more: Why the rise of women-only co-working spaces makes sense

The Crew Collective

As I write this, I'm sitting in a magnificent bank building in Old Montreal built in the 1920's that was abandoned in 2010. It has since been revitalized and turned into a publicly accessible caf and coworking space managed by The Crew Collective.

Across town, Temps Libre in Montreal's innovation hub is another coworking space that is doing things a bit differently: in addition to being a non-commercial coworking space, they offer the local community a library, an arcade and a cooperatively managed, flexible space and caf that's open to everyone. There are plenty of these hybrid communal spaces popping up all over the world, waiting to be discovered. Coworking spaces, if done with a larger vision in mind, can revitalize and benefit the local communities they are a part of.

hubudbali/via

Working remotely and coworkations can be taken even further into the realm of full-time digital nomadism. But being a digital nomad isn't easy; there's a lot of planning that goes into selecting places to live and a period of disorientation and not knowing anybody when you first land in a new locale.

To counter that, some now offer "global co-living subscriptions" that allow members to live and work in a number of locations around the world, such as this one that has residences in Miami, Bali and Madrid:

A startup called Roam is piloting an interesting new model where participants can sign a lease to live in various co-living spaces around the world. The idea is to foster a global community of digital nomads, while giving them a network of places to call home.

There's also cheaper and more hostel-like versions for travelling professionals, like PodShare, a "coworking and co-living community" in Los Angeles:

PodShare makes life more affordable because there is no security deposit or cost of furnishings and we provide flexible living. Pod life is the future for singles which are not looking to settle down, but focus on their startups and experience something new. [..] Were creating a social network with a physical address. Our open-floor model offers the highest rate of collisions for social travelers. We do not identify with hostelswe are a co-living space or a live-work community.

Even self-employed professionals with kids can transform themselves into digital nomad families who worldschool their kids: with the abundance of online learning opportunities, as well as real-life, hands-on educational moments found during travel or even in a coworking space abroad, working in a different and more fulfilling way is becoming more possible than ever for a growing number of people.

And hey, if you really love working from home but still crave some social interaction, you can consider setting up a coworking space in your own home.

Read more: Have work, will travel: How digital nomads are redefining work Roam: "Global co-living subscription" lets you sign a lease to live in different locations PodShare: Pod-based co-working and co-living community flourishing in LA How 'worldschooling' parents are educating their kids -- by traveling the world (Video) Hoffice project lets people share their homes as free co-working spaces

Read more:

5 reasons why there's more to coworking spaces than just work - Treehugger

Kids and kids. Photo by Christina

Every once in a while, I wonder why we decided to move our little family halfway across the countrywhy we decided to leave behind our house, extended family, jobs, schools, and a giant patch of black raspberries in our back yard.

Christina, here, writing about this weeks reasons why.

My week started off with a game of Capture the Flag on Sunday afternoon. Of the many ways that we play here, this is perhaps my favorite. Kids and adults sprinting along the paths, hiding behind buildings, chasing each other and screaming and laughing. I dont remember which team got more points, but I do remember Hassans long legs taking him and the other teams flag across the border. Being able to go outside my house, run around and laugh for 45 minutes or so with eight other friends, and then walk right back to my house with no driving, little coordinating, and no additional stress to my schedule is a great reason to move here.

Last Monday was cold and rainyit was a good day for meetings. As we gear up for the season, getting ready for tours and visitors and new residents, were busy figuring out how to make their experience here the best it can be. So I had a meeting with the tour guides and a second meeting about how to be a liaison for new residents. It might seem strange to say that meetings are a reason to move here, but when youre living in an intentional way with the people around you, it means lots of talking about how things should be done. It also means lots of listening and learning from other people. Thats not necessarily something thats always valued in mainstream society, so I am glad to go to meetings. Its worth it to me to move halfway across the country so that I can talk to other people and figure things out.

Tuesday was probably the best game of Ultimate frisbee of the season. Im not a sports person, and I hate running, and yet I love playing Ultimate. I never feel anything less than completely welcome and accepted when I play. No matter how many times I miss a catch or throw the frisbee off into the field, the other players are thrilled when I show up to play. And I feel the same way about anyone new who wants to give it a try. Besides the extra community vibes, sweating for an hour is a great way to get some cheap therapy. Problems dont matter quite as much after a good workout. Its not that it was impossible to exercise in my previous life, but it wasnt ever quite as much fun, and it definitely wasnt so convenient.

Wednesday night was another special song circle. It was raining again, but we trekked over to Red Earth Farms to sing around the table at Gooseberry. Alyson had filled the house with candles and lamplight, and we sat around in a circle singing new songs and ones weve known for a while. Ive written before about how much I love to have singing in my life, so I wont go into it all again. But when I think about what kind of coordination, driving, and tiredness would have accompanied a similar type of night in my old life, I realize that I am very glad that we packed everything up and drove those thousands of miles last year.

Thursday night was Pizza Night. I worked behind the counter making pizzas at the Milkweed Mercantile for the second time. It was a super busy night, and I spent three hours getting pizzas in and out of the oven as fast as I could. I didnt get much time to look up from the containers full of pizza ingredients, but when I did, I saw friends from the tri-communities and locals from Memphis and other nearby towns, and they were all having a good time. Ive always loved cooking, and being able to contribute to peoples special night out of the week is something that I couldnt have done in my past life, when working my one full-time job consumed pretty much all of my time and energy.

Friday was a tiny but pleasant community dinner. In fact, it was just our family plus Alyssa, Bear, and Zane, and a slightly late Thomas. We ate our regular old food, talked for 45 minutes or so, and then went home to get ready for bed. Soon enough well have the big community dinners of summer, when circle up is outdoors and consists of 30 or 40 people, when the common house and courtyard picnic tables are full of conversation, and when dinner might spill into a bonfire or an after dinner swimming session. But for now, we had a quick dinner, a few laughs, and went home. Simple, low-key socializing is probably one of my favorite reasons for living here, and so worth everything that weve left behind.

Saturday, I got to see a goat parade. I was busy pulling weeds in the garden, when I looked down Crooked Route and saw Mae leading a group of brand new goat kids, walking with their moms and Donkey. As you might imagine, this adorable parade added more kids (of the human kind) who were more than happy to carry some of the baby goats. Nobody moved very fast, but they were all cute beyond words, and also pretty hilarious. When we lived in the suburbs, if we wanted farm animals or other children for my own kids to play with, we would have to get in the car, drive, park, and maybe even stand in line or buy something. Now, the fun comes to us. And I can even keep working on my weeding at the same time.

Its become easy recently to take this life for granted, to forget how special it is, and how wonderful it is that my kids will have the privilege of growing up here. When I get so busy teaching homeschool or rushing to Pizza Night or scheduling meetings (or trying to finish this update before the deadline), I dont always stop to feel thankful for everything that I have.

Life here isnt always easy, but it is always pretty great.

Our first tour of the season will be this Saturday, April 8th at 1 pm! Reservations not required. Tours are free, though donations to help us continue our educational and outreach efforts are gratefully accepted. Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage is an intentional community and educational nonprofit outside Rutledge, MO, focused on demonstrating sustainable living possibilities. Public tours of the village happen on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month, April-October. For directions, call the office at 660-883-5511 or email us at dancingrabbit@ic.org. To find out more about us, you can also check out our website: http://www.dancingrabbit.org.

Link:

This Week's Reasons Why - Memphis Democrat

On March 30, St. Louis Mayor Francis G. Slay invited community stakeholders to join area law enforcement to hear the Department of Justice present the Diagnostic Analysis for the City of St. Louis, Missouri. I heard information well known to all and a few new things. At the end of the presentation, recommendations were made comprised of evidence-based outcomes (successful in other communities) and a call for leadership and coordination.

As the DOJ analysis was flashed on the screens, the poorest neighborhoods were the sites for the vast majorities of murder. In the past, the luxury of affluence facilitated the lack of concern for the conditions in other neighborhoods. But individuals are no longer containing their actions to just those neighborhoods. Social media and new attitudes find the gun battles and criminal behavior common to underserved areas now spreading to Busch Stadium, downtown, and on or around our university campuses.

Our city leaders reactions to the consistent reporting of Americas most dangerous city is to whine or deny. Now it is time to say to the nation, Yes, we have a problem, and heres what we are doing about.

If the city does address the crime problem in a holistic way, as laid out by the Department of Justice, potential investors will pick other cities and the businesses we have will leave. Lost investment means lost jobs, lost taxes, lost status and decline for everyone.

St. Louis is the economic engine for our state, a regional giant, but an injured behemoth. Our injuries like most large cities are a combination of globalism, long-standing racial divisions and crime. The fallout of Ferguson put a spotlight on our city and metropolitan area and the perception that our crime problem is growing out of control.

For too long, stable, thriving neighborhoods have felt comfortable in ignoring and thereby enabling other neighbors to become failed states. Current history has clearly demonstrated in Somali, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen, Iraq and now Syria that failed states affect the security and economy of a region.

As the DOJs report pointed out, the elements to reduce our violent crime are present. We need strong, honest leadership that utilizes smart strategic policing; coordinated surges of social services to underserved communities with a focus on being trauma-informed; intentional aesthetic improvements; intentional smart reintegration of ex-offenders to the communities; and presence in those communities.

What I mean by presence is if the mayor shows up in distressed communities, as well as thriving neighborhoods, it shows the residents they care. Many youths interviewed for the DOJ Analysis expressed that no one cares. It is time to prove to all citizens that St. Louis cares that all should do well.

Rev. Rodrick Burton is the pastor of New Northside Missionary Baptist Church, vice president of the Ecumenical Leadership Council, member of the St. Louis Metropolitan Clergy Coalition, and board member of the St. Louis Initiative to Reduce Violence.

Excerpt from:

Open letter to next St. Louis mayor on crime - St. Louis American

Grant applications to Crow Wing Energized, a community movement led by Essentia Health and Crow Wing County Community Services to improve health and wellness in the community by making healthy choices essential, are being accepted, a news release stated. The first application deadline is April 15.

Organization criteria for applying includes serving or being located within Crow Wing County, including but not limited to: neighborhood, youth or environmental groups; faith-based organizations; health care organizations; civic or citizens' associations; economic development agencies; local government entities; local businesses; school districts and other similar groups. Applicants are not required to be incorporated 501(c)3 organizations.

Applicant projects need to align with the Crow Wing Energized guiding principles as well as Minnesota Department of Health Statewide Health Improvement Partnership's financial guide:

Creating and sustaining a united approach to improving health and wellness in Crow Wing County

Collaborating towards solutions with multiple stakeholders (e.g. schools, worksites, medical centers) to improve community engagement and commitment focused on improving community health

Being anchored in evidence based efforts around greatest community good that can be achieved through available resources.

The Healthy Community Grants are made available through SHIP funding that was awarded to Crow Wing Energized. Grant applications are reviewed by the Crow Wing Energized community leadership team and goal groups:

The healthy choices goal group develops sustainable strategies and encourages healthy choices by increasing access to healthy foods, increasing active living opportunities and helping to promote and support the healthy environments.

The mental fitness goal group encourages and equips citizens in achieving and maintaining mental fitness by building networks throughout the county for achieving resilience, increasing the practice of intentional choices to help reduce stress and anxiety and educating communities to increase the knowledge of mental fitness so it will help to make positive choices regarding their overall health.

The workplace wellness goal group helps to create a healthy and energized workforce by increasing employee satisfaction, maximizing productivity, minimizing absenteeism and helping to reduce health care costs.

For a Healthy Community Grant Application visit http://www.crowwingenergized.org and click on "Resources," or to learn more about Crow Wing Energized and what its community partners are currently doing, contact Cassie Carey, Crow Wing Energized coordinator, at cassie.carey@crowwingenergized.org or 218-828-7443.

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Healthy Community Grants available through Crow Wing Energized - Brainerd Dispatch