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January 25, 2019

Intentional Communities

By Clare Garfield

I have always been fascinated by kibbutzes. On trips to Israel I have visited a couple but only as a paying guest without much interaction with the kibbutzim. I love the idea of everyone working together to support the entire community, yet having your own space within that community. This has always been my ideal scenario—to have people around but solitude when you want it. And wouldn’t it be great if all those people were your friends and family?

A few years ago an older couple I knew decided to move to an “intentional community.” I had never heard of one. According to Wikipedia, an intentional community is “a planned residential community designed from the start to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork.” The members of an intentional community typically hold common values and share responsibilities and resources. In some ways it would be similar to any retirement community but with the residents determining what the community needs are. Inevitably, as with any group, there would be conflicts, but hopefully they could be kept to a minimum with a very clear set of guidelines from the outset.

If I don’t end up trying to create one on my own or join one that someone else is creating, a middle ground for me would be living in an area near as many of my friends as possible, probably western MA. This is something I am going to think further and write more about. Please comment if you have any ideas on this topic.

 

Comments

  1. . Good comment and I like your idea. (re western Ma.)

  2. Cheryl says:

    I have always liked the idea of turning empty malls into an indoor communities for seniors. They can take each individual store/retail space and make a cute studio, 1 bedroom, or 2 bedroom apartments – the walking area of the mall can be a grass path and have a green/evironment path for wheelchairs, walkers, and canes. They can put small cafes where the food court is – design medical wellness center where the administration offices are for these malls . . . they are huge!!

    The malls are located on the bus route, ambulance, and hospital 911 dispatch – so no changes there.

    Some of these malls have small theaters – they can invite local talents to entertain – it’s a win/win the folks are getting entertainment, and the performers are gaining more fans.

    Just some thoughts . . . can you tell I have been thinking about this for some time – I have a notebook filled with THIS idea!

    Peace & Harmony

    1. Interesting idea Cheryl! Thanks for reading and commenting.

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