Over the course of this past week, the house I'm living in has started to take shape as a community. I've had interesting discussions with several of the folks, I taught composting to one person and I'm planning a sheet-mulched raised-bed with another. We finally have a chore list and we have a long awaited house meeting scheduled for Sunday. We've gotten through at least one tricky conflict and people are feeling good about each other.
The thing about community is that it's organic--and that means it moves on its own timetable. I need to keep remembering this. The things that are happening now are things I expected to happen in September, but that only goes to show that I'm not in control of how community unfolds.
It feels really good and I need to remember that there is much more to come, and a lot of it won't be what I expect. I remember a quote I read years ago that said (and this is from memory): "When venturing into the unknown, by definition, you don't know what you'll find." It's a good description of building community from scratch.
Quote of the day: "Keep in mind that our community is not composed of those who are already saints, but of those who are trying to become saints. Therefore let us be extremely patient with each other's faults and failures." - Mother Teresa
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2 comments:
It's never easy but that doesn't mean it's bad. I try to remember Stephen Fry's quote that everyone deep down wants to love and to be loved. If we can keep that in mind, we're halfway there. Good luck!
Oooh, I really like that quote. Thank you, I'm going to try to keep remembering that--for all my interactions.
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