Intentional Communities – Living in a Community You Create
Living in communes was once a symbol of the so-called hippie movement in the sixties. It conjures up images of long hair, patchwork jeans, and living a carefree life away from modern society. Well, community is back -- but not in the way you might think. The movement to live with like-minded people outside of traditional social arrangements has evolved into a mix of old ideals and new realities. It's also something to keep in mind when thinking about retirement.
The phenomenon of group living is now called living in intentional communities. Instead of hippies looking to live from hand to mouth, they involve modern people who have jobs, want to raise kids, and lead responsible lives. They can also involve different types of housing arrangements, varying from the sharing of a hotel building to the development of a housing community in the middle of a desert. The one thing all these modern communities have in common is that the people living in them have something in common as well, and they want to share it with each other as neighbors.
What they have in common can range from religion to politics. As long as a group of people who would prefer to live in close proximity to one another exist, there is a community to be built. In a sense, community living represents a return to the old, as well as change for the new. They combine the familiarity and closeness communities used to have before the modern age with the variety, technology, and resources that same age brings with it today. Whereas in the old days everyone intimately knew their neighbors because of location and family, in intentional communities everyone knows each other because they have specifically chosen to be neighbors. “Know your neighbor” meets “choose your neighbor” in today's intentional communities.
For some, the ability to choose who they live with isn't enough. It's perhaps why the communes of the sixties never survived. As much as a group of people might have the desire to live in peace and harmony with others, dreams and intentions alone simply don't pay the bills. Today's intentional communities need planning, resources, as well as permits and licenses from the very towns and communities some want to escape. You can't do those things without a significant investment of time and money. You also need people who are completely devoted to the idea. It's no use building a community if some decide they don't want to stick it out after only a short period of time.
Many baby-boomers are considering this option for retirement. Often people ready for retirement would like to continue to be involved in multi-generational communities. Also, as people approach retirement, the isolation that single-family living brings is no longer appealing. Also, in the case of people bonded by a common spiritual inclination, retirement could be a time to continue to be with like-minded people. An intentional community offers the possibility for all the above, without having to be in a “retirement” community. It provides a chance to make a commitment to others, in building and sustaining community, something that will surely bring meaning to the later years.
One thing is for certain: communities are back -- and they're no longer for hippies.
Dennis Furlan is a freelance writer. You can visit his website at http://www.wordhunter.com/. For more information on Intentional Communities, visit http://www.ic.org/.