Community Living
Humans are social animals. For the majority of our evolutionary history (more than 99% of it), we have lived tribally, in small, close-knit groups. This model of social organization worked for humans as effectively as a pack does for wolves, a hive does for bees, and a pod does for whales. That is to say, it is not perfect, but allowed humans to live and work together with a minimum of stress, for thousands of years. It is only relatively recently (in the last 10,000 years or so), that humans have lived in a hierarchal social structure, namely, civilization.
All of this is to say that it is as natural for humans to live in community as it is for us to walk up-right. Our biology is designed for us to live this way. We need love, physical touch, and support in making a livelihood, to name but a few of the functions that community serves.
The challenge we face today is that many of us are ill-equipped and in-experienced at living in a community setting. This is not a judgment, but an acknowledgment that the present mainstream culture isolates people from one another. It requires a process of re-learning what it takes to live with others; not just to get by together, but to thrive together as a group. Often people find it challenging to adjust to community life, as it requires systems of responsibility and accountability that differ from what we are used to. It is like re-learning to walk after a serious accident. It can be frustrating, painful and slow, but inevitably the system wants to move towards regaining full functioning and use of its potential. The outcome is that we can walk again, flexing the muscles our bodies are meant to use.
The Ecological Living Project is based around community living and creating functional dynamics so that we can all thrive and realize our potential. Perspectives, processes and experiences will be offered to support the learning process of what it takes to live well together. Community living is part of the foundation, the web of living relationships that nourish and sustain us.
Click here for an article on an overview of the community movement.
