Are you building a healthy community?

As we as a society are moving from the subconsciously controlled state to a conscious state of awareness and conscious co-creation it naturally comes to attention that it is a good idea to define the vector (direction) of development and a system that would allow to track the progress and evaluate just how close are the actual results to the expected/planned results. For building an ecovillage a handy tool for this is a list of "Signs of health" (the shortened version is provided below) also found in the Finding Community book by Diana Leafe Christian (www.NewSociety.com). Of course, and as the author notes, not having one or more of these signs does not necessarily mean that the community is not healthy.

Signs of health - indicators of a healthy community.
- Community members generally seem to be upbeat and glad to be living there.
- People seem to like each other enjoy one another's company. They are warm and friendly with one another. They seem to care about one another.
- They enjoy their meals together and they often linger in conversation after dinner.
- The children seem well-cared for, happy, and confident. You see kids of different ages playing together.
- People seem to enjoy working together. The group as a whole seems proud of their community.
- People mostly listen respectfully even when they disagree or dealing with controversial issues.
- People seem generous: they loan tools and help each other's work.
- People laugh openly, and are affectionate to one another.
- People tell each other how they are feeling emotionally.
- The community buildings and common spaces are relatively clean and well-organized.
- Music and art are part of the community life. They come for evening jam or drumming circles, have art on the walls, flowers. They sing together.

Why ecovillage (intentional community)?

One of the current problem on the society level is lack of conscious development of values and character. You don't learn that in school and the overwhelming number of parents is incapable of teaching this. An intentional community, and especially ecovillage environment assist in the self-development let alone the fact that many communities are specifically organizes with that goal in mind. Take a look at a couple of interesting lists from a book by Diana Leafe Christian "Finding Community" (see the full descriptions in the book).

What works well in a community?

- Confidence, self-acceptance, self-esteem.
- Assertiveness.
- Humility, willingness to listen and learn.
- Willingness to serve, to contribute to something larger than yourself.


Who does well in a community?

1. Someone who does not "need" it.
People who are fulfilled and effective in the world and doing well in their lives are more likely to thrive in a community.
2. Someone with a healthy sense of self.
People who know what they want, their strengths and limitations, and are on a program of personal growth for themselves, who are secure enough to seldom feel the need to defend, protect, or prove themselves.
3. Someone who is open and flexible, and able to hear and consider other points of view.
The rigit person; the aggressive, competent loner who knows best; or the person who's never worked cooperatively with others before, either don't do well in a community or change and grow enormously.
4. Someone who has a sense of connection to people, an interest in the well-being of others, and well-defined boundaries.
In the community situations which involve living closely with others each person will be affected by other people's lives and their challenges.
5. Someone willing to abide by group agreements.
A person who realizes that their identity remains intact no matter how they may cooperate with a group can move from "i" to "we" without losing the sense of self.
6. Someone willing to find a balance between the community goals and the personal goals.
Many people are happy to give their time and energy to the needs of the larger group. While it's healthy to do it in moderation, it's also healthy to know when to say no, and create balance between community needs and personal needs.
7. Someone willing to speak up...
This kind of person is assertive, willing to risk taking the initiative, and when called for, to disagree, or ask for what they want.
8. ...And to listen.
For some people there is a need to tone down, so that other people down't resent them for seeming pushy, or like know-it-alls.
9.Someone willing to learn and practice good communication skills and fair and empowering decision-making skills.
This often takes actual training and mentoring as, again, it goes against the grain of our typically competitive, agressive, isolated way of life in North America.
10. Someone with a desire to see themselves as they really are.
This is really difficult - and painful - but exceedingly worth it. A person with this attitude can grow, in terms of self-awareness and emotional maturity, far faster and more effectively than they ever thought possible.
11. Someone willing to stick with it.
For community to succeed, its members need to be willing to persevere through conflict, changing individual needs, and higher-than-normal demands on your time.


The "Finding Community" book is available from the New Society Publishers www.NewSociety.com