Co-Working Space: Evolving Plans

In my co-working space dream, I wake up early, throw a quiche in the oven, and then maybe brew some espresso or chai (with coconut cream, of course). Depending on the season, other early-risers and I may attend to some early morning gardening chores (or goats!). I am an editor for some sort of environmental publication, so I have some work in my Inbox that I can review in a comfy chair. By this time, other humans have come on the scene, and we chat a bit over breakfast. Some folks power up their laptops in the nearby community office, while others read quietly in the library. In the craft garage, potters spin wheels, mechanics tinker with bikes, smiths forge tools. Lunch is an exciting event, as the outreach coordinator announces that a small tech sales office has hired us for their annual retreat. The group has expressed interest in paddling, fishing, and community cooking events. The paddling, fishing, and cooking instructors meet after lunch to start scheduling their events. The previous week, a book club came up for the weekend for yoga, pottery, and community gardening and cooking events. Next week, a Boy Scout troop is coming for a horse-supported backpacking trip into the high country.

Where will this take place? Maybe I'll find some great places in Chile, but long term I think I'd like to live on the same continent as my friends and family. That said, I don't think I can ever live in the concrete jungles of the Midwest -- I'm super stoked about the wilderness and mountains of the American west.  In order for gardening to work without excessive irrigation, some rainfall would be ideal. Much of the coastal land is highly developed and expensive, leaving several wet regions of the Intermountain West, mainly clustered around mountain ranges. Soil seems to be less of a constraint early on, as years of soil building, raised beds, greenhouses, and cold frames will inevitably be required to start farming high, cold, rocky ground in the west.

I love living in Colorado -- high temperatures and high sun angles make for great farming, if you have access to water. In addition to gardening, I value access to snow, especially for skiing. Sadly, projections are showing long-term reductions in the Colorado snow pack that won't make for great skiing.

Which brings me to north central Idaho -- this region historically has seen high amounts of precipitation, and is projected to retain more snow pack than Colorado. Idaho is full of wilderness and public lands, and may have some cheap land for sale:

https://www.landwatch.com/Benewah-County-Idaho-Land-for-sale/pid/327232506

https://www.landwatch.com/Shoshone-County-Idaho-Land-for-sale/pid/60001126

https://www.landwatch.com/Bonner-County-Idaho-Land-for-sale/pid/326733394

https://www.landwatch.com/Bonner-County-Idaho-Land-for-sale/pid/25049253

https://www.landwatch.com/Mineral-County-Montana-Land-for-sale/pid/289374779

Logistics:
Proximity to a small town definitely has benefits, including access to employment, education, and childcare opportunities, a farmers market to sell produce and wares, and generally avoiding car ownership. Generally, the goal would be for individuals to be self-employed and/or remotely-employed so that they would be able to spend time around the community. Overall, the group would be structured as a co-housing community: folks would have an opportunity to purchase <1 acre for themselves and their homestead, and purchase a share in the group facilities, including kitchen, dining hall, office, library, farm, craft garage, yoga studio etc. and a monthly fee for bulk food purchasing. Community meals would take place once or twice per week, and community meetings would occur once or twice per month. Income from both individual and cooperative business ventures would be taxed at a rate determined by members in order to maintain, improve, and develop shared facilities. Generally, income from cooperative ventures such as the retreats mentioned above would be distributed among the instructors and any support staff such as cooks. Health insurance could be purchased on the government marketplace, offered by an external employer, or purchased as a group within the cooperative.

Do you share my dream?

Chrysalis Gratitude

I'm feeling super unsteady these days, as I begin to make plans for my imminent departure from Colorado (see http://semanasaustrales.blogspot.com/2017/05/fulbright-proposal-funded.html). I'm feeling frustrated that opportunities abroad come at the expense of continuity at home. One unfortunate casualty of this move is that I must move out of Chrysalis, my home of 1 1/2 years. This lovely community and building have rivaled my childhood home in comfort, growth, and stability. 

Chrysalis has enabled and empowered me to act in ways I never expected, primarily on the garden stage. I uncovered latent joy in turning the compost, capturing rainwater, planting seeds, harvesting radishes, and otherwise putzing around outside. Our made ecosystem enables one to be completely content enjoying nature at home, a radical notion in Boulder, where driving to the mountains during one's free time is practically a religion. I discovered profound social and environmental purposes in cultivating a garden: demonstrating to passerby that young people are indeed real humans who can do real things, that we can be happy staying at home, that we don't need cars, and that we can actually work together and live in community, a radical notion in today's hyper-individualistic world.

I have been challenged in ways I never expected, learning how to express my needs and boundaries, to embrace conflict, and to communicate more effectively and candidly. I was lucky to be trained in restorative conflict mediation, a practice I will carry with me beyond the co-op community. The yoga practice that I stumbled upon at Chrysalis lets me enjoy living in my body, to breathe through discomfort, and to remain present and mindful throughout my days. 

I will certainly not miss the natural gas leak outside my window that makes my sweat stink... 

Alpine Paintbrushes

Savoring Summer

Make room

Quoted in Coming back to Life, by Joanna Macy:

"The truth that many people never understand until it is too late is that the more you try to avoid suffering, the more you suffer." 
-Thomas Merton

"Our hope is that if we keep all the distractedness going, we will not have to look at who we are, we will not have to feel what we feel, we will not have to see what we see." 
-Judy Lief 

"No one is exempt from that pain, any more than one could exist alone and self-sufficient in empty space. Feeling pain for the world is as natural to us as the food and air we draw upon to fashion who we are. It is inseparable from the currents of matter, energy, and information that flow through us and sustain us as interconnected open systems. We are not closed off from the world, but integral components of it, like cells in a larger body. When that body is traumatized, we sense that trauma too. When it falters and sickens, we feel its pain, whether we pay attention to it or not. That pain is the price of consciousness in a threatened and suffering world. It is not only natural; it is an absolutely necessary component of our collective healing. As in all organisms, pain has a purpose: it is a warning signal, designed to trigger remedial action. The problem, therefore lies not with our pain for the world, but in our repression of it. Our efforts to dodge or dull it surrender us to futility." 
-Joanna Macy 

This morning began slowly, fog and rain outside the window begging me to roll over and drift back to sleep. A few cups of espresso dressed me in raincoat rainpants rainboots, and sent me to Sprouts Arapahoe to run my weekly Boulder Food Rescue shift. Dismay met me when I discovered the food rescue trailer had been stolen from its home. The backup trailer had two flat tires, leaving me no option but to run back home, grab the (much smaller) house trailer, and run the shift. I piled on mountains of produce and bags of bread, much more than the trailer could handle...Tires sagged and trailer leaned as I towed the food through rain, traffic, and construction. I cursed the concrete as cars careened past, edging into the bike lane, anger and pain moving through my body. I felt alone, unsupported by the community, unsupported by Boulder Food Rescue.

I was ready to throw in the towel and give up the food rescue game when I became overwhelmed with primal joy. Wet, sweaty, and dirty, I felt alive. The rain on my face cooled the fire and woke the soul. I was practically giddy by the time I arrived at the home for disabled adults that receives the food donation, greeted by friendly faces of folks I've seen every Monday morning for the past two years. I felt a tremendous sense of gratitude as we laughed and unpacked the trailer. Now dry and warm in my co-op cave, I am ready for the next struggle, the next challenge, the next discomfort.

This week I encourage you to let yourself suffer. Rather than turning away or seeking distraction from your human experience, embrace it! Release trivial tensions and make room for the pain of others and the real problems that drive us to do the real work.

Lost Lake

Arapahoe Glacier

iPhone can't hang with fog? especially when there is something to focus on in the distance? I tried to smooth some of the graininess and/or lopped the top off of many. I love foggy mountains - remind me of the Andes...