Community (pt 2)

I’m no etymologist, but I’m pretty sure that “community” and “communism” have something in common. And so I would stay that a community style of living is similar to something like communism. What does that mean? We share stuff. We share our house, our goods, our food, our whatever. What’s mine is yours, etc.

I was asked when I interviewed how I thought about living in close quarters with others in community. I replied that it couldn’t be much different from having a roommate in college. No one disagreed with me at the time but I now see that things are much different. I don’t think it’s anything that can be adequately described; community living must be experienced. Some examples- I share a bathroom with someone else. We share a kitchen and living room. Those don’t seem like a big deal but there can be conflict over the channel the TV is on, who should do the dishes, who should clean the bathroom, who spilled milk everywhere and didn’t clean it up, etc. Living in close quarters for a whole year without a break with five other people can get old. You learn everyone’s little quirks and they can easily start to be annoying.

All in all, community living is an interesting way to live and I like it a lot. You learn a lot about the people you live with and really start to care for them.