Co-Living in Community

Going off grid and stepping outside of the system can be a unique and opportune moment for reflection, redirection and grounding. In co-living communities there is an emphasis on collective responsibility, on equality, sustainability and harmony in daily life.

Learning to grow vegetables, fertilise the land, dig ditches, chop and store wood, are all acts most of those engaged in modern living rarely participate in. Perhaps some fantasise or idealise the 'purity' of basic living. For others, the idea may appeal very little.

Still, in co-community there is the opportunity for authentic sharing and connection. When you possess less and in fact share more - be it your emotions, experiences or every day tasks - you surrender and become part of one eco-system, undivided and unordered.

There is also an enormous spiritual wealth and value that exists in community life. Where simple actions, such as gardening, cooking, growing, harvesting, mending, tidying and sharing meals - all have a richer and more heightened quality. Often free from stress or the pressure of time constraints.

When you simplify your life you draw a greater sense of presence and depth to your days. You harness a highly experiential life that stimulates your hands, feet, heart and heads. Constant physical movement and greater engagement with nature, the land and its seasons, regulates your nervous system and creates a pattern of sharing; and a habit of harmony.

Even if living off-grid and co-living in community is not a life choice, It can offer us all the opportunity to strip back to the basics, to connect with our physicality, feed our creativity and stimulate our sense of wonder.

It may be useful for those in places of stagnation, isolation, uncertainty or transition, to try living in community for a period of time - long or short - in order to access the spirit of inclusion, belonging and the value of small things.

This can simply be an experiment or a personal challenge. It is always good to expand your echo chamber, widen your perspective and discover new skills and whole parts of yourself you perhaps had no idea existed.