Intentional Communities Newsletter: September 6, 2010

Promoting Community Living & Cooperative Lifestyles
Communities magazine, Directory, Video and more

Since 1972, Communities has been the primary resource for information, issues, and ideas about intentional communities in North America--from urban co-ops to cohousing groups to ecovillages to rural communes. Communities increasingly focuses on creating and enhancing community in the workplace, in nonprofit or activist organizations, and in neighborhoods. Articles and columns cover practical how-to issues of cooperative living as well as personal stories about forming new communities, decision-making, conflict resolution, raising children in community, ecological living, and much more. We explore the joys and challenges of cooperation in its many dimensions.

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Early in 2010 we rolled out a new Communities Magazine website where you can read a selection of articles from our quarterly magazine online. We post a handful of articles from each issue so you can get a taste of what Communities offers. Check the website periodically--we add new articles on a regular basis.

Available by subscription or sample order, and available on select newsstands, our fall issue (#148) focuses on Power and Empowerment. Here is some of what readers will find:

BEING "OVERTHROWN"--A CELEBRATION: Coming to Shared Power by Jim Schenk. The founder of Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage describes what it's like to be criticized, marginalized, stripped of leadership responsibilities, and given the opportunity to explore a new role.

BALANCING POWERS: Leadership and Followship in Community by Elizabeth Barrette. In a healthy community, leadership and followship are equally important roles, each with vital skill sets that can assure effective teamwork.





MORE PERSPECTIVES ON LEADERSHIP AND FOLLOWSHIP: A Response to Elizabeth Barrette by Ma'ikwe Schaub Ludwig. The author identifies additional leadership skills, cautions against blind followship, and reflects on the many types of power in cooperative groups.

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CALL FOR ARTICLES. Communities magazine is now seeking articles for issue #150, "Mental Health: Challenges and Hope." The issue will be out in March 2011.

Please send your article idea by Friday, September 24, 2010, or sooner if possible.
Your final article must reach us by Friday, November 19, 2010.

1. Theme articles: Mental Health: Challenges and Hope possible questions to address (feel free to pick and choose or innovate):  

• How do mental health issues affect your intentional community, family, neighborhood, town, workplace, congregation, activist group, or whatever you consider your "community"?
• How does your community or group support mental well-being?
• How do you help those who struggle with mental health issues?
• Has your group dealt with mental health challenges or crises among your members? If so, what was the impact on the group?
• What is your attitude toward the concept of mental illness? Where do normal mental or emotional distress or personality idiosyncrasies cross the boundary into illness?
• How are your group's attitudes toward mental health and illness similar to or different from mainstream attitudes? Do you prefer alternative approaches over medication?
• Do individual or group ritual, indigenous shamanistic perspectives, or other practices or philosophies play into your approach to mental illness and health?
• How would you compare the mental health of community members with that of people not in community?
• Does intentional community attract those who are less able to stay mentally healthy in mainstream society?
• Does intentional community keep people less insulated from one another's challenges than in the wider culture? If so, do people have more "problems" in community, or are they simply more open about their problems?
  Has community improved your mental health? Or eroded it?
• Some mental health challenges may be obvious or extreme, others more difficult to recognize. Do you believe your group has the skills to identify more subtle mental health issues that may be affecting its members?
• What kinds of outside support can help communities deal with mental health issues?
• Does your group have a specific mission related to serving or incorporating those with mental health challenges?
• Compared to conventional approaches, does community living allow a more holistic approach to supporting mental health?
• Please remember that we are looking for stories, personal experiences, and concrete examples in your answers--these are what will make your ideas and observations most "real" and relevant to readers.

Please remember that we are looking for stories, personal experiences, and concrete examples in your answers--these are what will make your ideas and observations most "real" and relevant to readers.

2. We are also seeking articles about:

• Creating community in your neighborhood
• Starting a new community
• Process and communication issues in community
• Seeking community to join.