Remembering the convent: our 8-person intentional community on the south side of Chicago
Our home in the convent brought together eight people united by the desire to work for social justice. When I lived in this house we were all fresh out of college and ready to fight poverty, the education gap, global warming, and anything else that stood in our way. Almost all of the occupants still work in urban education and live lives to limit our ecological impact.
Everyone you live with has something to teach you. I learned how to cook for eight, how to container garden, how to make homemade cleaning supplies work, and how to love urban biking.
Log cabin contemplations: hanging out at a commune
Last week I wrote about some of the weirdness of moving back into my childhood home for a month. It’s a little different than it was when I was an isolated only child growing up here, though: my childhood home is now a commune and functioning eco-retreat type thing called Sacred Groves. At any given time, there are a mix of a half dozen to a dozen adults and children living here, walking the paths I used to haunt alone. Sometimes it’s awesome, and sometimes it’s, well, a little overwhelming.
Six principles of dorm room life anyone can learn from
Dorm rooms are many people’s first home of their own. I remember almost a decade ago, arriving at college, climbing four flights of stairs and meeting my first roommate ever. Shayna and I got along splendidly, and worked hard to make our dorm our own. We learned so much, and even though I’m now living in a house, I can still use what I learned in Helser Hall.
How do we get our housemate to relax about trying to please us?
We like our new roommate, but he seems anxious and way too eager to please. Offbeat Homies, how on earth do you get the excitable bogan housemate to settle into a chilled-out hippy house?
Monday Montage: save the pink bathrooms!
This week’s photos feature an cat who’s a critic, a house with movable walls, and just WAIT till you see the LED coffee table.