I’m writing this from my sister Abby’s on the Sunshine Coast. Her husband’s recent death has brought the Community to Live and Die In initiative more alive and to the forefront for my family and me. It is early days yet and there is no rush for Abby to make decisions or changes to her situation, but the future is on all our minds.

Last October, I hosted an event with two amazing women and co-conspirators, Sharon & Susan. It was to explore the Community to Live and Die In initiative that I had been talking about for some time, and to help create some structure around what was still only an idea. The following two paragraphs are from our invitation:

Why: Loneliness is an epidemic. Community is essential. The Baby Boomer generation has much to offer (wisdom, resources, time) and many in this age group are feeling fearful as retirement approaches and health challenges arise. Young people have energy, enthusiasm and a fresh perspective — and they need support with childcare, housing, and the complexity of a world that is moving too fast, even for them. It is essential to the well being of our planet — and ourselves — that we begin to pool our resources and move forward in a collaborative and wholehearted way. A functional asset based community to live and die in is the model we’re proposing.

What: We envision a multi-streamed network that supports numerous initiatives to create meaningful community for multi-generational/diverse communities. These networks/villages will support us to do what we’re good at while being of service to others and being provided for in return. We can each share what we have an abundance of.

Much of my interest in this realm crystalized through my participation in a brilliant online course called u.lab: Leading from the Emerging Future. It is based on Otto Scharmer’s book Theory U and is offered free of charge by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) each fall. Here is a compelling 3:36 minute video of Otto describing it.

I wrote the following intention statement in 2017 while participating in the u.lab course. I wasn’t calling it Community to Live and Die In yet, but this is what I’m describing.

It is about connecting people and houses and community. And it is inspired by the fact that we are all going to die and that I really want as many of us as possible to feel deeply loved and held by people that care about us, throughout our lives, right through until our deaths. I want to help coalesce community in this way. This will take different forms for different people. We are all on our own developmental journey and our tolerance levels will be unique. But we all need to know who will stand by us in our final hours, and we all need to know what our wishes are for that important transition. Which means contemplating our mortality in order to live more fully now.

So the next step is getting out there and engaging with others that have similar desires. I’m still not clear on what that looks like exactly, but I trust something will come clear if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. What I do know is how lucky I am to have some of my community in place already, and how deeply reassuring it was to spend time with them these past few weeks. 

Do you have your Community to Live and Die In? Let me know, I’d love to hear!