I would really like to build a community of people who get along well and live a bit more like our tribal ancestors.
Our modern society glorifies individualism and encourages isolation from others. Laurel and I’s closest family member is a 45 minute drive away and most are hours away. Our closest friend is 15 minutes away and most are much further.
Social isolation is a major cause of depression for many people. Humans are not meant to live alone without company… we need those we love around us every day.
I have fixed this issue for myself by building a routine where I call a family member or friend every single day. I typically do it during my morning and evening ten minute commutes to work. I think a lot of other people haven’t done something like this though and live in loneliness and isolation and depression.
For awhile now I have been talking to people about the possibility of a “commune” – probably not the right word given the connotations associated with it from the FCLDS, hippies, and other nuts. I think I will call it “tribe”… this is a more attractive term.
The basics of my idea is that I would like to organize a group of family and friends to live within walking distance of one another… this could be in the same apartment building in a city, or in a suburban neighborhood, or something like that.
My brother’s wife’s family actually already do this. They have several adult daughters and their parents each with their own house in the same neighborhood. This works really well for them as they have built in babysitting they can trust and friends and help when they need it.
The biggest challenge I have with this in Los Angeles is the expense of real estate. Another major issue is that people have jobs in different areas of the city and this could create long commutes for some people. A few of my friends are business owners and could possibly do it with me, but they have already purchased homes thus committing themselves to the locations they are now.
I have thought of moving back to Washington to do this there. I could live fairly close to two of my brothers and also my grandparents. The challenge there is that it would be more difficult to run Coalition. I would also need to live in the very uninteresting town of Puyallup rather than a metropolitan city like Seattle.
I do think it will be important to join or build a tribe though soon. I just need to find ways to make it work.