Sustainable Living

It’s my big #dream to #build a #community of #creatives, #entrepreneurs and #techies on a farm next to the mountains and sea. I’ve called the concept coliving to myself for a while now and only recently learned it’s an actual thing happening all over the world! So glad this idea resonates with a growing number of people.

The idea of communal living is not alien to Filipinos (or most Asians).    Most of us grew up sharing a home with our extended families, which schooled us on shared personal space early on.  We have helpers who co-raise us with our parents, and we readily call people in the neighborhood, blood-relatives or not, uncle-aunt-brother-sister.

When I talk about cohousing or coliving to friends in the Philippines, I get poker faces because for the most part, it’s nothing new.  If anything, it’s the default that most Pinoys want to move away from.  We want fenced in houses, gated communities,  thick walls between us and our neighbors.  Anything that gives us more privacy, more security, boundaries.

So what drew me to coliving and cohousing to begin with?

Intention.  Living together with people because of a shared vision.  Like attracts like.   Before I decided to build a house in Nuvali, I explored intentional communities and sought them out in the Philippines.   I’m not a hippie but my brothers like to tease that my lifestyle choices make me the uncool tita or aunt.  I went raw vegan for a while, love solo travel, have no television.  For someone who grew up in a group-oriented culture, I’ve always been more comfortable doing things by myself.  I guess I always looked for other people like me, so we could be individual together.

The definitions of coliving and cohousing stretch far and wide, but the general idea I’m taking from them is this:  I wish to gather people , who more or less share my values, in a place where we can all hang out everyday (i.e. live and work).   The physicality of it is important, and it is what I insist on:  environment is so big in shaping daily habits, thoughts, and intentions.   This is space-clearing on a group level, translated onto property or real estate development.

Collaborative Home Environments

It’s about building the shrine without to build the shrine within.  Our environment shapes us and it makes perfect sense to align our everyday living environment–our homes–with our core values.

A friend who does feng shui consulting once told me that all the effort in the world to improve one’s fortune or luck wouldn’t make a difference if he or she didn’t first change or address the negative energies in his or her living space.

What would a collaborative home environment espouse?

Collaborative	Home	Environments
face-to-face conversations diverse open economy healing	beautiful inspiring warm root-building identity base nurturing safe space	orderly open/flexible design visionary accessible affordable/democratic authentic respectful natural + high tech complete practical set up to succeed set up to nurture set up to propel

What makes a home?

• Not disconnected from nature and the cycles of life:  birth, decay and death, cleaning, waste management, food production
• rest
• gathering
• restorative

What can’t people live without?

• Water supply: potable and gray water
• Sources of food: wet market, dry goods
• Toiletries
• Laundry
• Recreation
• Fitness
• Private space