2004-05-30

 
Early in life, back in the suburbs, I heard occasional gossip of particulars who “ran away and joined a commune” (pronounced CAH-myoon). This was intended to evoke that the person jumped off the deep end and has some undesirable personality traits. You occasionally heard of cults and people who danced naked around a fire and had to turn over all their material possessions and were never allowed to call home and probably had to go through some sort of painful ritual, probably strung out on drugs. That, I was told, was a CAH-myoon. They said Jonestown was one, too. Communism was also a bad idea to suburbanites.

But I live in a cuh-MYOON. It’s quite a lovely place. We eat meals together every day at 12 and 6. We greet each other every morning, welcoming each day with a moderate group chat, a meeting, checking in with each other. We gently point out each others’ faults: this makes us feel warm inside because we’re trying to become more pleasant in our demeanor. We cook mashed potatoes when someone’s jaw hurts and we tell each other which articles are worth reading in the New York Times. I think it has something to do with building a healthy community and bringing the concept into your home.

posted by MM 11:45 PM