I N THINKING ABOUT GROWING OLDER AND WHAT community has to offer, we have cast a wide net in this issue, not limiting our scope to intentional communities as narrowly defined. As such, you will find stories about cooperative housing and multigenerational living that occur both in and out of intentional community.
We know, for example, that some older people are just discovering that community--a group sense of belonging, commitment, and caring--is the name for that special aspect of their lives that makes their particular situation so satisfying, and better than what is reported for the society at large. This form of community may not share housing or have been intentional at the outset, but, once discovered, people in these situations are tenacious about valuing and maintaining the community they have found. This counts.
At the same time, there has been a steady increase in the number of people over 50 joining intentional community for the first time. These are people who may have already completed a career or raised a family and are now ready for a new adventure--folks trying to satisfy a hunger for something missing in their lives. For the most part, these are people joining existing groups, rather than pioneering their own. Yet some of that is happening also, and you can no longer assume that new groups are only being started by those between 20 and 35.
It is not easy to know precisely why this is happening, but we can make some educated guesses.
First, there are many communities today with people over 50 already in their membership, and it's generally more attractive to join a community which contains a peer group. While we are not sure if older adults represent an increasing percentage of community populations, we know there has never been more access to community information than exists today. So it is easier for people wanting community in their lives--of any age--to find options for it.
Second, as dissatisfaction with traditional lifestyle choices increases, people are more ready to try something new. As the nuclear family tends to break down as a committed social unit, people are increasingly ready to look elsewhere to find the sense of commitment and belonging that is missing.
Third, despite recent hopeful signs of a turnaround in resource consciousness, we still live in a throw-away culture. And we're talking people here, not just pop bottles and candy bar wrappers. Many older citizens face the terrifying prospect of being discarded by the society once they are retired from a regular job, with their final days spent in a senior adult care facility. It doesn't have to be this way. This issue of Communities offers some exciting stories of how groups are answering the challenge of reintegrating our older population as fully valued members of our culture.
Communities that want to last beyond a single generation face a challenge of transition that affects all ages. How is the power in the group shared, and how is it successfully passed from the older to the younger members? If those in leadership hold on too long, the new blood will not be attracted or held. If the young assume power prematurely, the experience and wisdom of the older generation may be lost or ignored.
Some communities exist which have failed to make the transition and have lost their younger members, and their vitality. The new members--and this is not just a question of age--never seem to be (to the elders) sufficiently mature or committed or respectful enough to warrant admitting them to the core of the community. After a time, the enthusiasm of the newer members withers and they drift away, leaving the older members alone, and often discouraged about the prospects for finding the "right" new members.
On the other hand, there are communities which are so suspicious of power that they faithfully lop off the heads of any in the membership who emerge as leaders. This is done as a prophylactic against the possibility of power abuse. Under-appreciated, these natural leaders tend to exit after their stamina is exhausted. If the reserves and promise of the community are strong, new people may emerge in the resulting power vacuum--only to be promoted for the community guillotine in their turn.
Intentional communities are sometimes described as laboratories where we experiment with our culture. In this sense, we are trying to develop better models of intergenerational living, where both the younger and the older are better respected and valued. It's an experiment in which we all have a stake. After all, most of us expect to get older, and all of us have been young.
Communities magazine is published by the nonprofit Fellowship for Intentional Community (FIC). Laird Sandhill is the FIC's Publication Manager.
Movement groups may reprint with permission. Please direct inquiries to Communities, PO Box 169, Masonville, CO 80541-0169, (970) 593-5615.