I saw another video, or the same old ones, about cohousing. This one mostly focused on Denmark but mentioned a few places in USA. One woman said she wanted to live in cohousing so she’d be around all ages and live longer. The video ends with this Danish woman swinging on a zip line (or just plain old rope).
It made me think that not only is cohousing presented as a utopia, but also as a fountain of youth. Come here – never grow old! Live forever! It’s not really anything new for seniors to want to have a quiet place to live near each other (like the whole state of Florida!) I have also heard many people say they want intergenerational living so they can get energy from young ones and not just hear about aging peoples’ aches and pains. (Rodney Dangerfield joked that as he got older his little black book was filled with doctors’ numbers instead of women. I saw him perform impromptu at the LA Comedy Club and he was escorted by a beautiful young woman so something was working for him).
I don’t want to tell anyone how to live or who they want around them, but I don’t think cohousing is the only elixir to keep you forever young. I wonder if the opposite could be true. Living in cohousing means you have to deal with other people a lot. Some conflicts are small, others way bigger than a community can handle. It also takes a lot of time and energy. So, for some, it may cause more gray hairs. Even in senior cohousing, people leave – realizing it’s not for them.
Keep looking for that magical fountain. It may not be cohousing. In Palermo, Sicily, there is a painting with a fountain but it doesn’t exist. All eventually die – even the rich. The horse from this painting was re-used in Picasso’s Guernica. It’s called the Triumph of Death. So, maybe the fountain is in Sicily. They also have a fountain of sins – so there are lots of fun fountains in that town and in an island over, Sardinia, people do live a long time. You can leave the search for a magical potion, and take the cannoli.
The research says they need more research to see if it changes outcomes on life span. Check out the cohousing research group for their information.
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