Since moving into an intentional community, my ears zero in on the word. I notice I hear it a lot. So I looked it up and I was correct in my suspicion – it is over used! Yet, in my search, I found some great articles. The one below shows what I was looking for, and why.
“The difference between a community and a network is that you belong to a community, but a network belongs to you. You feel in control. You can add friends if you wish, you can delete them if you wish. You are in control of the important people to whom you relate. People feel a little better as a result, because loneliness, abandonment, is the great fear in our individualist age.” Quote from the article below.
I think that idea of communities that form now online (some of which I am so grateful to find since leaving cohousing) permeate into cohousing. The idea you can delete a friend, stop following pages you do not agree with is what happened in our community. Can intentional communities survive these ideals and learn to disagree and live with others who disappoint you or make mistakes?
cohousingtruthblog 
“Since moving into an intentional community, my ears zero in on the word. I notice I hear it a lot. So I looked it up and I was correct in my suspicion – it is over used!”
I looked up the word too and agree that it is overused to a nauseating degree. I find it problematic even when people attempt to define it. It has also been politicized. In overuse and politicizing it’s become “suspect” and can be used to exclude others as well. People also delete “friends” offline, although it is not called deleting. It is called estrangement or kicked to the curb and a host of other words to describe those actions and behaviors. You may find this funny. Pay close attention at the 1:38 mark when he talks about “Community”. It’s so funny because his characterizations are so spot on! Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oyTVv3RNDA
Somewhere on your blog I recalled we spoke about food too. I noticed on several cohousing websites which talk about communal meals some state the focus is on vegan/vegetarian meals. While there is nothing inherently wrong with that, the proselytizing is obnoxious and offensive. I sincerely hope that you never had to try to eat anything like this for cohousing cuisine. This is funny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5HUnLVRIA8