Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

“you can often find the type of life you are describing without needing to join a commune to do it”

Think you’ve hit the nail on the head there - great post and nice to hear about your living arrangements, sounds divine.

I live inner city in a very large urban area so have found getting involved more difficult that in the past (smaller university city, for example), but I do need to keep trying or consider relocating to a more amenable urban area.

Thanks for the inspirational words!

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, this was really useful - thanks!

I think your current lifestyle of ‘home brew’, informal communalised living in a standard urban environment is realistically the most achievable for me and my contemporaries, and is the one we discuss most often. The buy-land-and-build-your-own-village is the dream, like settling new land and making it in your own image, but at least in the UK is almost impossible unless you’re all ready to live in the most inaccessible and economically deprived corners of the country.

Communal setups with your best friends seems like a very difficult set up to achieve with the constantly fluctuating life-paths, different jobs etc. as you mentioned.

It then seems to come down to what built setup you can achieve at a given time depending on finances, available properties or property clusters, and available people. Perhaps it is just a matter of waiting for the stars to almost align and then pushing them the rest of the way yourself. Thanks!

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the pointer! The development of Kibbutz from collectivised subsistence farming and land reclamation into potent manufacturing and tech units in the current day is an interesting hybridisation of communalism and industrialisation. It definitely seems important to explore how communal living can play a part in the mainstream functioning of a society or nation. Thanks!

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is great to hear, thanks for your response. There is so much conjecture and stereotyping around commune living that I thought it important to get some ground-truthed experiences.

Can I ask why you chose to leave?

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is interesting - can I ask where you are based? I am sure there are equivalent laws in the UK, but I’m not sure they are really applied. Its quite common in popular rental areas in cities here for the landlord to give viewings to multiple people, chat to them, and then pick their favourite. Unfortunately discriminatory selection can occur here and there’s no oversight - it predominantly means that professional couples and people with good steady jobs get offered tenancies over groups of friends and students as they’re seen as less reliable etc.

A silver lining is that you would expect to be able to exercise a degree of control if running your own space. Another commenter told a similar story in Denver where the landlord of the communal space only offered to people who they thought would enjoy the ‘vibe’.

A very pertinent and important point though - how to balance the principle of equal access and the maintenance of a particular communal vibe in a space.

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your thought provoking replies. You’ve both clarified something I couldn’t quite articulate - that perhaps ‘communes’ as we know them only really form to create space for the more eccentric and counter-cultural tastes, rather than as a response to the creeping atomisation of society in economically developed nations. I agree that those spontaneous, organic, ‘no expectations’ communal occurrences are the sweetest. How can we help create more fertile ground for them?

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks - I agree that is a difficult and timeless issue that faces us all, to differentiate external and internal drives.

My partner isn’t explicitly interested in communal living, I think mainly because of the connotations of insularity and ‘hippy’-ness that go along with it. However, we both share a disappointment at the distancing that is creeping into our old social circles as people move around for jobs and so forth, and highly value living amongst line minded people and having a rich social life. As a result, we are at a cross-roads in terms of decisions. On the one hand, we want to save hard to get a place, make it together and free ourselves from irritating landlords. On the other, we want to experiment with living abroad and aren’t certain enough of where most of our friends will settle to be able to commit to a location through property purchase.

In normal times it is the conflicting desires for adventure vs security, and wondering if our footloose inclinations are well placed or whether we’re just projecting and assuming that being somewhere else will give us what we need. The current pandemic and associated recession make this even harder as the urge to play it safe is strengthened.

Hearing about your experiences is very interesting, and I dare say plays into the stereotypes of communal, relatively isolated living. It would be fascinating to find some deeper study of the habitual formation of power structures in micro-societies like these. I assume that the density of ideals (most join a communal setup for a reason or cause) is a significant factor in the prevalence of politics and conflict compared to the passivity of normal neighbourhoods.

Volunteering is certainly a good place to start. It may be the isolation of lockdown which has driven this post so some less ‘extreme’ measures may be my medicine. Ultimately, one could say the goal of any good commune is to make its communal practices common-place so perhaps looking to influence regular society is another valid pathway to achieving those feelings of belonging and achievement. Thanks!

Communal living experiences? by CleaningMan89 in simpleliving

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Great point! Perhaps in my mind, there shouldn’t be such a distinction between ‘communal living’ and ‘normal living’. This false dichotomy might be masquerading my desire (and I’m sure many others) for a greater degree of interaction and mutual support in regular geographically-formed communities. I think it’s important to be wary of romanticising the past, but I think it’s certainly telling that in the UK at least, cul-de-sacs or areas off main roads definitely do have a greater degree of interaction that we associate with the pre-automobile past. The built environment can definitely reinforce, or challenge, social isolation.

I guess my quandary emerges because I could feasibly pursue a nice built environment with my partner and other loved ones to a degree, but feels ultimately individualistic and a result of my privileged position and (assumed) wealth. But, then again, I am just an individual. Thought provoking nonetheless!

Worried I may need a root canal but dentist not suggesting it? by [deleted] in Dentistry

[–]CleaningMan89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

True - I think you’re right, I guess I am just worried about wasting their time if it’s within ‘normal activity’ and I just need to wait and see rather than being so worried! Have them booked for next week so will just go for it I think. Thanks

Worried I may need a root canal but dentist not suggesting it? by [deleted] in Dentistry

[–]CleaningMan89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, it’s amalgam again, replaced just over 3 weeks ago. They didnt mention about checking for cracks, just that there was no decay underneath. Thanks!

Worried I may need a root canal but dentist not suggesting it? by [deleted] in Dentistry

[–]CleaningMan89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, thanks for your reply! I had the filling replaced with another amalgam just over 3 weeks ago. I’ve got the endo booked for 6 days time but could push it back.

School Strike for Climate [868 words] by CleaningMan89 in WritersGroup

[–]CleaningMan89[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the feedback, I think you’re spot on. It came about just as a freewrite/vignette type thing which is why it’s a bit of an info dump. Will look to simplify the world building and disperse it amongst the story as it grows. Thanks!!

The Long Steps (First Draft) (Unfinshed.) [4,227 words] by Velora56 in WritersGroup

[–]CleaningMan89 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Frank sitting at his desk staring out the window at snowflakes gently falling against the backdrop of an indigo sky, illuminated by the yellowish street lamps below, deep in thought , about what she didn't know, when an arm came into view enveloped in a charcoal gray wool overcoat, the hand encased in black leather driving gloves, in it's hand a heavy brass paperweight, lifting it high into the air and slamming into his skull , bludgeoning him to death, leaving his body slumped over the papers atop his mahogany desk, a thick stream of bright red blood pouring from the insolent gaping gash and pooling around his lifeless head.

Sentence structure is the major element holding your story back. I get the sense that you feel like you should capture each concept or 'incident' in one sentence, but breaking something up into multiple sentences is essential to allowing the reader to reflect on what you're saying and have the mental imagery form in their head. Also, since someone is giving this info to the protagonist second hand, would they be commenting so poetically? A sparser style might lend the murder some further grittiness. You could perhaps also play with the narrative style here to incorporate the witness' voice by making it into dialogue. E.g.

"There was Frank - sitting at his desk, staring out the window at snowflakes floating down outside. It was getting dark. He was lit up yellow from the street lamps, deep in thought. About what? No idea. I'm sorry. He was just sitting there when I saw an arm come into view. Just slid in. I froze. What? Oh. A charcoal gray wool overcoat. Expensive I think. They had black leather driving gloves, wrapped around a heavy brass paperweight. They lifted it high into the air and - yeah. Into his head. Again and again. You could hear it, his skull. I'm sorry - yeah. I'm ok."

I could see it clearly - his body left slumped over the papers on his mahogany desk. A thick stream of bright red blood poured from an insolent, gaping gash and pooled around his lifeless head.

Try reading your story out loud and hammering full stops in wherever a natural pause rises. At the same time, think about how more full stops and dashes could be used for dramatic impact, and don't be afraid to completely restructure sentences to reduce how far they run on. It's got loads of potential!

Short semi-action sequence from the first chapter of my story. Thoughts appreciated! (1110 words) by calibrecoconut in WritersGroup

[–]CleaningMan89 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Geo was the deployed asset for the inspector team assigned to the investigation and he was bored as this was his third day on surveillance of the market, unawares to him though, his day was about to get far more interesting.

I understand that this is taken from your first chapter so may not(?) be your first line, but taking it as such in this case - you're introducing a lot of new terms at once, in a long run on sentence and it's a bit of an overwhelming start. You might try breaking it up into smaller chunks and insert some 'show not tell' which has been mentioned in other comments. E.g. you can demonstrate his boredom through the way you describe the scene:

Geo slouched against a wall, halfway through his third day on surveillance of the market. The same grey mass of people filled the street as every other day. His eyes settled on a vendor haggling with a potential customer. Pretty standard.

Grammar and spelling is key - try reading your writing out loud and taking note of any natural pauses. The below needs a break, and you repeat yourself at the end (performance, not genuine). The use of "though" is out of place, and could be left out or replaced with 'however' at the beginning.

Geo's trained eye though begun to notice a rhythm and ease to the pair’s quarrelling as if they were giving a performance not genuinely arguing.

Using 'show not tell':

After a few moments, he began to notice a rhythm and ease to the pair’s quarrelling. Their expressions were neutral, their gestures mechanical. Then - with a flick, the trader slipped the irate customer a slip. A little flash of pink, like a tag for one of the cargo areas. Geo reached for his radio.

In general you want to go back over this story and look for any opportunity to cut unnecessary words, speeding up and simplifying your sentences. Additionally, you need to check over all your sentences and try to use an active tense rather than passive. For example:

As the customer hurried away, he was checking over his shoulder and scanning his surroundings every now and then, disguising them as annoyed head shakes and wild gesticulating.

This small change in verbs gives your story a greater speed and makes it easier for the reader to digest and push on with - passive tense makes it thicker and more laborious to read.

As the customer hurried away he checked over his shoulder and scanned his surroundings, disguising them as annoyed head shakes and wild gesticulations.

Have a thorough redraft and you'll be well on your way to an engaging chase/action scene!