Ever contemplated what's in store for us when we can no longer do all the day-to-day household chores and maintainence on our houses? Many of us are going through the process of finding new living and healthcare arrangements for our aging parents and are finding the job distressing. The existing options are limited to say the least and often do not fit well with our parent's life experience. The monthly cost can be astronomical and the fear of running out of money is never far away.

Now consider our own situation. Many of us have chosen an alternative lifestyle to the mainstream culture. Throughout our lives we have had to reinvent the rules which we want to live by. We may have rejected a corporate career with the accompanying suit and tie for a more laid back west coast lifestyle, often with lower pay. We may have gone to great lengths to move to an area that supports this choice and to surround ourselves with like minded people. The thought of being forced to give all this up and buy into the mainstream vision of what happens when you get too old is appalling.

By its very nature, getting old is a co-operative venture. You need a hand doing things that you used to be able to do yourself. And who is the most qualified to design a co-operative approach that will meet our future need for a helping hand? Like every other part of our lives, we are just going to have to reinvent the rules of aging for ourselves. We are much more comfortable working cooperatively than our parents, and there are a lot of good models and other groups doing the same thing to learn from.

Together we have the training, the resources and the inclination to create new options for old hippies.

If you are interested in being a part of this initiative please email me your story, and what kind of role you see for yourself in developing this concept further.