Very interesting article. I read with interest a while ago about those people living in communes with friends or like-minded people. I dream of living close to my friends, but more like a fractal version where we still have our independent homes very close to each other. Back in Malaysia, even if we weren’t within walking distance, we still met up spontaneously all the time. I think that’s also due to our culture. It was okay to just show up at a friend’s house unannounced, or with a WhatsApp message saying, “I’m coming in 10 minutes.” I miss those times, but now my good friends and I are scattered all around the globe, making “inviting friends to come live nearby” almost impossible. Your point about making a community where we are got me thinking, but I still feel unsure about how to navigate that here in Germany, even though I’ve been here for eight years now; being an introvert doesn’t help, I guess.
