Soup Night — revision 40877

''This was a session at the [[Shiny Green Acorn Festival]].'' == Participants == * [[Shelley]] (convener) * [[Brandon]] * [[Eric]] * [[Ben]] * [[Ted]] == Discussion == Shelley proposed a possible new practice for the Sanders, [[Soup Night]], based on one that some friends of theirs have done: a regular gathering of neighbors to eat soup. * Simple for participants (just bring a bowl) * Flexible (grab and go, or stay and chat) Experiences with similar things * Eric has heard of similar practices in intentional communities ** His UU group tried emulating the idea in the book ''Stone Soup'' * Ben goes to events that have food * Shelley has been to something like this after races * Ted: In Chicago, we brought in biking friends for meals, but no one who lived in our neighborhood ** Daybreak had problems with neighbors ... so does Tryon ** We love our current neighbors and have been in one of their houses once in three years *** Shelley: In Buckman, our neighbors came to our [[Solstice2009|first Solstice celebration]], and they all came to our moving open house (but not much in between) What would we want out of this? * The purpose is to connect to people in the neighborhood ** Brandon: I don't want it to be intentional practice for creating a [[Seed Village]] ** Eric: Let that be an unexpected fruit, like with the meditation calls * Make it simple and sustainable ** Neighborhood is part of "simple" ** Every Tuesday night would be "simple" ** Brandon: Don't try to bridge groups (with the friends who already do this?) ... too hard Shelley's concerns * What will the neighbors expect of us? Cleanliness? Our attendance at their things that we're not into? * How deeply do I want to connect with my new neighbors? "Should" vs. what our elephants want * Eric: I could host a pool and barbeque party? I don't know if I should do it ... but I know my neighbors with dogs! ** The Sanders could also easily approach people about Soup Night when they're walking their dogs * Shelley: Excited about doing something with OES * Eric: Look for a chance to attend someone else's Soup Night ** Shelley: My coworker's neighbor wrote a book called ''Soup Night'', and Carol and Vicki have neighborhood dinners * Ted: If you want it, but don't want to do it yourself, but no one else in your community does it...