Does Consensus Make Sense?

Yep... We use Consensus to build our Ecovillage. We don't vote on things. We don't leave the powers that be alone in a room to make up their minds. We use this confusing, bizarre, admittedly-difficult-to-understand-at-first system they introduced to my husband and I as "Consensus".

We were given a ten page excerpt from a book to read by Diana Leaf Christian. I now know that she is the author of two amazing books; "Finding Community" and "Creating a Life Together". At the time I remember wondering how any of this mumbo jumbo could actually work. It seemed very unusual and (okay I admit it!) flaky. No one is the leader? Every one is the leader! Everyone will agree in the end?...! Sound powerful? Sound EFFECTIVE?????

Some days I have my doubts. Sometimes I think we're all sunk. We're regularly dealing with issues that have multi-facited points of view. No single answer ever satisfies everyone. We all admit wholeheartedly that we need to get better at Consensus. Hey! This is the first ecovillage any of us have ever built right? And aren't we all human? So I offer an insight into what Consensus can be when it is used with skill and passion.

I (my husband found it!) bumped into this video on the Wonderfully Wide Web and I realized that we aren't yet perfect... but our system sure might be. We all just need to learn more every day about how to use the darn thing, and we all need to remember that none of us have it all figured out yet. Being new at something isn't always my forte... But after seeing this video I'm a willing student!

My friends, and friends to be... I give you Consensus in a large scale setting.