Our Common Life
A six-month group coaching program to support the re-villaging of your life.
Currently Running
Registration is now closed, but you can get on the waitlist to join the next round!
In your bones you can feel that you’re a pack animal.
You hear the call in your heart to re-weave the village.
You desire to live in more rooted and regenerative ways.
You long to feel held by – and hold – deep, meaningful community.
YET OUR MODERN WAYS CAN HAVE US FEELING...
Tender & fearful of the vulnerability and complexity of living in collaboration with others
Uncertain about what we even want when it comes to community (because it's kind of nice having one’s independence too)
Confused about where to begin, when a vision for ‘village’ feels big and far-off
Overwhelmed by the thoughts of making tangible changes to daily life
BENEATH ALL OF THIS, DEEP DOWN YOU KNOW YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO carry so much alone.
It’s time to remember yourself home.
Join us this year to:
Step out of loneliness & isolation,
Create the types of meaningful community you are craving,
Strengthen your existing relationships or build new ones, and
Re-village your life.
In our modern world, designed for the individual, you find yourself craving a more collective life…
This program was created to bring like-minded people together to share in the grappling, the brainstorming, and the expression of a more community oriented way of living.
You can think of this space like a watering hole, where you come for resourcing, to support you in turning towards lived experiences of community in your everyday.
What we’ll cover
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We'll start with getting clear on what kind of community you are longing for & what kind of needs you are actually trying to meet in your life.
We'll take time Remembering - gathering stories of community experiences from our own lives, our ancestors, or stories that we’ve heard of - because remembering helps to bolster and inspire us.
We'll dive into Visioning - getting in touch with our own ‘high dream’ for community in our lives (this could be anything from getting to know your neighbours better, to buying land with your best-friends - there’s no one-size fits all expression of community). Our visions draw us forward.
We'll do some Relationship Ecosystem Mapping - taking inventory of what kind of community you already have so we can identify the gaps & real needs & longings you're holding.
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Together we'll identify your Fears, Barriers, and Questions - often naming ‘what holds us back’ is what helps us find a way through.
Whether it’s about security, privacy, ease, introversion, conflict avoidance, or simply feeling like life is too busy, or you don't know where to start - you’re not alone. It’s normal to have hesitancy in shifting up your current patterns.
Your fears and questions will help us source the focus areas for our shared discussion space. We’ll address these in our group coaching calls, throughout our workshops, and in our shared online space where we share resources and support each other in 'real time'.
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The truth is, many of us have been raised in contexts where thinking of the collective feels a little awkward, uncomfortable or even terrifying. We'll develop a community mindset and practice moving through the world with a more community oriented posture. Chances are the world will look and feel a little more inviting and welcoming from here on out.
We'll identify your core values & talk about what it looks like when you radically prioritize what you say matters most!
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You can expect Planning & Implementation - Starting with small simple practices you can begin on day 1 - we’ll move towards action together.
Throughout the program everyone will come up with some sort of project in which to practice & apply your learning. Don't worry we'll support you in figuring out what this looks like!
We'll talk about clarifying intentions, how to create a compelling invitation, and the steps to designing relationships with integrity!As we go, our shared online space is a place to share your wins, your questions, and get the encouragement and accountability you need to make lasting change.
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Once you're in the work of community building we'll equip you with the Relational Skills to navigate what you might come up against. In particular you can expect tools and frameworks to support you in the areas of:
relationship design & navigating nuance,
balancing personal needs with community needs,
identifying shared values,
initiating & the art of invitation,
collective decision making,
communicating needs & requests & asking for help,
setting boundaries, and
conflict navigation.
Lots of people find the skills they build here equally valuable in their romantic relationships, with family, colleagues, and even with their kids!
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Along the way we'll touch on themes related to Personal Resourcing - Relationships are hard work & often exploring our community longings brings up all kinds of questions & feelings about our worth & belonging. We’ll explore these themes together as we bolster you to do the vulnerable work of pursuing the connection you long for.
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Inevitably things don't go quite as we imagine, or our visions do come to fruition and then something changes. We'll build tools & capacity to pivot, redesign, and deepen & expand your community experiences so that you're equipped long past the 6 months we spend together!
What past participant are saying
This is Bigger than You.
Actively choosing to depend on each other in integral ways changes us. When we offer hospitality, or receive someone’s generosity… when we see our lives tied up with someone else’s, it is both beautiful and vulnerable. It reminds us of our needs, and of our capacity. Choosing this interdependence is an act of rebellion in a world that tells us to look out only for ourselves and “our own”.
This work is a remembering for our ancestors, A reclamation for ourselves, and a legacy for our children.
This work is a healing for the collective.
Folks come to this program from all walks of life…
We are all wired for connection and we all long for community regardless of circumstance. There is always more available, regardless where you are in your re-villaging journey - more depth, more connection, more support, more witness - community is an abundant and renewable resource. It operates like a positive feedback loop, in that the more we invest in it, the more it resources us. So whether you are just interested in starting a potluck group, making local friends, deepening relationships in your life, getting to know your neighbours, or are envisioning or already living in a co-living situation, there is something for you here.
Systems of power like to promise security and abundance, but we all know that empires rise and fall. The truest, safest, most secure investments you will make in this lifetime are in whole, healthy, relationships. Your relational equity is what will carry you through whatever life throws your way.
This group may be for you if:
You long for more shared elements of life;
You don’t quite know what you want relationally, but you know that what you’re doing isn’t working;
You have never experienced something you’d consider ‘community’;
You want to build a closer network of support in your life;
You feel isolated in your life, work, or personal journey;
You just want more easy, social connection;
You dream of living with others in a more a communal way;
You have questions and fears about sharing more elements of your life with others;
You have ideas for community, but don’t know how to find it or where to start;
You are in community, but want to find ways to add depth, and structure to it, so it can be even better;
You don’t have the energy to ‘figure it all out’ on your own.
Hi I’m Sarah, Our-Common Founder, Relationship-dynamics Coach, & Community Builder
I am passionate about helping people to build their skills and capacity to navigate nuanced relationship dynamics with courage and grace.
I grew up in a home focused on hospitality, and mutual-aid, where shared elements of life with friends and neighbours was considered ‘normal’. With my own young-family, I lived in intentional community for close to a decade - including living on shared land with other singles and families while sharing meals, work, and chores etc.
Though now we live in a single family dwelling in an average neighbourhood, we have built a tight-knit local community. We seek to live in alignment with our core-values of environmental stewardship, community-care, and local-impact, through small daily choices.
This offering is one I created because I’ve experienced first-hand that it is hard work to build community into our lives in this busy modern world, and we can all use a little support and encouragement on the journey. I don’t come to the table with all the answers, but am here to make space for our collective grappling. May we be better for having these important conversations together.
I share more of my story in a variety of podcast conversations that you can find on our Free Resources Page.
This most recent interview on The ReVillager Podcast dives into more details about this course, how it came about, who it’s for, and what we cover. Go have a listen!
“Sarah is one of the most skilled community-builders and space holders I have ever met. She is wildly gifted at meeting people with tenderness exactly where they are at, while also holding space for the potential each person has to grow and challenge themselves.”
Kelsey Robson, Past Participant in Our Common Life
Get All the Details
A Six-month course to support the re-villaging of your life
Fall 2024 through Spring 2025
Beginning early November 2024 & Running through to Early April 2025
Registration has been extended to allow for late-arrivals.
You can now sign-up anytime until we begin on November 2nd.
Access your vision, unpack your fears, and build a tangible framework to live more fully in inter-dependence with others.
Come to Receive guidance, prompts, and encouragement, in a community container.
In this course You will:
Clarify your vision for what a more community-oriented life looks like for you
Unpack your fears and questions about building community
Create a plan for a more shared way of life in the here and now, and get support in making it a reality
Take steps to build more lived experience of community in your everyday
Meet like-minded people craving connection
Experience shared inspiration through shared stories and wisdom from your own community experiences
Receive guidance, prompts, accountability, and practical tools to help you navigate the journey
Gain confidence in following through with your community desires, and skill to initiate and follow-through
Build a more community oriented life
This offering is 6 months long and includes:
A 3-hour Opening Call to begin our six months together.
A 2-hour live Workshop Call on a relationship skill or community-building theme each month. These include tangible frameworks, tools, & teaching.
A 2-hour Group Coaching Call to work through real-time challenges and questions, and to share celebrations each month. These include opportunities to bring your questions & case-studies for us to apply the learning to your everyday experences.
Additional support through periodic (on demand) Drop-in Calls or 15-minute one-on-one Consult Calls with Sarah.
A 3-hour Closing Call to celebrated, and complete well with each other at the end of the six months.
Calls happen over Zoom, and are led and facilitated by Sarah .
You can expect calls to include:
Teaching, guidance, prompts
Facilitated group discussion
Resource sharing
Check-ins, sharing, witnessing, and support
Spot coaching
Emails that pair with our calls, filled with reflection prompts, stories of inspiration, challenges, guidance, resources, and summarized group learnings.
Regular prompts, posts, and check-ins through an online group space, for accountability, encouragement, brainstorming, resource sharing, and Q&A.
Optional small group-pods to deepen your learning.
With support, you will craft at least one community ‘project’ over the six months. This tangible living experiment will help to bring your learning into ‘real-time’ - supporting you to clarify what you really want, and equipping you with the skills and initiative you need to get there. Don’t worry though - you don’t have to have any idea of what this will be - we’ll figure it out together as we go!
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November 2024 - April 2025
The 3-hour opening and closing calls will be on Saturdays from 9 am to Noon PST, to allow for everyone to join us. Please plan to prioritize these two calls, as it makes a big difference to have everyone together at the beginning and end of our time.
Workshop, and Group Coaching calls will happen on Tuesdays with alternating times of 9 am PST, and 5:30 pm PST, to accommodate folks from multiple time zones, and various schedule limitations.
Each month there will be:
A 2-hour themed teaching Workshop Call (relational skill building, community visioning etc)
A 2-hour Group Coaching Call to check-in, navigate personal examples and experiences, and learn from each other in real time.
Periodic (on demand) Drop-in Calls with Sarah to get questions answered, or get some spot coaching or encouragement.
Optional small pod calls - For those that want to go deeper, you can choose to join a small pod and meet at a rhythm of your choosing (usually once a month).
Although it is ideal to join calls live to maximize your learning, all calls are recorded for anyone needing to catch-up at their convenience. Many people choose to watch calls at their own pace and join in group conversation via the group online space.
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CURRENTLY RUNNING
Opening Call - November 2nd 2024 - 9 am - noon PST - Welcome & Visioning & Defining Healthy CommunityGroup Coaching Call - November 5th - 5:30 - 7:30 pm PST
Workshop Call - November 19th 2024 - 9 - 11 am PST - Picking a Project - Values, Relationship Ecosystem Mapping, & Intention setting.
Group Coaching Call - December 3rd 2024 - 5:30 - 7:30 pm PST
Workshop Call - December 17th 2024 - 9 - 11 am PST - From Vision to Action - the Art of Invitation & Initiating.
Group Coaching Call - January 7th 2025 - 5:30 - 7:30 pm PST
Workshop Call - January 21st 2025 - 9 - 11 am PST - Balancing Needs in Community - Discerning where to lean in and where to have boundaries.
Group Coaching Call - February 4th - 5:30 - 7:30 pm PST
Workshop Call - February 18th - 9 - 11 am PST - Navigating Conflict & Dis-ease in Community
Group Coaching Call - March 4th - 5:30 - 7:30 pm PST
Workshop Call - March 18th - 9 - 11 am PST - What comes next - Iterating, Pivoting & Holding the Long-View
Completion Call - April 5th - 9 am - Noon PST - Recap, Reflection, Celebration, & Commitments
**Cost is per Household:
In other words: your partner, spouse, or roommate can join us for no extra charge!
Investment**
We don’t want financial limitation to be a barrier to participating here, so we priced this on a sliding scale. In fact, tiered pricing is one of the ways we practice community care. When those who can pay full price, it creates opportunity for those with less to access resources at a reduced rate.
Please be thoughtful about what your capacity truly is - this system is built on trust.
For the full program:
Join - $2,050 CAD* per household
This is the cost of the program - This is for you if you are able to pay for ‘wants’ without much consideration and spend little time worried about securing the necessities of life.
If you select this option you’re making a contribution towards scholarship spots. This is a central principal of community!
Join on Sliding Scale - $1,450 CAD*per household
This is for you if you can pay your needs month to month and have some wiggle room for ‘extras’.
Join with Community Support - $850 CAD* per household - 4 spots remaining!
This might be for you if you are struggling to overcome debt, are stretched to meet your basic needs, or are living paycheck to paycheck. This option is supported by the cost of those who can pay more - community care involves giving and receiving!
Reduced Scholarship Rate - 1 spot remaining!
This is for you, if even the above options are inaccessible for your situation. We don’t want cost to be a barrier. Reach out so we can have an honest and creative conversation about making this work for you.
Payment plans are available upon request if you are unable to pay in one lump sum.
*GST included. Note that 10% of profits go to charitable giving so we can ripple our impact.
Get on the Waitlist!
Registration is now closed as this program is currently running.
We’d love to have you join us in the next round!
The learning in this program is brought to life by the people who join us - your story, perspectives, and journey are a valuable addition to our group!