This article was first published in 2020 for House of Tranformation.
There are other worlds you know. Other filters to put on this One Life than the ones we find in our phones.
When Anton and I met back in 2017, we were both living in a self run collective in Stockholm with over 50 other residents. There we not only found each other but also what we truly wanted when it comes to career and lifestyle.
Growing up in the early 90s we were both asked what we wanted to do when we grew up at a very young age and were expected to proceed to become just that as fast as possible.
We both took detours from this plan, or as my cousin likes to call them “Long cuts”. Anton because rebellion was his middle name… me because I was simply unsure.
On the 5th floor of that house, eating, sleep, breathing community, I spent the most enlightening 3 years. I left with the conviction that Life on 5th was not an utopia but a way of Life and I needed to bring it with me everywhere. Anton was more pragmatic. He saw what happened when people got together, shared meals, struggles and challenges and what good came out of it. For the individual, and Society as a whole. Not only are people feeling better, they become more self-aware, resilient and caring for one another and their surroundings. It might seem obvious, but when people live in true community they begin to share more and consume less! Hurray for sustainability.
Putting my obsession for wellbeing, community living, the zero waste movement and my cynicism together with his creativity, passion for designing the city of tomorrow and the countryside of the future, and you will get the first outlines of the House of Transformation.
We imagine a place where we could recreate some of the magic from our coliving days in Stockholm. We want to open this space to others who, like us, grew tired of the conventional, of hearing “that’s how it’s always been done”. We know there is another way, because we have experienced it.
We’ve seen it. We’ve done it.
We’ve turned living rooms into dance floors, TV rooms into ceremonies spaces, yoga studios into magical mazes, kitchens into banquets, parks into golf courts. We’ve told stories, held speeches, led retreats, hosted and attended. We’ve led and been led, we’ve organised dinners and eaten many, we’ve dove and we’ve flown a little bit everywhere.
And everywhere, the people made the magic. Now that we live in London, we do not want to close the door to all that magic. Quite the opposite. We wish to invite it in and to let it out.
Comments