What is Collective Self-Care

For as long as I can remember, I’ve described Listings Project as rooted in “collective self-care.” What this means is that we draw on the belief that we are our best selves when we feel both grounded as individuals and deeply connected to a vibrant, energizing public. In short, collective self-care is about taking care of yourself so that you can take care of and be of service to your community. 

On Community

Community is a term that has lost much of its meaning over the years as it’s broadly applied and often sloppily used. It’s also a word that I've spent decades thinking about and discussing with people. Communities can arise due to circumstance or serendipity, or they can be intentionally seeded, grown, and nurtured. They can be fleeting or longstanding, but they all have a life cycle, no matter how accidental or curated they are. The communities I find most compelling share a few key traits and values. These can be categorized as communities of collective self-care.

• Identify and address an essential need. The needs could be social, emotional, spiritual, or, as is the case with Listings Project, essential—that is, the need for shelter, a job, or a service.

• Participants can show up as their authentic selves. They don’t have to hide who they are, or change themselves to fit within the group.

• Designed to be mutually beneficial. Community members acquire wisdom, tools, or new ways of being, and make their own contributions.

• The community is looked after by its members and held accountable for its behavior. Creating strong community agreements is a key component of healthy sustainability.

• Commit using restorative conflict resolution to address disputes.

• Having acquired wisdom, tools, or new ways of being, community members are empowered to take action in the world beyond the community, as their authentic selves. What happens within this community is transferable to their life beyond it.

• Sustain the community such that it is led by and composed of individuals who are prepared to exit the community with grace and humility at the appropriate time for them and for the group.

On Collective Self Care at Listings Project

At Listings Project collective self-care guides how we relate to one another as a team. When someone is struggling, we try to make space for that, and to remember our interbeing. Because when one of us struggles, we all struggle. And, when one of us is flourishing, we feel that throughout our team and it brings vibrancy and wellbeing to us all. As the masterful Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh so eloquently put it:

“We are all interconnected. By taking care of another person, you take care of yourself. By taking care of yourself, you take care of the other person. Happiness and safety are not individual matters. If you suffer, I suffer. If you are not safe, I am not safe. There is no way for me to be truly happy if you are suffering.”

Collective self-care at Listings Project goes beyond our internal practices as a team, though. It also guides our decision making and policies. From our vetting practice, to our Community Agreements, to our policies about who can be a part of Listings Project, there are dozens of ways we practice and facilitate collective self-care at Listings Project.  When we write articles about housing justice, when we promote artists, and when we respond to concerns and requests from our community, we are practicing collective self-care. 

For Listers, collective self care takes the form of meeting, living and working with roommates, landlords, colleagues, and others who want to be part of a community rooted in these practices. You write inclusive listings, when hiring you practice equitable hiring, when sharing space with roommates you set clear guidelines and expectations, you stay informed about background checks, source of income discrimination and security deposits. 

Listings Project helps you Find Your Place and Find Your People. Together we uphold the well-being of our entire community as a shared responsibility of the group rather than the lone task of an individual.

Illustrations by Catalina Williams