ColivingDAO Insights: The Web3 Path for Regen Living

Wellbeing Through Community: Empowered Coliving with Dorchess

• Daniel Aprea & Gareth Thompson • Season 1 • Episode 26

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What if rethinking homeownership could transform your wellbeing? Join us on this episode of ColivingDAO Insights as we welcome Dorchess, the visionary founder of Awe Academy. With a diverse background in behavioural psychology, mental health care, team training, and interior design, Dorchess brings a unique perspective on how coliving can combat loneliness and enhance community wellbeing in urban environments.

Ever wondered if there's a better way to approach housing beyond the traditional property ownership model? We discuss the societal pressures surrounding homeownership and explore how coliving offers financial flexibility, shared resources, and governance rights. We question the limitations of property as an investment and highlight the benefits of having decision-making power without the long-term commitment typical of owning a home.

Lastly, we dive into the empowerment and personal growth that coliving fosters. Through the lens of decentralised models like ColivingDAO, we explore how residents gain a sense of ownership and community involvement. We round out our conversation with inspiring stories and the importance of storytelling in promoting coliving, particularly for young people. Tune in for an episode filled with insightful discussions and the potential for a more connected and fulfilling way of life.

Daniel:

Welcome everyone to yet another episode of ColivingDAO Insights. This is your co-host, Daniel, and I'm joined today by my co-host, Gareth, as well as our special guest of the day, Dorchess. Dorchess is the founder of Awe Academy. Her background spans from behavioral psychology, team training, mental health care and organizational development to interior design for hospitality and hospitals. Her search for togetherness and a regenerative future led her to community building and coliving. Welcome, Dorchess.

Dorchess:

Thank you.

Daniel:

Awesome. Thank you so much for being here, hi, gareth.

Gareth:

Hey, dan, really good to be back. We're really happy to have Dorches on the podcast this morning. Really interesting background. Dorches, you've got what I would call a wiggly career path.

Dorchess:

A meandering one, I would say.

Gareth:

Yeah, and that's great. It shows that you have an explorer mentality and you want to keep pushing the frontiers, and these are the types of values that we embody at Co-Living DAO. And these are the types of values that we embody at Co-Living DAO, yeah, so if you could just tell us a bit about that wiggly career path, or meandering career path, and how it links into your interest in co-living communities. What's the connecting dots?

Dorchess:

Yeah, that's a good question. When I studied behavioral psychology I was was already. I have always been intrigued in how people behave and um. What influences that um and then um also in people's happiness or ability to be content with life in in the way it presents itself. And then also, how can we shape our lives? How much influence do we actually have to to shape it the way we want it to be? So, um, I do believe in a positive attitude, but not everything is, um, not everything is within our own control. But I do think we can do a lot together.

Dorchess:

So this kind of led me towards group uh therapy, because I believe in the power of the group and group dynamics and how we can help each other, rather than a one-on-one therapy session with just one person and one individual with their own shit Excuse my language, but there is a way that we can connect and we can relate to one another and help each other. And I think this is the same for co-living. It can be a different way of living, a little more sharing and caring for each other and looking out for each other and sharing stuff as well. There's far too much stuff out there and we all have, you know a hammer and a washing machine and a car, just to mention a few things, and I think all of those can be shared. They don't need to be individual purchases.

Daniel:

Yeah, that's a great point and what we love to say here very often, which is partly why we're building Holy Vindow.

Daniel:

Somehow, one way or another, society created this sort of escalator in terms of where to live, which is very individualistic. So when someone lives with other people, it feels like they kind of on their path to eventually live alone, and if they don't live alone, it feels like they're kind of incomplete. And the moment they live alone or in a single unit, in a single family unit, then they've kind of reached the pinnacle of their living conditions. However, this is not necessarily in line with what's best for humans, and we've seen a lot of consequences in mental health as well. This disconnection with other people, whether in terms of actually living conditions but also outside of the actual dwelling, the fact that people are not surrounded by other people and sharing on a regular basis, has a lot of impacts on well-being. Because of your background in mental health as well as community living, what can you add to that to really paint the picture of how individualistic living is impacting mental health?

Dorchess:

Well, I don't know if you've been reading about this, but there's been a lot of talk about loneliness and the occurrence of loneliness in cities, not only with older people, but also young, very young people, teenagers saying I feel so lonely. Even though they're mega connected through socials, they still feel a high level of loneliness, and I find that quite an interesting and sad thing, because we are in this together, we are on this earth together and we have to work together to actually, you know, to have companies, you need people working together. To have a sense of community, you need people together. So that means that could counter loneliness very well, that we maybe have forgotten how to connect or how to be in a together situation. Also, the high rate of divorce shows that we have forgotten how to do it, or maybe times have changed, that we need to relearn how to set our own boundaries, how to feel, how to share these feelings, and this is all of what my work is all about as well.

Daniel:

Absolutely Obviously, this is an issue in our society. I'm glad to see that you definitely align with that, and how do you address that? Tell us a little bit more about your work. How exactly do you address loneliness and disconnection from others in general, the consequences of that, and by combining what you do at Org Academy as well as what you're doing in the space of co-living?

Dorchess:

Yeah, okay, that's really really cool, really cool. I feel like within Orr Academy it all comes together because I wanted, I felt this need in myself to be outside more, to work outside and not only behind a laptop in an office building. So I created the Orr Academy trainings, which are mostly outdoors. Even with bad weather we try to work outdoors with the teams and it creates a connection to nature. So you feel the people also say they feel more calm, more open, more willing to connect with other people because they are outside together. So seeing nature and seeing being a part of it is very influential in our ways, in the way we connect. So that's one thing.

Dorchess:

Also, to tackle the loneliness, I use embodiment exercises in the trainings so people use their bodies to actually begin to become aware of something. So I I make them meet each other in in silly ways, in um silence, in uh, making silly movements just to allow the body to speak without words. So we don't need words all the time and we need to be able to feel that it's awkward or that they, that you feel that you are um freezing up, or you feel that you are freezing up, or you feel you want to take a step backwards because somebody is coming too close. All of these things are bodily senses that we have forgotten to work with. And then I feel like if we come back to the bodily experience and we experience it from within, we can also say, or we are more able to then identify, how do we want to connect to the other person and the other people in the room, how do we want to connect to colleagues, how do we want to relate to friends, et cetera, et cetera.

Gareth:

That's great, dorchus, and from what you're saying, you know we're missing a lot of that in digital communities, right? Yes, digital communities are great and they have so many benefits, but you don't get this embodied experience of being with other people exactly it's more like it feels like almost like to me, like, um, almost like an intellectual communication mode. Yeah, and too much of that, I think, maybe is leading to some of that loneliness and alienation. So having that physical presence really helps right.

Dorchess:

Yep, yep, because intellect is very brainy. So it's all up in the body, the upper part. But the rest of us, the rest of the body, really wants to be seen and heard and touched and cared for as well, and I think that's part of the loneliness.

Gareth:

Yeah, and it's really interesting because you mentioned right at the beginning, when you described your career path, you kind of went from an individual career path and then you said you, you identified that, okay, it's not always about the individual, the individual as in yourself, right? So when you were, when you were creating your own career path, as most, most people do you start with yourself and say what do I want to do? Who do I want to be?

Gareth:

And what struck me in your path was that you moved from I to groups and then communities which feels kind of like. It does feel like some sort of evolution in thinking. There's something there. Can you expand on that a bit?

Dorchess:

Yeah. So coincidentally or maybe not coincidentally my coaching practice that I had before All Academy is called Evolve, which is very much what I do myself. So I became aware of the need to keep exploring. What is it that I'm looking for, what is the thing that is lacking in my life or what is the thing I yearn to bring to this world? So this is very much the exploration of what is my added value to life on this planet and in my small circle, of course small circle, of course and I think being open to that search within yourself then leads to connections to other people on a similar path or maybe on a, or people that have questions like that, similar to the ones I have, and then you explore bits of that together and then, through that, you come to conferences like Rebuild or Reg regenerate conferences, and you meet other like-minded people also looking at ways we can live, uh, on this earth that is regenerational and that is or regenerative, and how we can combine wisdom and experience together.

Dorchess:

And this is how I um, how I chose for co-Living DAO as well, because I really believe that helps to expand this knowledge and we don't have to figure it out all on our own. The individual groups that want to become communities struggle and many fall apart because there's simply no framework or there was very little framework, and nowadays more and more is coming together and knowledge is being shared and put together, also through the digital realm, which is pretty amazing, I think yeah, and there's something in there about you know the different ingredients that you talked about, the combating individuality, sharing resources and expanding from the self into groups, group awareness, embodiment All of these things are kind of ingredients of a more regenerative way of living.

Gareth:

Right or regenerative communities. Yes, and you can't really get there, it seems, unless you have all of them or most of them. Rather than focusing on one or two, like let's solve the loneliness issue, for example, if you focus hard on that, you probably discover that you need the other elements to solve it.

Dorchess:

Yes, exactly yeah.

Gareth:

And so it really does feel like a path of coming back to community, in a sense, right Coming back to physical communities, communication and just being with other people on a shared mission. Yes, exactly. And what would you? What would you say is for someone else that wants to get involved in, in becoming a part of one of those communities or helping to build those communities, what would you say to them? What would you say, what would be the first steps to do that?

Dorchess:

Well, for me, one of the first steps that led me into kind of considering a co-living situation was the fact that it's very difficult as a solo parent to find housing for yourself and children that's affordable. So it started. For me, the journey started out as this can't be a sustainable way of living if half of society cannot even afford to buy a house, and I don't think buying is actually the one thing we should all want as well. So I started questioning the fact that people say buying a property is the thing, is the next step towards progress or growth. So I started questioning that and, from all of this, questioning things, the way things are done or what society expects you to do. That led me to really research and explore what other options there are and which ones resonate with me, which ones feel like a yes to me.

Dorchess:

And I've been to many communities now. I've visited them and I've spoken to many people in these situations and heard about the difficulties as well. So it takes a lot of reflection, communication and willingness to reflect on your own behavior and how that impacts other people. So it's not an easy job, but at the same time, living alone and with an absurd mortgage is also not an easy way of living. Nobody said it would be easy, and that's kind of comforting to me. It might not be easy, but it is something that can bring tremendous joy and connection, and I think that's what we all long for in our lives.

Gareth:

The best things in life are the hard things to do.

Gareth:

They say, right, the best things in life are the hard things to do, they say right, yeah, yeah, that's really interesting that you came in from that angle of you know, looking at how do we live. Why is the default buying property? Why is that the thing as we speak about sometimes at Co-Living Dow Dan, buying a property is just buying an asset, right? But people have this very strong emotional connection or traditional sort of perspective on buying a property is just buying an asset, right? But people have this very strong emotional connection or traditional sort of perspective on buying a property, Like it's the thing that you do and it's not questioned and it's not explored as to why we're doing it or what the benefits and downsides are in fact of buying a property.

Daniel:

Yeah, and it's interesting because there's a few reasons why people buy property, especially when it comes to living in their own property. One is purely societal pressure at this stage, just feeling incomplete, feeling inadequate if they don't live in their own property, or even if, as we mentioned before, if they don't live alone, like sometimes I think, oh, if someone lives with people versus someone living alone, okay, so the person living with people, they have more resources, they are plugged into a network, they have people around when someone living alone.

Daniel:

They don't have that. They might have something outside of the dwelling, but they don't have that exactly where they live. So it's interesting how society has an opposite view on that. And the other reasons people buy property are, for example, like you mentioned, gareth, buying an asset, so that really comes down to capital appreciation. But, as we've seen, just buying a single property is simply a form of investment. So what people do, which is very short-sighted people usually just compare the value of property versus the value of fiat currency like a British pound, a euro, us dollar, and they see that the value of property goes up. What that means is that it's going up against a currency. However, currencies are designed to lose value over time, so the fact that property appreciates against the fee of currency, it's a given. We shouldn't even look at that. What we need to look at is the appreciation of property versus other assets. And that's where it becomes more interesting, because property is not always the best option when it comes to investing. So even buying a single property purely as a form of investment might not be the best.

Daniel:

A lot of people make considerations based on purely appreciation, cash flow and a number of other parameters. So the other element which remains is the fact that someone can own their own property and therefore they can control. They're more controlled, they're in charge of the property. If they want to hang something on the wall, they don't need to ask permission it's a landlord, they can just hang it.

Daniel:

At the end of the day, what this is is governance. What this is is being able to make decisions, having a voice, and that's the element that has really been missing and that's exactly why I call it Vendal. We're looking to find alternatives to buy property outright or through a mortgage, where people still get a exposure to the appreciation, so get a share of wealth. People still get governance rights, which, in a way, you can describe that as power and having a real voice, and at the same time, they can call the place their own, while not being limited to just being stuck with that for like 20, 30 years, not being stuck in a single property forever, which is very inflexible, and not being isolated from the rest of the community.

Dorchess:

Yeah, that makes it very appealing to me because, also, the idea that I'm a part of a larger system of places that I could go to. Suppose I wanted to be in Spain for a while and I know that there are people with the same idea about co-living that live there and that welcome me. That's amazing. I love that idea. Just, I don't need to go there as a tourist. I'm part of a community, um, so in a way, it connects uh, across continents, but it also connects with like-minded people that that have questioned the system of, uh, yeah, buying your own property, being stuck with a mortgage and, uh, the sort of, I would say, the old. I really believe it's time for a new story.

Daniel:

Absolutely, and what do you think the new story could be? Or, let's say, how could you put that into words? The rate of divorce is increasing. You also mentioned prior to this podcast that people move, the idea that, right now, moving is something that happens more often than it used to happen. So, with all this in mind, where do you see society going and how do you see living in general changing and being shaped by the new ways of living?

Dorchess:

Yeah, it's interesting. I have been observing the nomadic lifestyle of many people and I can only observe it a few weeks a year because I don't get to travel as much as a digital nomad, because I do have work that I have to physically be here in the Netherlands. But I love observing how people do it and how they manage and how they feel and how they connect with other people and it differs per place. And also the need for privacy and the need for a space to retreat is also very obvious to me and very significant. So the trouble with co-living is that people feel like they need to be social all the time and need to be together a lot, but you don't. You need to learn about your own needs and you need to be social all the time and need to be together a lot, but you don't. You need to learn about your own needs and you need to listen to those needs and be able to do self-care.

Dorchess:

So I think this is an essential part of becoming a co-liver. You could say. A co-liver is that you are aware of the needs of yourself and the needs of other people, so that you can navigate how to live together and when to choose to distance yourself a little bit just to recover from all the input that is out there. There's a lot of pressures, but I'm not sure if this answers your question. Can you remind me of the question?

Daniel:

It does. It does, indeed, and I'd love to dive a little bit more into that, because when I mentioned co-living to some people that have never experienced one, the main objection I get. Obviously there's people that love the idea, they really want to live in a co-living, but the ones who say no, that's not for me. Usually the reason is, oh, I need my own space, I need my own privacy and that. Now, this is obviously a perception which for some people you may want to call it actually need. For some people, is it actually what they truly mean, or is it more? Because you mentioned boundaries, you mentioned self-awareness in a way, um, is it probably something else? Maybe they haven't learned how to balance public and private life and all that. Can you expand a little bit on that? And for the people that want to get the benefits of living in the community without giving up their actual needs for personal space, how can that that be balanced?

Dorchess:

Yeah, it's a good question. I think it takes a lot of self-awareness. So it means that you tune in with yourself several times a day and ask yourself what do I need right now? And then listen to it. Your body will tell you when you need to go to the toilet, when you are hungry, when your temperature has changed and you need to adapt to the toilet. When you are hungry, when your temperature has changed and you need to adapt your situation a little bit, or when your back hurts and you need to adjust the way you sit or your type of seat or whatever the way you work on your laptop.

Dorchess:

I see a lot of bad posture there, so it takes a lot of being in touch with yourself and then from this being in touch with yourself, I think it increases your level of the ability to observe what other people need as well.

Dorchess:

So by looking at them, you can often see something and then you can ask them if this is the case. So I see very easily when people are overwhelmed, because I know the feeling so well. So I know I need to retreat at times and I listen to this. It does mean sometimes that I miss out on something that's going on and that looks fun, but I cannot be a part of everything all the time, so I really choose to step away and take rest, and I notice especially in people under 35, I would say they have trouble because if you distance yourself from a social group, you might feel like you are then missing something or you will be neglected or be rejected, and this is a major fear for many people. In humans, rejection is the biggest punishment. So we try to do everything to fit in, and I think it's the best. The best way to fit in is to be yourself, and the best way to be yourself is to tune in with yourself, to realize what your needs are and to be able to voice that.

Gareth:

It requires a bit of personal development. Dorcas, is what you're describing right?

Dorchess:

Yeah.

Gareth:

And again, you know, to lean in on the benefits of co-living, you can get the benefit of of personal development events, courses and things that you can you can learn in a co-living space without leaving the building yeah of course you then need to recognize do I need to retreat into my room rather than doing a personal development course? The paradox of it, you know, and not have that fear of missing out. There's a nice phrase called Jomo, which is the joy of missing out. Yeah, I like that one.

Gareth:

It's quite nice, and you also coined a new term Dorcas co-liver. I've never heard that one before.

Dorchess:

Was that an accident. Well, I use the word and I am aware that it might be a new word Co liver. Yeah, co-liver. I quite like the zest of it, but it does remind me of the liver. Yeah, not to be confused with the organ, the vital organ. Yes, it's an essential organ.

Gareth:

Yeah, so co-livers and personal development and taking care of your own space is a really important part of living your best life right and then having access to social experiences when you need them as well yeah so there's really this balance going on right and how do you live your best life between having your own space, developing yourself and having social contact and being part of groups that you want to be a part of. So it's quite overwhelming when you look at all the problem side, I really feel for people looking at and we've gone through these problems as well like where do I live, where do I rent? Am I going to buy, am I?

Dorchess:

not going to buy.

Gareth:

Where am I going to buy? How big is it going to be? Where am I going to rent? Is it going to be in the city? Is it going to be outside the city? Exactly, and how does that match up with the work that I'm doing in my career development?

Dorchess:

you know, life is overwhelming when you're looking at how do I, how do I live? Yes, the best way possible. Yeah, there's no guidebook for it, so it takes a lot of navigation and yeah, I think in that sense, the connecting with community can really help in those situations, sharing about these questions that we all have yeah, and we have an opportunity to create those communities as well and have another option for people to slip into.

Gareth:

You know we can at Co-Living DAO. You know we've got the flexibility in the structure. If it's a federation of co-livings, there's multiple co-livings in different locations. Do I want to be an owner or not? Well, you're automatically a co-owner when you rent. So it kind of blends. It blends a lot of these things together and takes away some of the trade-off elements, which is what we really care about. We're trying to optimize and make people have access to the best opportunities to live in the best way possible, and so eliminating some of those trade-offs I think is the way to go.

Gareth:

And that's what we're looking to do with what we're doing, Great yeah.

Gareth:

And thank you so much. So we just want to say thanks as well for being one of our first backers. For those listening, dorches was one of the first to fund Co-Living DAO and become a financial backer, and we really appreciate that, and it'd be good just to know, or for us to understand. We've had many conversations before, dorches, and I know that you really believe in our vision, but if you could help illuminate why you made the decision to go ahead and fund us, because it's a big step. You know, to say that you believe in something is one thing, but to actually put money in really is is a. It's a much bigger commitment, it's a much bigger way of saying I believe in what you're doing right. So if you could just tell us a bit more about what tipped you over the edge, what was it that really was important to you to support us?

Dorchess:

Yeah, well, I think the way decentralization brings empowerment to the ones involved and also can create more inclusive decision making using, for instance, deep democracy, democracy. I think that way the vision can come to fruition, because the work is divided into parts, people can opt for the value that they can contribute towards, and the financial structure is autonomous and it makes it interesting and also shared. So it's not only me, it will be more backers, more people that believe in it. Of course, it needs to start somewhere and there needs to be money that is put in so that that way, this initiative can grow and start to fund itself. But, yeah, somewhere at the beginning it needs backers and I had enough means to be able to do some of the backing and I really felt like this was a place. The co-living dao is where it all came together and it will really facilitate co-living initiatives and will help to proliferate the process. That's why I decided to back it.

Gareth:

Really good, thank you, and you just touched on something that we didn't really talk about before, actually in this podcast, which is empowerment and decision-making. Just to paraphrase what you're saying, really giving residents or people in communities the power to do these things and that kind of links to the personal development angle. Right, exactly, the power to do these things and that kind of links to the personal development angle right exactly. We're not all helpless beings, but but the place that you live in, or the way that you live, or the structure of the container that you live in, should we say, can actually give you the power to enable you to develop yourself, right, yeah, the empowerment angle is really important. You know, it's not we're going to solve all your problems for you.

Gareth:

We're not going to solve. You know your, your, your life and and your work and and your and your social life. But what we can do is give you the power to solve it and make it better yourself yeah, exactly yeah, and the tools and the knowledge and experience.

Dorchess:

I think that is very important, so it's a combination of, would you say.

Gareth:

It's a combination of giving residents decision-making powers and giving them some share in the wealth that is created, or co-ownership.

Dorchess:

Yes, I think that's a great way to sum it up.

Gareth:

I think that's a great way to sum it up. Brilliant. And Dan, is there anything you look deep in thought.

Daniel:

Is there anything to add there that sparked your interest? Yeah, I think the concept of empowerment is very important because there's multiple layers which can be done and one important layer, of course, is a social layer, where people are encouraged to make their voice heard. People are encouraged to really express how they feel about the place they live, dynamics in general and so on, what their vision is, what their desire is, so that whoever is operating or managing the space can take that into account. So that's one layer. The other layer that we introduce at Colibin DAO is having legally protected voting rights so that, effectively, every resident is also a shareholder.

Daniel:

So, speaking of empowerment, we see that this can happen on many levels, many levels. How do you think having multiple layers, deeper layers, can make people feel more empowered when it comes to really not just feeling that the place is yours, but also feeling they're making a contribution to the place simply by sharing their experience and sharing their vision?

Dorchess:

Yeah, I think the sense of ownership increases If you're not only a financial backer or not only involved in a strand of the operation, but you're also involved in multiple layers. I think it really increases the sense of ownership and when you feel more ownership, you feel more involved and more connected to the whole. When you feel more ownership, you feel more involved and more connected to the to the whole. So I think that's a great way to to, to, to give that empowerment to people.

Gareth:

Do you feel like more of a cool liver when you get empowered in this way? Dorches? Yes, I'm just testing out. I'm testing out the phrase or the word.

Dorchess:

I quite like it. Let's begin to use it, and maybe it will end up in the dictionary one day.

Gareth:

Hashtag co livers.

Daniel:

Exactly. Yeah, we like reading new words. I think we did a few times here on the podcast. This podcast has been the place of Genesis for a few new terms, so thank you for taking part in that as well. And there's a lot of play possible with the word co-living, because it's a new concept and this is something so disruptive I mean, we have people still debating whether it should be hyphenated or not so this is a demonstration. This is a demonstration that we're dealing with something that is nascent in a way, although it's actually very old as a concept. The thing that I find fascinating about co-living one of the things is that, although it is a new, disruptive concept in nowadays society, it's not that different from the way people used to live centuries ago, or even thousands of years ago, but with a slightly different spin and adaptation to modern society.

Daniel:

So how do you see the future developing, let's say not just 50 years from now, but let's say centuries from now? Do you see people living in communities, let's say, 90% of people living in communities, 100% of people living in communities? Or do you think living is something that is going to be, let's say, still relegated, to be niche, so something that subset of the population will do, but not something ever mainstream?

Dorchess:

Oh well, I think it will have to become mainstream because of the issues we're facing with shortage of housing, flooding of various countries, various countries, migration, asylum seekers, I mean there's so much going on. We will have to share more living space, that's a given, but the way we do it is something that we can be empowered in and we can learn a lot in. So I'm hoping that in 100 years people will be more accustomed to growing up in a co-living situation. So whether it be streets of people that form a community like a street community or more intentional, I think there will be different forms, because not everybody is willing to go through the connection process, I suppose. So some people might end up in a co-living because there's nothing else. So it's not really a choice, but more like well, there's nothing else, so then I'll do it. But others will intentionally form communities or step into them, and I really hope that in future we will also learn this in school how to do co-living.

Daniel:

Definitely, and we've apparently found a solution for a lot of issues regarding sustainability. It's something that provides an opportunity for regeneration and also improves mental health and tackles loneliness. So what's really standing in the way? Why is this not yet as popular as it could be, and what can we do about that?

Dorchess:

to foster adoption I think in the media still, the story of buying your own house is still very prominent and it being an investment and a good investment, and you can make money by buying a house.

Dorchess:

And you can make money by buying a house and I think, having to break that well, reveal the truth of it. We should do that more. So I've heard the story a few times, but not often enough, so I think this should be spread out amongst young people wanting to buy a property more. And then also, we need to share experiences of, of the co-living that that we do, so that we learn from each other and so that we can share the, the fun we have and, uh, share how it changed our lives or how it changed our perspective on how to relate to people or how it enhanced our mental health. So all of of these stories, I think it's, yeah, storytelling is something that really works for people and they need to see the effect they can see by our physical sensations and how we share the story that it has really impacted us. That it's true, because, of course, marketing is one one thing, but a true story and a lived experience is another thing. So I think we should share more lived experiences.

Gareth:

I love the positive take you you have on it, dorcas, and looking at the future in a positive way, like was there. There are so many challenges, as you're saying, in modern society, but really I really like the positive storytelling angle that you've come in at here and telling stories to younger people in the next generation. There's a different, different way of doing stuff, there's a different way of living and we're not telling you in an authoritarian way as well, which is what a lot of people are fearing, I think at this point in time.

Gareth:

But we're saying no, we're going to give you the power Exactly, but sharing some stuff in life actually has enormous benefits. It's not about sacrifice.

Dorchess:

Yeah.

Gareth:

So yeah, generating those positive stories of the future, that's a really good way to end on a positive note, Dan. What do you think?

Daniel:

Absolutely, and we love the idea that everything we mentioned is constructive. When we talk about challenges and things in society that we see that aren't ideal in reality, what we're doing is we're identifying where we could find that improvement and eventually creating this improvement. That's all we do here at CoLivingDAO. That's what Dorchers is doing in our academy. So, dorchers, any final thoughts today?

Dorchess:

Yeah, I challenge the listeners to go and find somebody that is in co-living and to hear a story about it. I think it's great to go and explore the world of co-living and to hear a story about it. I think it's great to to go and explore the world of co-living absolutely.

Daniel:

Thank you for being here today, torches. If you want people to reach out to you, let us know where they can find you, and we really appreciate it having you here today.

Dorchess:

Thank you very much for having me. It was a great conversation. Thank you both.

Gareth:

It was a great chat. Thank you, doris, and thank you again for being one of our first financial backers. We really appreciate it, and thank you so much for enabling us on our path.

Dorchess:

You're so welcome.

Daniel:

Thanks everyone for listening as well. I hope you enjoyed the episode and we will be back, as usual, next week with more. So stay tuned, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and we'll be back with you next week. Outro Music.