I love a birthday. It feels like an excuse for a celebration
– and often some good reminiscence. I’m already excited about my 40th
birthday later this year, and as we hit a decade since the co-op got its
first house (exactly 10 years today!), I realise I’m also a kind of middle-aged Golem, with roughly as many
people who’ve joined the co-op since I did as co-op 'elders' who had the original dream and made it happen.
When I moved in four years ago, Golem already felt well-established, both as a group of lovely humans who’d been part of each others’ lives and loves for longer than the co-op had existed, and as a house that had been rescued from the clutches of a terrible landlord. In those first few years before I joined, through ridiculous amounts of difficult, stressful and disruptive work that frequently didn’t go to plan and cost a small fortune (necessitating the co-op to take out a third mortgage), our first house (and garden) was made beautiful and liveable.
Since 2018 we’ve done loads more. I was excited when I was
invited to join the co-op, but my excitement was tempered by a mild sense of despondency at the state of the bathrooms. The upstairs bathroom got an early mini-makeover with improved
ventilation meaning that the paint we reapplied to the ceiling actually stayed
there – and just this month we got some beautiful new storage to replace the rusty dusty shelves in there too.
Beautifying the upstairs bathroom
Lovely new storage in said bathroom
The
downstairs bathroom underwent a more epic redesign a couple of years ago,
transforming it from a damp, slug-infested dumping ground to a sleek new toilet
and shower room with sexy tiles and a new utility space with sink and
washing machine. In less exciting (but still useful) developments, we've also
replaced some windows that were on the verge of falling out of their frames, given the basement
steps a facelift and made the living room into a much cosier space.
Before: testing the shower space in the old downstairs bathroom
After: new shower with sexy tiles
But of course the important stuff hasn’t been so much about buildings as people. In the four years since I joined we’ve had fabulous parties, less fabulous lockdowns, welcomed lovely new members, had old members depart for pastures new (and one come back again) – and we’ve bought an entire other house across the road!
I think I can now lay claim to being the member who has inhabited the most different rooms in the co-op (four at the last count – two in each house). I’m not one for sitting still (literally or figuratively) but my current room is definitely my favourite thanks to the fabulous view of Swansea bay (and Devon on a clear day) and the den I’ve build under my bed (which is 5’ off the floor) so I’m hoping I’ll be here for a long time to come. In the past four years I’ve learned a huge amount about myself and others, about communication and conflict, what makes me happy and how to live with other adults (plus an increasingly adult-like child, and a variety of cats and dogs) – but there's definitely still plenty more for me to figure out.
Attic view at 22
When I explain to non-co-op dwellers what my home is like, people often express surprise that I would choose or be able to live as part of such a big household. But for many people the lockdowns of the past two years brought a realisation that whoever you choose to live with – whether a partner, parent or child, a bunch of friends or acquaintances, or alone – there will always be compromises and things that aren’t perfect. For me the inevitable challenges of living with a group of other people will always be hugely outweighed by the joy of having such a wonderful eclectic group of people play such an immediate part of my life – from the delicious dinners, breakfast chats, film nights, gardening advice, hand-me-down fabulous clothes, acro-yoga lessons, life advice, beach buddies, jump starts, moral support, DIY help, hugs and random creative challenges to late night homebrew-drinking – and the glow of knowing I’m part of a small but beautiful alternative to profiteering private landlordism. I can’t wait for the next instalment in the many more decades to come of Golem housing wonderful people.
- Christine
