Community
As exciting and liberating as our environments are for the vast majority of residents, sometimes the life changes that bring members to a community are accompanied by a sense of loss. We grieve when one part of a life has ended and vital things are left behind - familiar places, friends, family. One's natural optimism may have faded temporarily, but our culture of expression soon brings out the best in everyone.
Over more than 20 years that Freshwater has created communities for seniors, we have discovered an invaluable tool for shifting our new residents' expectations. As soon as they arrive, we ask them to tell us about themselves. We acknowledge whatever losses they have experienced just as we awaken in them new dreams, hopes, expectations. Together we begin to explore the plenitude of their new life.
In Watermark communities, especially those surrounded by abundant cultural resources, we strive to create a self-sustaining and expanding culture. We do this through creating opportunity rather than forcing a prescribed agenda.
The model is not that of the stationary cruise ship. For instance, rather than having a visiting scholar come to our community to give a one-time presentation on writing and publishing to the four residents who may be interested, we would encourage those residents to form their own writing workshop, perhaps in orchestration with a series of lectures being given at a local college or university.
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