Sharing More

My neighborhood is a bit odd, in that a few dozen houses share one swimming pool. This is because fifty years ago, one large property was subdivided and the developer left the existing pool intact. He specified that all houses would jointly share in its usage and upkeep.

Very few people aspire to share a pool with a few dozen neighbors. Instead, people want their own pool.

After fifteen years of sharing, I can tell you that sharing is much, much better. You pay less for upkeep, yet enjoy a bigger pool. But that's not even close to the best benefit.

Having the pool created a culture of sharing in our neighborhood. When my kids were younger, our neighbors approached us with a proposal. Our swing set was getting pretty shaky, and our kids had mostly outgrown it. So our neighbors offered to buy a much nicer new one that we would share, but - because they didn't have a flat spot in their yard - they asked to put it in ours. We agreed.

Then another neighbor bought a trampoline, that everyone shares. Another bought a soccer net. Same deal. Today, the swing set is long gone but we share a garden with our neighbors.

I'd like to think that this is where we are headed as a society: sharing more.

You don't need a venture capitalist and a programming team to start sharing. You just need to adopt a sharing mindset. Once you do, don't be surprised if you discover that sharing is contagious.

-- Bruce Kasanoff