Artists & musicians are subsidized. They can be summoned via text or video call like you’d call the fire department. Your first child is born? Call for someone to sing a song welcoming her to the world. Disappointed over some work thing? Summon a poet who will create & perform just the right uplifting words.

Education is recurring. You & your neighbors are always enrolled in a rotating set of growth challenges, each of which is related to the public good. Handiwork, for example, renews each year — gardening, crocheting, whittling. You’re required by law to gain functionality in a new language every ten years.

Medicine is free. When you’re sick, you know someone will care for you. Every prescription comes with two free prepared meals, one for you, and one for a neighbor, who knows what ails you & who checks on you — not because it’s required by law, but because you care for one another.

Non-commercial green spaces every five square miles. Dog parks, yoga, tai chi, party pavilions, and vegetable gardens are nearly walkable for everyone everywhere.

Ceremonial public napping. “Mind the gap” takes on a new meaning to focus on gaps in time. You & your neighbors take shared deliberate pauses in the day, not just pauses from work but pauses from our home spaces. All neighbors pull collapsible cots into the streets for a shared rest. A low gong opens & closes these cathedrals in time.

Jewelry & accessories are biodegradable. We adorn ourselves with acorn necklaces, vine tendril bracelets, sachets of flowers & fruit rinds. Once a thing begins to rot, you return it to the earth with a prayer of gratitude. After an adornment-free week, you decide whether or not to seek out a new way to celebrate & adorn yourself.

Alter egos. Everybody has somebody. Every four years, you’re assigned at random a neighbor (reader, as you might have noticed, the word has broader parameters here) to harmonize with via video call — and in person walks, if you choose. These interactions are known as harmonies (not necessarily musical), and each has two parts: Manage & mitigate, then surprise & celebrate. That is, first you unpack what might be burdening you or occupying your attention; then you invite the neighbor to applaud & delight in what has blessed you lately.

Full moon reconciliation. Every full moon, every neighbor performs a reconciliation beneath the moon. The reconciliation may be spoken to a fellow neighbor, perhaps a neighbor wronged deliberately; the reconciliation may be spoken within the heart, perhaps a shortcoming that demands frank acknowledgement before growing into peace. Note, reader, that the word “reconciliation” also means “acceptance”, as in, I joyfully reconcile myself to this body weight, to this level of mastery at archery, etc. The reconciliations conclude with a silent food exchange between neighbors, only a food item that can fit in one’s hand.

Living eulogies. On a neighbor’s five hundredth moon, three people create & share living eulogies. A neighbor, an alter ego (not necessarily the current one), and a family member. Each eulogy is written by hand and is preserved as a scroll nestled in a segment of bamboo. After the eulogies are complete, each eulogist paints their signature on the bamboo & melts wax to seal it at each end. These eulogy bamboo are then stored prominently on the inside of each person’s front door, so that they enter & exit each day with those words gracing their paths. The bamboo are unsealed & reread upon the death of each neighbor.

(to be continued)