One of the obvious advantages of living in a community is the ability to share resources. We do this with vehicles and transportation, tools, and of course food. Although we've never had an official community car, whoever happens to own a vehicle at any given time always ends up helping others who don't. There is no simple way to share expenses, but more often than not everyone has been happy with the collective results. As for tools, the co-owners who have their own homes and gardens always have a few of their own, but most tools are collectively owned, shared, and stored in our bodega. A community kitchen, a hang-out space with cushions and pillows that adjoins it, seven open-air raised platforms with roofs, partial walls, and mosquito netting, plus our extremely scenic yoga platform are the other structures we share.
Sharing work and various tasks has generally gone smoothly. Since we are still a fairly small group of people, most of us have become proficient at doing whatever needs to be done at any given time. People naturally gravitate towards what they are most inspired to do, or what their previously developed skills simply require them to do. Because most of us are co-owners, taking responsibility comes with the territory of ownership. Coming from a place of contribution is the type of culture we actively nurture and are relatively successful with.
Sharing fruit — especially large types such as the jackfruits — has always been a social situation and certainly appears to be a form of entertainment. We share meals that the entire community usually attends, sometimes potluck style, once every week or two. Recently we've gotten into vegan sushi and are getting exceedingly creative with the dipping sauces. Co-owners who haven't yet built their own homes live in communal platforms and share the community kitchen, often sharing meals with the guests and volunteers who sleep in similar accommodations and also use this kitchen.