Diamond-Cut Life

I’ve noticed a number of Google searches bringing people to Diamond-Cut Life who are curious about my husband and I having a housemate who works for rent. Conserving the earth’s resources and practicing community are big motivations for us. Also, we don’t have children and really enjoy young people. (We actually enjoy pretty much all people, but young people seem to be the ones most interested in working for rent.) Due to the interest in the topic, I wanted to add a few more tips for success.

We set up the working for rent as just a six-month gig. This is partly because the job attracts young people who are in life-exploration mode, and six months is as long a commitment as they want. Too, the main focus of the work is planting a fruit and vegetable garden in the spring and then tending and harvesting it through the summer. We don’t necessarily have enough work to offer in the winter. And people don’t always stay the full six months. I’ll address the burn-out factor in a minute.

In our experience, working for rent only works if the person actually lives here. If the person is in a relationship and therefore steadily sleeping elsewhere, they experience it as a pain to come all the way back to the house to do the hour’s worth of work for that day. But they don’t resent doing the work when they’re already at the house anyway.

The biggest obstacle to the person’s success besides not living here is their being overextended with multiple jobs or commitments, and therefore burning out. At least, this is our consistent experience. Of the four people we’ve had who have worked for rent, the person who was most successful and who stayed beyond six months was the one who had a single job with a short commute, and slept here every night. The person who had a full-time job with a long commute who also taught a yoga class and also worked catering jobs on weekends got very burned out on working for rent. Home didn’t feel like home to her because the only hours she was actually here were devoted to work rather than relaxation. She needed to leave — but happily, we’ve remained friends.

As in many things, starting out is easier than completion. I find that building a garden in the spring is a creative, fun and bonding experience for me and my housemate/gardening partner. Maintaining the garden after it’s built — largely weeding, watering and pruning — is more repetitive work, less exciting. It’s good to talk frankly about this and the above issues when starting out on a work-for-rent venture, i.e. what is the shared plan for dealing with potential obstacles?

Right now Evan is taking a break with two weeks vacation. He may or may not resume working for rent after his vacation is over — Mexico is calling to him, plus he has fallen in love since he moved in four months ago. I’ll be happy with whatever he decides; Thor and I have become close to him and we’ll remain  friends in any event. We’ll get to visit with Scott, our former housemate who’s planning to join Americorps, when we’re in Bend next weekend. The circle of community continues.

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