Won’t You Please Get to Know Your Neighbor?
I grew up on a very close knit street where I new my neighbors. I had no way of knowing just how impactful that would be in my life but now I’m able to track how much confidence, security, and support I felt from my neighbors who I knew were cheering me on and holding me accountable for representing the neighborhood well. So here’s my challenge on this National Night Out: let’s get to know some more of our neighbors. The ice cream bars are optional but completely encouraged.
Do you feel a strong sense of community where you are right now? I know that the term itself has been tossed around so much that I’m not certain if we all even call it the same thing anymore. But when I use the term community I mean that old fashioned sense of neighborliness that used to cause us to bind together, to serve and volunteer together no matter what our neighbor’s political affiliations might be, and to put worth serious effort and thought into improving our local neighbors and cities.
I guess I must be dwelling on this concept because it’s National Night Out Day—a day set aside specifically to bring neighborhoods together and to rally around building safer and more thriving communities. About ten years ago I was my neighborhood association’s president and organized a pretty big event for the Night Out.
We had face painting done by a talented dear friend, freshly grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, watermelon and ice cream sandwiches in a fantastic park with a water feature that drew a lot of people. It felt great to pull off a successful event and so appreciated so many friends who chipped in. But after having a few days to reflect, I had to common to the conclusion that it was nice that some people got fed and had a chance to take a tour inside a fire engine and to meet their chief of police. But when push came to shove, the community itself wasn’t really any more integrated then than it was before the event.
Don’t get me wrong, fun carnival-like events are great when their goal is to entertain, but if our goal is getting to know our neighbors and caring a bit more about their well-being then perhaps handing out ice cream bars isn’t quite the right tactic. It’s wonderful seeing farmer’s markets being successful and so well-supported. I love seeing crowds at public concert nights and art festivals are tremendous. Having been a small part of organizing many of these public events over the years makes me very aware of the huge time commitment it is to pull off events like these. So we should definitely support and appreciate our local arts foundations and our local farmer’s and market organizations.
But there really is no substitute for just knowing who our neighbors are. I live in a pretty urban area where thousands of people are packed within a few block radius. People come and go frequently. Even within my own complex, moving vans are common appearances. But I don’t think that lets me off the hook. And in fact, I wouldn’t want to be let off the hook because the few strong neighbor connections I have made and maintained over the years are very meaningful to me now. I only have to think that if I was to widen that circle and strengthened connections with more people, that richness would be even more powerful and rewarding.
I grew up on a very close knit street where I new my neighbors. I had no way of knowing just how impactful that would be in my life but now I’m able to track how much confidence, security, and support I felt from my neighbors who I knew were cheering me on and holding me accountable for representing the neighborhood well. So here’s my challenge on this National Night Out: let’s get to know some more of our neighbors. The ice cream bars are optional but completely encouraged.