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We are called to love our neighbors, yet many of us don’t even know our neighbors.
During the busyness of our lives, neighbors are just objects moving around our bubble. We hop in our car in the morning, go to work all day, then race home to grab the kids for their activities. The day ends with a little downtime and then bed.
We do it again the next day.
The weekend arrives and we are off to more activities, running errands, house projects, and social calendar events that don’t involve our neighborhood.
The only engagement we often get with our neighbors is just a polite ‘hello’ and wave.
We can go weeks, even months, without a true conversation with our neighbors.
Our neighborhoods need our leadership.
People need community. People need to feel known.
We need to take the lead to build that community in order for our neighborhoods to thrive.
A friend of mine, Jay Pathak, wrote a book a few years ago called ‘The Art of Neighboring’. The key concept from his book that convicted me was do you know the names, occupation, passion, hobbies, etc. of the neighbors that touch your property.
Ouch! I did not!
We took action…Fancy Dinner
A few years ago, a group of us in our neighborhood got together to organize an event called, “Fancy Dinner”. The purpose was to build community, have adult conversations, and no kids allowed so we could actually concentrate. Everybody brought food, dressed up, ate outside under stringed lights. It was awesome. 12 adults came.
The second time we had 21 people.
The third time we had 33 people.
The fourth time we had 40 people.
The fifth time we had 61 people.
Most recently we had 53 people. (p.s. I think the fifth time was highest because it was a pig roast 🙂 )
The event grows because people want community. They just need a leader.
I can’t wait to see how this evolves. The dream is 100 people!
Take the lead in your neighborhood. They need you.
**This post was updated on Oct 8, 2019 due to the most recent fancy dinner.
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Email me ideas you are taking to make your neighborhood better – cory@corymcarlson.com