52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 12

Neighboring Tip of the Week - If you see one of your neighbors outside, intentionally strike up a conversation with them.

Happy May, friend! We hope this neighboring tip finds you full of joy!

This week, we’re proposing a tip that may seem somewhat obvious for neighboring: If you see one of your neighbors outside, intentionally strike up a conversation with them.

Again, this tip may seem fairly obvious for neighboring; doesn’t neighboring imply having conversations with my neighbors? It does, but again, because so many of us have fallen out of touch with these neighboring practices, we often have to start with the basics, and these basics can be hard! There’s no denying that experimenting with this tip could feel really awkward. If you haven’t really intentionally struck up a conversation like this with your neighbors before, and/or you and your neighbors have lived on the block for a while, this could feel quite awkward indeed. But this kind of simple conversation is so human, and it’s so neighboring! And, we guarantee you, it’s also so worth it! Chances are, your neighbors also want to strike up a conversation and get to know you more but that they also feel awkward. Let the conversations begin! We encourage you to dive in and see what happens!

This tip really is as simple as this: If both you and one of your neighbors are outside, intentionally say hello and strike up a conversation with them. Perhaps you tell them how beautiful their flowers are, ask them how they are doing, or ask them a question you have been meaning to ask for a while. Whatever feels the best! If you don’t know or can’t remember your neighbor’s name, then that’s a great place to start. Here, we often find it helpful to name the awkwardness that’s present - “Hey, this is really awkward, but I can’t remember your name.” Your neighbor might not remember yours either, and we have found that naming any awkwardness present somehow makes these sorts of situations feel less awkward! As one final reminder, because we continue to live in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, we ask that you maintain physical distancing as you’re having these conversations with your neighbors. Remember, helping keep our neighbors healthy is being a good neighbor, too!

kristopher on our staff was recently able to have one of these kinds of conversations. He was sitting on his front porch and noticed one of his neighbors was on their front porch, too, so he got up, walked across the street, said hello, and asked how his neighbor was doing. This simple action led to an incredibly beautiful conversation in which his neighbor, whom kristopher had just met a couple weeks before, shared with him their love for so many things, including PBS, birds, and ALDI. We can’t make this stuff up; these conversations happen! This week, we encourage you to help re-establish the norm of neighborly conversations and continue fostering beautiful relationships with your neighbors.

Happy neighboring!