Marlborough Express - Weekend Express
Reach out to your neighbours
Try a little friendliness and get to know your neighbours, writes
This is a judgment-free zone, because (if we’re honest) it happens to the best of us. When January 1 rolls around, we make some spontaneous (possibly bubbles-influenced) decisions to lose 10kg, go sugar-free, run four marathons and stop wearing Uggs in public. Then, by January 6, we’re curled up in a foetal position wearing four-day-old pyjamas, wolfing down a jam doughnut, and deleting the ‘‘learn to run’’ app we downloaded less than a week ago.
We Kiwis aren’t traditionally very good at the ol’ New Year’s Resolution. But maybe that’s because we’re making the wrong ones. This year, let’s make a New Year’s Resolution to stop making same-old new Year’s Resolutions. What about making 2018 the year we become a little more neighbourly instead?
Let’s start out simple. ‘‘Hello!’’ is a perfectly acceptable greeting between neighbours, but mere acquaintances will never develop into fully-fledged relationships if they’re only built on drive-by howdies. Resolve to physically stop and have a conversation – even if it’s just a casual comment about how great their lavender looks – every time you bump into your neighbour.
From there, resolve to meet one new person every month. Sound daunting? Think of it this way: it’s only 12 people a year. The neighbour you always pass on your way to work every morning; the girl who always rides the bike next to you in your weekly spin class; the mother of the new kid in your child’s daycare class; the guy who gets on and off the bus at the same stop as you… Open your eyes; potential relationships are everywhere.
A resolution to stop wasting food is an instant invitation to connect to your community. If you’re heading away for the long weekend but your fruit bowl is overflowing, offer it up to the student flat down the street, or if there are more lemons on your tree than leaves, leave a few bags at your letterbox with a sign that says, ‘‘Free to a good home’’.
Resolving to shop local is a great opportunity to invest directly into your neighbourhood too. Shopping at local supermarkets, butchers and produce stores directly supports the pay packets of your neighbours who work there. Choosing to use local service providers like accountants and hairdressers is not only handier to home, you also help keep food on their tables too.
Finally, let’s make 2018 the year we resolve to actually care about our communities. Attend neighbourhood events and meetings, speak up when negative things impact your street, and teach your eyes and brains to notice things you might not have seen before, like overflowing letterboxes, unusual people hanging around, and kids walking to school with no shoes on.
Sign up to Neighbourly.co.nz to stay in the know about local events and issues happening near your place, and become connected to your neighbourhood; not only will you make a positive impact in other people’s lives, you’ll also enjoy a much more fulfilled life yourself.