It really doesn’t seem that long ago. Remember the days when friends would just pop in? You’d hear a knock at the door and a voice calling out, “Anyone home?”
You’d invite your visitors in and put the kettle on. You’d grab the biscuit tin then sit down for a good chat. There didn’t have to be an invitation weeks in advance giving you enough time to have your house looking like a display home. The only cleaning up would be straightening up a few bits and pieces as you headed towards the door to see who was there.
There used to be a spontaneity about getting together with friends. Now it all has to be carefully orchestrated so most of the time we just don’t bother.
Our lives have got busier with each family member heading in different directions for a range of activities so it’s probably wise to give a quick call before visiting or to invite friends over but what can we do to reignite that sense of community?
Many times the people who would drop in would be neighbours. They’d walk across the road or down the street for a cuppa and we would drop in at their place. How many people do you know in your own street?
If we run out of ingredients for something we’re making for dinner there are several places in our suburb that we can dash out to for whatever we need at any hour of the day. We just jump in the car and we’re back home with what we need in minutes. It didn’t used to be that way. Shops weren’t always open and not everyone had a car to get to the shops anyway. We’d go next door or over the road and borrow what we needed until shopping day. We’d also lend out whatever our neighbours needed. We’ve lost that reliance on each other and lost community in the process.
We can’t go back to what was but how can we move forward to regain community? How can we create significant relationships with those around us?
I gues the first step is to realise that relationship is far more important than so much of the stuff we’ve put in its place. What are some practical things that we can do to demonstrate that?
Posted by Rodney Olsen
Technorati Tags: Friendship – Relationship – Community
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I was listening on the radio recenlty and one of the ‘no no’s’ in contemporary society is the ‘drop in’.
they felt people just didnt like driop ins any more!
might be true…
We are all so busy now. I wish for the good old days. I think things changed when more women went out to work all day.
I really don’t know, but I wish there was an answer. Maybe the people who are “outgoing enough” could have a weekend bar-b-que in their FRONT yard and maybe some neighbors would happen by. Don’t send out invitations ahead of time, but have plenty of food and drink, so people would feel welcomed. Of course if they got sick or tripped on your waterhose, they might sue you. Oh, chicken livers.
Lolly, it sounds as if you were listening to my radio programme yesterday.
On Fridays I have a segment called ‘Simply Living’ and I was chatting to my regular guest, Life Skills Trainer Jill Bonanno, about this issue.
One of my suggestions was to leave the back yard and have a coffee in your front yard. Invite a neighbour or two you already know and then see who else wanders past.
What’s that they say about great minds thinking alike?
I took my son around to the house behind us this morning to fetch a ball he and friend had hit over the back fence the other day playing cricket. There was a locked gate at the front entrance so we couldn’t even get to the front door! And even though we rang the door bell twice and could hear and see people moving around inside, there was no answer. I told him we’ll have to get him a new ball, but it’s really a pity.
Sorry to say, I wasn’t listening to your Friday radio show. I want to listen sometime, via internet of course, but the time difference makes it a bit difficult. But not impossible! So I’m going to listen one of these days….