I live in a small and old neighbourhood just outside one of the many cities in Australia. Having lived there for over 10 years I have noticed families come and go, with employment issues and downsizing of family units. What has been interesting to note in the last few months has been the selling and buying of a number of houses near me, and in recent weeks the home next door and one across the road.
The same real estate agent was organised to sell both homes and dropped past my front yard one day while I was gardening, asking if I could give her a short summary of the neighbourhood, as she was setting up a profile for potential clients moving into the area.
At first I was surprised to hear this question coming from a real estate agent as I had this instant crazy belief that all ‘real estate agents were out to make money’ and were not interested in supporting anyone to get the best location and price for a new home. It was interesting to note how I could feel my body move in protection and my head move straight into setting up a facts profile of what to share about my neighbours:
- Old married couple across the road
- Gay couple in the house adjacent
- Mother and disabled daughter next door
- Single gay woman with overseas students homestay two houses down
- Young couple with a newborn on the corner block.
Even though this was a factual account, there was nothing that had dropped into my head that was truly sharing what a great community I live in.
I knew at that moment that what had played out was the instant load of ideals and beliefs that are constantly on standby waiting for us to take or leave about the world and how we see each other.
It made me realise the ways in which we project towards each other and assume another to be without stopping to feel what is the intent of each person’s words, including our own.
Do we speak to heal or harm?
Many times, the judgement that comes with ideals and beliefs often clouds both people from sharing what is on offer to appreciate about the exchange and see what can be offered to everyone in the long run.
I knew that none of these thoughts were true as the movements in my body said it all and stopped me from sharing the realness we share as a community together.
The ideals and beliefs were blinding me from hearing that this real estate agent was genuine in asking about the place – and what better way than to ask those who live here? What I did choose to give in return was a snapshot of the diverse backgrounds of each and every home, and what each person brings:
- The old married couple who bring in my garbage bins from the kerb each week and always stop for a chat, come rain or shine.
- The deeply loving gay couple who regularly open up their home for us all to enjoy their built-in pool, all year round.
- The mother and disabled daughter who offer support with recycling projects in the neighbourhood and gladly offer to mind pets when families go away on holidays.
- The single gay woman who has a heart of gold and offers her home to many students and people new to the country with affordable accommodation close to the city.
- The tender and loving father of the newborn child next door who often asks for gardening advice and is a whiz at supporting with ‘handyman jobs’ around the house.
- His wife, a beautiful woman who constantly reflects the importance of staying steady and honouring herself as she spends time nurturing her newborn.
This is my neighbourhood. A place where there is no perfection but a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another, and in doing so have broken down the beliefs and ideals I have held about people in general and how a community should be. This group of men, women and children who live in my street bring such a sense of community and family that it has deepened my understanding of the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.
Inspired by the work of Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
By Anonymous
Related Reading:
Community Living
What is Connection?
The Roseto Effect – A lesson on the true cause of heart disease
Words on Serge Benhayon 
The community and relationships we build are super important for our evolution, and as we deepen these relationships everyone is blessed.
Appreciating what we all bring to our community enriches life for all.
Absoulutely Mary, appreciation is underrated as a virtue.
The first list was very cold and factual, but the second one was all about the people. That connection is what enriches life.
People have lots of great qualities, seeing those can help us to break down the hardness, protection and isolation we often feel. We may technically be “strangers” but we are not that strange to each other, in fact we are all pretty similar with different degrees of hurts, beliefs, and underneath that lots of gorgeous qualities.
Being appreciative of what we have around us is supper supportive in all we do and as we develop a relationship with appreciation it can hold us to the next level of purpose-full-ness that we can appreciate.
Lovely to feel your appreciation of everyone. Community helps to break down the barriers blood family can have, so that we can widen our understanding of family to include everyone around us. I liked your words about having an open heart too, protection can gradually creep in until we realise we are loaded with beliefs and negative expectations about people and are shut off from others.
So true Melinda, being open and transparent shares so much, and along with the decency and respect we are living and sharing with everyone, opens us to others within our community.
Your question “Do we speak to heal or harm?” struck me today and asked me to ponder on it a little more deeply. Do we only say what is needed to say, or do we indulge and say what we want to say regardless of the impact or the outcome?
What a lovely heartfelt blog about living in a community! when we let go of the ideals and beliefs there is a wealth of experience to share about the actual love and consideration there is amongst your neighbours. This is something to cherish as we become more separated from each other.
“. . . it has deepened my understanding of the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.” What a great appreciation for your community Anonymous and also a wonderful reflection what is possible and also a great invitation to have a look at our own community!
Dropping our ‘guard’ so to speak is what allows us to see more truth around us. It is about being transparent and honest and not hiding anything and yet at the same time being open to seeing all that is there to be seen in others and in situations. This is a gift – though in my experience it is something that I work on daily and at times find challenging to do because of the ideal and beliefs that can kick in to try to control. That said it is like I have an addiction to these ideals and beliefs and that they are not really controlling me but there is something about them that I seem to seek out in order to not make it as easy for myself as it could be! This sounds warped but it does feel so true!
How we choose to see the world and the people around us is key in how we will describe them to another. We can choose to see the full picture which is the beauty and the facts, or we can choose to focus just on the facts and make interpretations that do not deliver the whole.
Yes, I can see that Henrietta, it is what our eyes choose to receive and also what our ears choose to hear in the question being asked than influences what we offer back.
I can so relate to that instant load of ideals and beliefs you talk about here. It’s quite amazing how fixated our beliefs really are, and even when we like to think we are being discerning, it is very possible we are just referring back to our past experience as the template to form a judgment, and not really allowing a situation to unfold and be felt for what it is.
Anonymous, reading this article makes me realise that none of us are perfect and that we can all accept each other and offer love and support in our communities.
Anonymous, I can feel how we can let judgement and pictures stop us from connecting with people in our community. If we don’t hold a picture of who we think we can be close with and instead allow ourselves to see the beauty in others then we can build loving relationships with those around us. I love this; ‘A place where there is no perfection but a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another, and in doing so have broken down the beliefs and ideals I have held about people in general and how a community should be.’
I love reading this article about community, this stands out for me; ‘the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’ I moved from a closely knit community to a new street, what was interesting was that I judged my new street to not be as open and friendly as my pervious, but I found that if I opened upto people that this then allowed others to do the same and now I love my new street and those who live there, I feel that we can build these supportive and loving relationships wherever we go.
That’s true Rebecca, sometimes have to be the person who breaks down the walls first by being friendly and open. We are not so different really as human beings.
Opening up to each other can be almost magical. When we truly open ourselves up then it’s almost impossible for another not to do the same. We’re like flowers in the sun, we can’t help but open it’s our natural instinct.
I love the simple appreciation that is expressed in this blog. It is beautiful to read.
Beautifully highlighting how our openness to each other, to feel the essence of who, we are paves the way for us all to live in greater understanding and harmony together, regardless of how diverse and different our lifestyles and background are as we come to see that in essence we are not so different after all. If we cannot manage to do this is our neighborhoods how will the world ever change. Thank you for sharing how possible and beautiful living in true community is.
Yes that is so true, if we cannot do it in the micro, we have no hope for the macro. Saying that, it clearly only takes a few micros to influence the macro so let’s build that way of living in our lives so it can be the best contagion ever!
Profiling could be an act of profound reductionism if leaves out what is true about the beauty of people.
If we choose to connect, we will find that there is a treasure trove of communication connection warmth and true humanity just waiting there to be discovered.
Beautiful Chris – there is always more for us to learn, be pulled-up and inspired from each other is we are truly open to it, to evolving.
There are the facts of who lives in your street, but these are just labels open to stereotyping. How the neighbourhood feels and the sense of community is what really matters.
We all have precious inner qualities and abilities that feel very natural and genuine in each one. Yet not so many often stop to appreciate this fact. Instead of that, judging ourselves, gossiping or comparing with others is so normal that we don’t even question it. A true change would take place in this society if we stop to see and feel the beauty within and all around us. When something is truly appreciated in someone all may be changed, we together can strenghten our abilty to see how beautiful we are and with that any kind of jealousy or comparison can’t take place. The way we think, behave, move and be with ourselves and others matters, even though we have ignored it for so long.
How beautiful Inma, thank you, you really touched my heart. You have shared the truth about love.
I suppose a key factor is in not expecting what community must look like according to what we see on the TV, but rather in letting it unfold before us as we live together on streets and in neighbourhoods.
Yes, to not have pictures based on another persons ideals because actually someone who is very angry could easily be ignored and seen as one to avoid and yet that just perpetuates the separation. Letting things unfold and being present offers a blank slate all round.
Gosh you have just shared what a difference it makes when we connect to our body and express from here instead of reel off everything that comes to the mind if we are not present with ourselves.
Your neighborhood sounds like a true community that is well worth appreciating anonymous.
Beautiful, I love how we all bring our part to society if we commit to our strenghts of who we are. For we naturally bring who we are when we connect.
We are together, whether we know it or not, and it is in the small gestures that we can know that we are never alone.
I love living in a community where people help each other and support each other whenever possible. No matter where we are, we can always offer our community a reflection of the way we live that shares an openness, care and willingness to support.
This example shows how holding back what we feel and saying just the bare minimum can be so harming. When you just sum up the types of people living in the neighbourhood anyone can fill in anything from their ideals and beliefs about for instance, old people, gay people, newborns etc. But with the full expression of your experience there is no room for filling in the details as they are given.
It is interesting how the ideals and beliefs we hold can interfere with accepting life as it is, causing us to judge and resist what true community really is.
Yes I agree with you Jennym, and when we meet each other with ideals and beliefs, everyone misses out on true community and brotherhood.
I guess you will get the perfect new neighbours with an estate agent who is truly interested to know more about the place where the house is situated that she needs to sell.
I was out walking the other day and everyone that drove past waved at me even through I did not know them. This to me feels like a very decent and loving acknowledgement of fellow human beings.
Awesome Elizabeth, it sounds like where you live is a very special place and it is great to appreciate we have communities in our society where people are open to connecting even if it is a simple wave hello.
I love it when little kids wave at me from cars, they look so gorgeously cheeky, when I wave back they are so delighted and in awe! It’s such a natural thing to wave and connect, no strangers, just knowing each other by our joy and love.
Making a true connection with someone, or everyone we meet for that matter, is one of the most valuable things we can do in our day. Even a simple smile or hello when offered from a place of true connection to who we are, can be enough to literllay change someones life.
I agree that the real role of a real estate agent is not only to sell houses but to match up the right house with the right person. This definitely requires a connection with people.
To be able to share with such tenderness the beauty of each person is a clear indication of the love that has been chosen by anonymous. For another person who has not yet opened to their love, the rundown on Neighbourhood life would be very different.
Do we boil life down to the facts which can feel so two dimensional, or do we enrich it with the qualities of everything that is going on around us?
Great question Simon, we’ve ground life down to a basic functionality. We almost grind ourselves through it with gritted teeth, with the occasional ‘good time’ thrown in just to prevent us from throwing ourselves off a cliff. But life, as in the whole of life can be an utterly joyful experience. It can be a collaboration of souls all working together for a common good (and God). Life can be light, purposeful and so incredibly enriching but it all depends on which consciousness we align to. Align to the pranic consciousness and it’s gonna be fraught with emotion, struggle, drama and highs and lows; align to the consciousness of truth and it’s gonna be steady, connective, purposeful and loving.
Community is incredibly important to me, it is the fabric of the world we live in and when we reduce each one of us to a title and a label we reduce the potential of any form of relationship. I love how you expanded that list and will carry that with me.
What a difference it makes to focus on the deeper aspects of a person than to the common display of knowledge and normal everyday chit-chat — I enjoy putting together the right and true description of another’s qualities and the value they bring me, others and life.
It’s a great practice Ric, and if we can learn to express that, to appreciate the qualities in another, then that is pure gold for the day ahead.
Lovely to read and be reminded of the common decency that exists in so many people in our communities. Unfortunately it can be the case after a bad experience with someone or from seeing crimes reported on TV that we close off to people and forget that there are so many lovely connections to be made with others.
To feel the love and regard you have for your community and neighbourhood was beautiful to feel. Appreciation is the cornerstone of building great relationships with others and with ourselves too.
With sharing from your heart, your neigbours and the place you live with them came to life, the other sharing was just a list that could be anywhere and create a distance between you and the estate agent but also between you and your neighbours, great to honour them and what they mean in your daily living, actually a very different intention in sharing this.
We can be factual and functional or we can go deeper and truly express what we feel and deeply appreciate the qualities others bring and the relationships and community around us .. the choice is ours.
Learning to be part of a small community allows us to grow and become part of our global community we call humanity.
And what happens between two people is then forwarded into all of their other relationships if it’s true relationship. If two people are ‘deeply loving’ with each other but not with everyone else or only with those close to them then they haven’t been truly loving with each other because when we cultivate true love with someone then we’re cultivating it with everyone else as well, that’s how we know it’s true.
It’s always super important to see others for who they are and not just what they do. When we react to what they do they also do not get to see who we truly are either.
What I have observed over time within the neighbourhoods I have lived in is that people want connection, they want to communicate and that ends up in many different ways, and people are naturally honest, helpful and supportive of each other.
For so many of us, living even in the densest population areas, we have lost community… And yet community is what we hunger for… Connection and community.
It is a great point how if we are not appreciating what’s on offer before us we will but have a lesser version of it.
Life is always offering us a chance to observe deeper, to express more, to feel fuller, to expand ourselves, it is so joyful.
Unnoticed we do have many images with us of how life is, but do we ever check if these fixed images do correspond with the reality of life we live in? A life that is constantly changing and never ever fixed. While this is a fact, the fixed images do hold us in a certain place, a fixture that is withholding us from moving on and stay in line with what is truly on offer, a continuous opportunity to grow and evolve back to live that quality of life that we already naturally are inside but do not live in physical life yet.
There is a beauty in every neighbourhood we live in, we only have to allow ourselves to be open to it and see and to feel the tremendous support we are for one another.
Yes.. those ideals and beliefs about how things supposedly are,
are always there on standby waiting for us to buy into them or not. The more we build a connection with our bodies and what we’re actually feeling from within, and not what we think we ‘know’ in our heads, the more those false ideas and beliefs (including ones that we might have bought into for a very long time) stand out as something we’ve aligned to that isn’t part of who we are.
Community in connection – Love lt!
Since reading and commenting on this blog a couple of months ago many more situations and invitations have come my way to take part in local events. I am enjoying this very much, doing things I would not have considered before and finding a lot of fun in every activity.
I love that, these blogs do not remain on the page, they come with us into our lives and into the lives of others as we shake the shackles that have held us in protection and hidden from our own lives let alone anyone else’s for so long.
Developing relationships with everyone we come in contact with is simple and a great way of showing how we are all connected. Thus connecting to our essence so we feel the way our body relates to others and, “from sharing the realness we share as a community together” we can then build relationships that have no restrictions only the love we all are.
It is “beautiful” to feel our divine essence, and then to also sense how our relationships deepen when we are connected.
It is beautiful to feel how much you cherish people and the relationships you have built.
And that word Leonne, ‘cherish’ is such an important one because cherish is something that ultimately we all have to return to feeling for one another. We’re currently such a long way from that, if the truth be told we’re not even able to tolerate each other at the moment. How sad is that?
I can so recognise that protective reaction where I hold myself back from expressing the all, and how that leaves me feel incomplete, and now I can understand how that also holds me back from feeling and appreciating the truth of what is.
True community brings a greater sense of belonging to the larger community we call humanity.
I live in a large block of flats on the floor so use the lift daily. What I’ve noticed is that even though people have very busy lives the more connected I am with myself and the more open I become the more people I get to meet and connect with in the lift.. something I am really enjoying. Much to appreciate.
So true – we cannot blame others for a lack of connection we feel within ourselves.
I loved what you have shared about your community, and you expressed not from ideals and beliefs, but from appreciating the loving connection you have with each one of them, recognising the quality they bring.
Appreciating our neighbourhood, our community and humanity is letting people in.
How do we view ourselves? Because if I focus on the factual parts of me I miss out on all my qualities, same goes for when describing other people. That’s why I like to use people’s names when discussing say my work day for example, the other person may not know nor never meet who I am talking about but using their name you can get a feel for the person and not just ‘my manager/colleague’ etc.
Anonymous, I love this; ‘Truly appreciating the people in my neighbourhood’.I had this experience yesterday. A member of my family came to visit and I could feel what close and supportive relationships we have with the neighbours, he witnessed friendly conversations we had wth 3 or 4 of our neighbours, how they were loving and jovial with our son and how the children in the street enjoy playing together and go to each others houses. I can feel that I had taken these relationships for granted and had not fully appreciated them and the warmth and love that there is between the people that live on our street.
The potential we have in our community to support each other in so many different ways is amazing.
Just this week I realised how this process of appreciating people around me is an ever expanding movement. It started with those closest to me, then those a little less close, then the neighbourhood, the community and now even on a larger scale in a way that it becomes quite natural to appreciate all people that I meet. Sometimes I still get challenged and can be critical first but the work I have done in the past years is then supporting me to come back and see people for the uniqueness that they bring.
This judgment happens with the people in our street, the people we live and work with and the world in general and affects us every time we have that judgment. And the judgment isn’t needed.
This just proves to me that most people are good, decent people and many are there for us in a crisis or just to help us move a bookshelf or something and there is no reason our world shouldn’t be one gigantic neighbourhood, except like anything there are a few bad eggs that have to ruin it for the rest of us so we have to lock our homes, put up protection and be afraid of getting mugged, raped, shot by a terrorist or something as sinister if we walk out the door.
A sense of community is a crucial element of our collective well-being. I love what you share about how community has deepened your understanding of what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.
It is great to read of the appreciation you have for your neighbours and fellow community members Anonymous. There are always many things we can be appreciative of when we choose not to judge or criticise.
When we open our eyes, and start to feel what is there to be seen, the world unfolds for us, the potential of what it is like to live with no separation.
Every person is truly beautiful even if it can be hard to see at first, so a neighbourhood can if you want show you people in their light or if you want to see all the bad this will be all you see. So powerful how we choose to live in order to feel and see what is really there for all our brothers.
Every person has a beautiful core. They may not express it – at all, sometimes – but it is there.
A gorgeous reminder of how important it is to stay awake, be clear and open to see what is truly happening around us. What needs change and what needs absolute honoring (appreciation) from our side.
As soon as we drop into critique we are judging and condemning or as you say harming, then when we open to the essence of who we are then the golden wisdom of what is true flows from our lips.
It is incredible how the love with which we hold people and the way we choose to engage with life, think and express not only affects everyone and everything around us, but also has a direct impact on ourselves and the energy with which we move forward in life. This relatively simple choice profoundly colours and shapes our world.
It’s great to see people for the virtues and qualities rather than just their achievements or accolades.
You have just shared so beautifully the antidote to judgement; appreciation and opening our heart to the world.
Anonymous, I love this, it feels like such a simple, natural and gorgeous way to all be together, it puts things in perspective and reminds me that life is about people; ‘what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’
I love this and many would, to live in a community like this where everyone is open, knows each other and there is a care that is present between everyone. I often find the same thing in remote communities.
Ultimately there should be nothing that we need another to be in order for us to be open with them, (other than perhaps breathing!)
The community that is possible within a village or street or area, when people are willing to come together and connect within their everyday interaction in even the smallest way, is a very profound kind of connection that we can often loose in our focus on our own busy lives.
I live in a small village and at the moment we are all coming together to lobby our local council over improvements to the village. Everyone is getting involved and has something to say on the matter. And to me this is one way of building a village community by supporting everyone to work together and to speak with one voice.
One of the saddest things to happen in our recent history is the decline of the local community – no longer do we know our neighbours as we used to, with our busy lives it takes more of an effort to actually find out about the people living close to us. Locally and nationally it effects us all when there is not that network of support.
Being part of our community/neighbourhood is so important. This made me feel am I being and bringing all I can in my community and neighbourhood.
Where we live the sense of community is hugely missing, and I often wonder how we can bring back more a sense of neighbourhood – and your blog has me wondering if it could simply be in the small acts of caring and helping each other.
I feel this to be so Meg. There are opportunities constantly presenting themselves where we can do this. And as we care for ourselves more more opportunities seem to be there.
and a smile from your heart lights up anyone’s – everyone’s – day.
It seems that at one level our neighbourhoods represent great diversity in it’s forms of families, and yet in essence we are all the same in the way a community can come together when we recognise we are all equal.
When we moved counties and found a place to live we were pleasantly surprised by how welcoming and warm our neighbors were. Well we shouldn’t have been surprised because our neighbours back in our home town were like family to us and to this day we visit them when we go back. It shows how connected we all really are and that even though we live in seperate houses with walls and doors, when we open up to each other there is no separation just care, love and genuine support.
We each bring amazing qualities and it is our responsibility to share them with everyone, and appreciate what other people naturally bring.
What a great opportunity to appreciate and confirm your neighbours, allowing for the shift from judgement to a real appreciation of what each brings to your community.
It is amazing how we can form an opinion about another without even giving them a chance. Most people exercise this prejudice without even thinking about it on a daily basis. Your blog gives me an opportunity to reflect on my relationships and I start wondering whether the judgments I’ve made about others out of hurt or fear are far worse than anything they may have ever done to me.
Our neighbourhoods really are a microcosm of the macrocosm. It seems in your neighbourhood you have just about every combination of couples or family arrangements covered with the old married couple across the road, the gay couple in the house adjacent, the mother and disabled daughter next door, the single gay woman with overseas students homestay two houses down and the young couple with a new-born on the corner block. Of course, there are many other combinations but that is a pretty good start as the others may only be a block away!
This highlights our ability to either confirm and appreciate people for their innate qualities and care or label others for their surface differences. The first account allows me to feel another in all their innate beauty and harmony.
Yes Jenny, we all do have these loving qualities that loves to support one another. We only have to let go of our guards and let ourselves to feel it and to allow this activity of love to take place.
When we let ourselves connect with people we get to see that they are just like us, regardless of how they may look on the outside.
I loved what you shared about true community, it makes me look at the community that i live in and how I have been in pattern of keeping to myself in the past and by doing that the opportunity to get to know share and support each other has been missed, lately I find I am becoming so much more open to get to know my neighbours and it feels great.
Meeting people beyond the ‘cover of their book’ and presenting ourselves to others without our ‘cover’ offers up the opportunity for honest, non-judgemental, understanding and open relationships… a win win for us all, as we break down the pretence and falsehood in our societies’ beliefs and niceties, that keep us all at arm’s length from one another.
The man across the street is all the away around the other side of the world if you approach them from your back fence but if you open your front door and move across the road it saves a lot of time, and many of us go about relationships in a backward way when the simple approach is always enlightening if we are prepared to see all as our equals.
‘what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’ … that’s it in a nutshell, we can be this with each other no matter where we live, I love how you are with you and your neighbours.
“Do we speak to heal or harm?” Such an important question. Do we speak from ideals and beliefs and judgment or from true understanding and love?
I am continually amazed by just how beautiful people are when you take the time to connect to them.
Super cool and me too. The more I allow myself to see the beauty in everyone, the more in awe I am of the magic we all hold inside.
My awareness, appreciation, honouring and accepting people in the communities i live in and in the world has grown and expanded enormously since knowing Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine and the true joy and oneness of people who we all are as love is very beautiful to feel.
When we truly connect, appreciate and honour people in our community the amazing gifts that they bring simply shine out and we get to see the true value in everyone.
What a gorgeous mix of diversity you have – expressed from the truth of how you interact with those people. When we honour this and share from the body, it helps people to connect to the full truth.
Labels are one of the dehumanising things we do to each other, reducing all that we are down to a word or two.
Great point Fiona, what a trick this is to limit the magnificence we truly are and live the potential of this.
I have been noticing my old pattern of being in protection or hardness when I meet a person. Because I am healing many of my hurts, I am starting to let down my guard when I meet a person.
I am understanding that my feelings of not being part of the world was because I was not allowing other people into my life.
Ken, I agree – not letting people in keeps us trapped in our old patterns of protection and separation – the way to make this change is by opening up and let people see who we are.
Life is very rich when we make it about people first
The richness emanates out from with-in, leaving no gaps that need filling up with what is rich in a material way.
It is revealing to consider the impact of our immediate relationships with those that live around us, on the state of our relationships with humanity as whole… there is a lot of conflict and separation in the world… what if this is seeded in how we live in our neighbourhoods?
What a beautiful sharing of your loving community you came to and the real joy of connecting and expressing with others you share from your soul and the appreciation that is part of it all..
Truly appreciating and being open to people brings a whole new level and depth to relationships with everyone. Strangers on the street are not that any more, they are a connection to be had.
There is an invitation offered in this article to be sure that we are expressing in full in any given moment. There is so much truncated expression in the world with acronyms, text speak and abbreviations for example, that we need to actively remember and practise expanding what we say so that we sustain the richness of expressing completely.
So true, Matilda. We often get caught up in time and forget to connect in a meaningful way-but when we do it can be so amazing. We invited a neighbour over for Christmas dinner who was going to be on her own that day. I have not had a strong connection with her but we had such a beautiful meal together with friends who did not all know each other. Our neighbour loved it and we got to know and connect with her in a more loving way.
This bashes out the idea of family being about blood. True community is all about family.
‘It was interesting to note how I could feel my body move in protection and my head move straight into setting up a facts profile of what to share about my neighbours’ amazing to clock this happening. Just how much does protection inhibit open appreciation in expression with us all.
I love where we live and are lucky to know a lot of our neighbours. It’s so important to spend time with those around us so we have the connection and community we crave.
I really do love this blog, it just shows how easily we can brush over things and not appreciate all that there is to appreciate and what we miss out on by not doing so.
This brushing over thing feels very significant for me at the moment. Whether it is something great or awful when I dismiss it or simply move on without considering what I can learn from what has happened, I miss out on, and am ignorant to, the richness of learning on offer and a moment of revelation and evolution.
Love the snapshot of what you see each of your neighbours brings Anonymous.. the more we see ourselves, the more we see another to appreciate them, and us too at the same time.
Beautiful to read about a street community that even knows one another or the basics of who lives where! So often our experience can be completely un-neighbourly in the sense that we might not even notice others, acting like passers-by in the night. You’ve inspired me to appreciate my neighbourhood – thanks.
Isn´t it beautiful to feel how we complete each other. Even in a house with many other people you don´t really know that good, everyone has a role and purpose. Connecting yourself to this fact and embracing the role you play in the whole is beautiful and a true way of living family life.
We can so easily judge people because of our past experiences or pictures about certain people but if we stop and truly feel what is there, there is so much to appreciate about each other. Everyone of us brings a unique quality and it is a joy to see and feel this.
The simplicity and support of each other in our lives our communities and our neighbours is a steady reflection of the love and beauty we all are if we stop and take the time to appreciate the real value of this and each other. What a beautiful learning and appreciation of who we are and the oneness and feeling of each other as a constant responsibility in our lives.
Where ever I am wether that be on a plane or in a hotel or at work, on public transport I love connecting with whoever wants to connect with me. There is so much to learn and enjoy by connecting with people from all walks of life.
Absolutely agree Mary- Louise! When we don´t shut down, because we travel and open up to ” strangers”, amazing conversations or incidents can occur. I then always feel in lived experience, that we are all connected with each other, no matter, if you knew that person before or not. That it is about connecting, supporting and inspiring each other.
Amazingly when we open our heart to one community of people we realise just how far in truth this reaches beyond our immediate community and amongst us all as one.
I often find that I can tailor my response to the person who is asking, which of course means I’m passing judgement as to who they are and what I think they’d like to hear. In effect I am also holding back from how I would truly like to express. Thanks for sharing this, it’s a great reminder not to hold back.
Very powerful choice to be honest and clear out the habits that hinder our true expression, we can think things are normal, make assumptions and not appreciate things that are right at or fingertips…etc but when someone comes along and sheds a different light on something, do we react to it or do we learn from it?
It is so powerful when we let go of preconceived ideas of how people are and just meet them as people – like you did with the real estate agent who asked for your help.
I always see much more when I let go of pictures. There is much more that is possible when the limitation of a belief is dropped so I am going to practice this with everything that I feel challenged by, that’s the reminder Life so lovingly has offered.
How true – when we see without pictures there are no limitations and no rights and wrongs, just free access to see beyond the beyond.
I’m truly appreciating those in my extended neighbourhood, the love and care they have for others and how their door is always wide open.
I had a moment the other day like you are describing that you had with the Real-estate Agent. I was shopping on the boxing day sales and I bumped into a friend that I have never really hung out with, she is more somebody I know, she was with a friend of hers and they were trying on dresses. This distant friend asked me what I thought of the dress and at first, I was going to answer in a robotic way because I don’t know her that well and so I was just going to say, “it looks great”. Then I looked at her eyes and I realised that she is actually asking me to be genuine, she wanted support and so I gave my honest answer with complete love and I could tell she was super appreciative. I said, ” The colour is not good and it does not compliment your beautiful skin.” To open up to people is the most beautiful thing, I now feel closer to that person because I shared what I was actually feeling, rather than a socially acceptable answer.
A brilliant example of the impact of expressing in full, opening up the richness on offer in every single one of our relationships, thank you, Sarah.
I love this… seeing beyond the initial categorising we do of people and relating to their unique qualities and all that they offer… what an inspiration for appreciation and community.
We can learn a lot from our neighbours and we can react to them too. I often think that we are there to reflect something to each other. I have moved a lot but have always made new friends with neighbours and learnt a lot about each other, which has brought me more understanding and acceptance.
So true Rosie and I am aware that we can also learn and heal so much from being aware of our reactions if we are open to doing so.
What a beautiful neighbourhood you have! It is lovely when we are open and support our neighbours. One of mine came over and fixed my dripping tap recently and I so appreciated the help.
‘Do we speak to heal or harm?’ – A profound question. How often do we have an awareness of the quality in which we speak and in turn how it affects others as well as ourselves?
How often do we discern what to say before we open our mouths and speak, this is a life skill worth practising.
‘It made me realise the ways in which we project towards each other and assume another to be without stopping to feel what is the intent of each person’s words, including our own.’ what a great point to ponder on to consider how we are with other people and the truth behind how they are with us.
Wow – I am looking at my street in a whole new light, which is a really good thing!
And what if we all did this.. how different would our world be?
Sometimes when we are caught up in our problems or issues, it can feel hard or near impossible to extricate oneself. But appreciation is something that we can start with even in the smallest of ways. For example just stopping to appreciate whatever it is that we may have – the clothes that we are wearing, the roof over our head…etc no matter what, there is something we can appreciate. And then from here it grows and unfolds and before we know it we have worked our way out of the heaviness of the issues and problems. The issues may not have gone or disappeared, but they may not seem so insurmountable. One thing I have noticed with people is the refreshing fact that the less someone has, the more they are often appreciative! And sadly, more commonly we also see the opposite – the more someone has the less they appreciate. This refers mainly to material possessions, but what is super important to come back to is to stop to appreciate the quality of what we have in our lives – the quality of our relationship with self, the quality of relationship with another etc etc. for this is really what opens the heart further.
Perception is key, do we see the glass as half empty or half full. And if we see it half full, what quality is the fullness and how much are we able to appreciate about this? Appreciation is such a key factor in our lives and when we do not appreciate ourselves or another, it is like a tension builds up and then the complications arise and the arguments can escalate. So the antidote really is appreciation! Bucket loads of it! And please make this true and genuine appreciation and not a false one! This is a great one to be aware of and I have been noticing what a difference it makes in my thoughts and feelings when I allow myself to feel the appreciation all around.
When two or more come together there is great wealth and wisdom to express if the coming together is in truth and with love. No bells and whistles needed, just genuine warmth and connection, the way we were designed to be before we let a whole host of errant behaviours and ideals dictate another way to be. We were never meant to do this alone. Oneness is a group activity and not a lone adventure.
Love what you have shared Liane and as I remember even the Long ranger had ‘Tonto and Silver!’
The potential to live in true community is always there underneath whatever we have accepted in its place and only takes a few people to say ‘yes’ for it to begin to be noticed by others – a process of letting go and returning to a way of living without barriers and separation.
Opening our eyes to the love and connection that is on offer and the power that simple everyday interactions can bring is beautiful. We can ignite sparks of love everywhere we go.
“This is my neighbourhood. A place where there is no perfection but a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another”. This has been my experience too in all the different neighbourhoods I have lived in, people play their parts to support each other.
It’s amazing to see the difference between acknowledging someones actions or activity and truly appreciating who they are with no reason or justification.
Very much so Michael and I feel the difference is made by how much we live love in our lives.
“It was interesting to note how I could feel my body move in protection and my head move straight into setting up a facts profile of what to share about my neighbours:” I love your awareness here about the way your body started to move, and the kind of expression that these movements would invite. Great that you caught it, changed your movements and allowed a deeper expression.
I agree, the awareness of her own movements here is gold and makes all the difference.
Appreciation is a beautiful medicine, it confirms the inherent qualities we bring and constantly supports us to return to and express them throughout our day, which in turn produces more appreciation. The real meaning of ‘renewal energy’!
I have noticed and I find it fascinating how in almost all situations where someone has been reduced to only a short description, or a set of ‘labels’, there is at the very start a judgement which has seen them only by their current activities and does not take in to account the life that has been lived up until that moment, with all of its challenges as well as all of its moments of beauty and grace.
I am learning that we can short change ourselves and others when we are quick with our appreciations and don’t take them as far as they can go in their expression. To not bring out every little detail and truly benefit from the appreciation is surely a waste of heavenly expression that we have felt to share.
“This group of men, women and children who live in my street bring such a sense of community and family that it has deepened my understanding of the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts” – completely true Anonymous, you define what true family is – us/people bound together with love first and foremost.. then everything else, title, surname, bloodline, marriage, any sort of identification, becomes superfluous to this grander aspect of relating and living.
I agree and as we are seeing it goes beyond “neighbourhoods”. We still get caught in us needing to do something or make it something when in fact this all is done from feeling and the choice of whether we are brave enough to follow the impulse of what we are feeling is needed or we are looking for things to be a certain way. We all have ‘our way’ that all is impulsed from the one quality but in its expression at different points it will always have different outplay or uniqueness. If we get caught looking at each other then we will no doubt take on things from each other, it’s not a head down approach either but a deeply honouring one that walks from the impulse of what is felt and at no point looks to be anything, as it already is the all.
Its amazing how supportive it can be to be part of a community, no matter how small, that truly cares about the overall well-being of everyone and the purpose of being together. I had lunch with such a community and I was totally humbled and blessed by their openness and welcoming, there is space for everyone with no imposition or resistance.
Anonymous, since reading this article I have been reflecting on my neighbourhood and all of the people who live here, we have young and old, some people who have lived here a long time and some more recent, I can feel that it is easy to make judgements on people without getting to know them first, for instance that some people are ‘unfriendly’, the interesting thing is that when I am open and loving with my neighbours that I receive an openness and friendliness in return and that making the first loving step has allowed people in my community to open and for a relationship between us to develop, this has been very lovely to experience.
Wow – the difference in the two ways of presenting your neighbourhood is incredible and deeply felt. How quickly we can miss out on what is really on offer, if all we are open to see are the cold facts and not all the different flavours and qualities that are found within the facts.
When-ever we do not read a situation we are opening ourselves up to be played with and all sorts of critique comes our way. When we open to others in appreciation this sets a platform that allows us both the opportunity to evolve from the Love that can be shared.
Having just moved into a new neighbourhood I appreciate our new neighbours and the gestures of love already shared and the new connections made. This not only highlights our movements made but also confirms how beautiful community can be when we pause to appreciate the qualities of others and how much support we all offer each other.
When we open up to people our lives are enriched in the process, not because that is the outcome trying to be achieved but because we are all one and hence to connect more deeply with another is to connect more deeply with ourselves.
I was at a local market yesterday buying my vegetables, and struggling opening a bag to put my purchase in. A neighbour, who I rarely see, 3 doors from where I live, was suddenly by my side, opening the bag and smiling at me. We had a lovely conversation and connection which changed how I was feeling. It was so lovely to observe and appreciate this.
“This group of men, women and children who live in my street bring such a sense of community and family that it has deepened my understanding of the importance of being part of a community” – And I can imagine that this happened without any ‘trying’ or planning in your neighbourhood to have this impact. Isn’t it amazing that from simply connecting with other people we are able to learn so much and inspire to this degree!
Expressing the quality we feel in everything is so important as it is this expression which is natural to us – not expressing like this will only lead to continued ill health.
Its Christmas day and this afternoon the park will be filled with the people from the neighbourhood children on new things with wheels. Adults walking off their lunch. There are no shops open, on one of the last days that is not a part of our 247 society. What a great day to build relationships with the people we call neighbours.
I really love the simplicity of expressing from the heart that we do not hold back because of any picture that it has to be done a certain way. If the world has made being disconnected normal, do we follow suit and just barely give our most foundational or not even respect and decency to people around, how would people then respond to us? Knowing what is not true, we have to live a deeper responsibility of what is truly true.
Appreciating people in your neighbourhood builds a great sense and quality of community.
We have a constant choice: to savour and cherish the colour and flavour of everyone in this world or block this all out because of certain things aren’t quite right. Yet when I choose option b) it’s not just them I isolate from, but me. Thank you Anonymous – life will continue to offer us pearls, it’s up to us to see them shine and appreciate what we’ve been given for free.
‘This group of men, women and children who live in my street bring such a sense of community and family that it has deepened my understanding of the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’ – it’s very beautiful to feel the deep appreciation you hold for your community, Anonymous. Appreciation allows us to feel the whole of what is on offer to us from each other, and with that we can feel the pull to be more of our divine selves.
So beautiful and very inspiring to feel the appreciation of our fellow brothers, of our community…”… when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.”
This is what true community is all about.
Appreciation is key to accepting and enjoying all the different and uniques qualities we all bring; this is what true community is all about.
What a beautiful reflection of where we can be as a neighbourhood; start being aware of what someone is bringing and offering by their true qualities and acknowlegde them for those too, to then see how our variety of qualities work well together -to see how we as neighbourhood actually can work together as a whole : smooth and supportive of each one of our growth.
Just yesterday a situation arose where my neighbour who I have not met, accidentally let go of his spare 4 wheel drive wheel and it ran into my colourbond (steel) fencing and left a nasty dent in it. Not knowing this at the time I started to go into reaction about the dent, then I decided to go over and find out, what happened and see if I could get them to fix it. So to cut a long story short, the guy who did it wasn’t there but his friend rang him and said, get back here and see what you can do so I go home and 15 mins later, he comes and he was this huge man with lots of tattoos but he was a huge teddy bear. He apologised and fixed the fence to almost good as new. I had chocolates given to me from work so asked him, did he eat chocolates, which he said, love em, so I gave him the chocolates and he gave me his no. in case I ever need a handyman. The whole process was so simple because there was no reaction so everyone just got in there and did what was needed with no fuss, which is what community is all about.
The more details we allow ourselves to see and feel, then the more we can appreciate in what we see and feel, as well as appreciate ourselves for the willingness to open up to this!
Our perception of things is key and the amount we are willing to actually see (be this beautiful or less beautiful) is what allows us then to embrace life or not.
When we don´t appreciate what are we doing instead? It is not just not doing something, it is doing something else. And if it is not appreciating it is some form of protection, judgment and holding back love, i.e. everyone involved actually gets harmed.
Appreciating my Neighbours and the really great support they offer when needed.
Appreciating the different qualities that each of us brings allows us to come together in harmony and equality whoever we are. My neighbours are seemingly quite different and yet when we begin to share moments with each other we are not so very different after all.
It feels lovely to appreciate the different qualities we all bring to a community to make it work, your examples show there is always more communication and openness we can bring to our areas we live in.
My ease/difficulty with appreciation is a barometer for where I am at. Churlish (and irresponsible) of me not to use that barometer whenever possible.
Well said Otto – for what we allow ourselves to see is up to what we are willing to see! And here in lies the responsibility to Truly See, which we often fight as we lack the acceptance of what we see!
Keeping saying YES, keeping asking to see more, keep open to support from others, keep judgement at bay, reaction nought and appreciation at the fore, keep supporting our bodies to be vehicles of the Universe and keep a watchful eye for self – that will immediately blind us. These are all things that i don’t always do but and building.
Could it be possible Otto, that it sometimes is where we set the bar in bar-o-meter that is childish and puts a cap on our level of appreciability?
Absolutely. We consciously settle for less, so that we don’t have to feel the tension of the fact that we are so much more. It reminds me of the Highway Code in the UK that you have to pass to be allowed to drive a vehicle. One of the first things written inside the booklet is; ignorance of the law is not an excuse. It’s a game that I have played for years and still do at times – and more and more it feels more and more horrible, because more and more I know and can see exactly what I am doing.
Spot on Otto, when we understand how we have put the brakes on we can start to feel how it has restrained us and how that feels. So understanding the laws with the correct use of words accelerates “the fact that we are so much more.”
There was a sense of a lovely flow and connection in your neighbourhood from your description that simply honoured everyone in their own expression.
I couldn’t help thinking how if we could all appreciate our neighbours and communities as you have done here, perhaps they would grow and meld into each other forming bigger and more open ones.
And thus, borders, identities, nationalities and many other beliefs and ideals would slowly dissolve as we would begin to see and value what we are on the inside, rather than what house, road or country we live in…or what creed, belief, sexual orientation or anything else we choose to align to.
In appreciating other people, we are connecting to them and all they are as opposed to just making a passing comment. It is interesting that connection starts with us first before there is connection with others.
Something came to me today when reflecting on your blog, its that we tend to treat those in our home, those in the four walls we live in differently to those in the wider neighborhood or community. The more I treat everyone the same the greater I feel in and about myself. My sense as I deepen how I treat everyone the same I will become more and more at ease with myself and life.
The healing and harming question is a very significant one. What a great way to honestly assess our impact in every moment of our day: ” Is this choice offering a healing momentum to the overall pool of energy experienced by myself and everyone, or is it ingraining a harming momentum?”
As a consequence of engaging with Universal Medicine, I have completely dispelled my ‘people phobias’. Consequently my love of people and ability to interact, enjoy, support and appreciate everyone I meet has naturally flourished, qualities that lay patiently waiting for the bin bag of hurts and judgments that was squashing them to be noticed, addressed and lovingly jettisoned.
When we see the people around us for who they are, we then open ourselves up to true community.
I agree Jennifer – to open up for true community we simply need to see and meet people for who they truly are, not with ideals and beliefs based on their status etc.
Even in big cities like London, you find there are series of villages or communities. i live in one such city village, Tottenham and observed over the years moves to bring people together. Collectively, we have ‘saved and re-cultivated our local park, introduced a cafe run by young people with learning disabilities, planted trees along our streets and have a community garden, created walking groups and there is a choir. More could be done to bring about true connection between people, but the icicles of separation are thawing.
You mentioned your body moving into protection before you spoke and that can be the case for many of us when we are concerned about what others might think as we speak. When we are fully open and know we are connected and speaking Truth, our body can relax because what we are saying is in alignment with what the body feels.
Is there someplace that is now, not eclectic? The world is slowly becoming a melting pot of; hues, values and beliefs. The doors of our neighbourhood should always be open, or we miss the magic that surrounds and supports us all.
I live in a street where people always say that they love living there – it just has a nice feel about it. I don’t know that any of us have stopped to appreciate what it is about the people living there that makes it a place we love to call home. Street and homes don’t have a feel without the people who create it.
“Appreciating the people in my neighbourhood” – we can never stop appreciating.. because if we do, we stop loving. And if we stop loving, then, what do we have?
Life becomes full and rich when we appreciate what is God-given.
This is super, what a great blog to read. Your first list although factual had left out the warmth, love and intimacy that could be felt in the second list. What comes through when you talk about your neighbours in this way is a deep care and love for humanity. Words like these need to be what fill our daily papers.
So true. The vast percentage of what fills our papers is the ‘what we are not’ rather than the ‘ what we are’.
Last night I felt to check out some ‘xmas lights’ at a couple of well-know ‘hot-spots’, something I haven’t done for years. What struck me was the amount of people that where out and about wondering around, and a sense of common purpose and the bringing together of everyone. I live in a climate that is good for this so perhaps this helps, but a sense of opening up parts of peoples homes, inviting the ‘world’ so to speak, into their streets and even front yards bringing people together (the addresses of the places are up on the web for everyone to find). Owners often are outside to talk to whoever is passing – it might be an illusion with the lights and decorations etc., but it still shows a willingness and openness to meet and be met. (One house had a ‘dad garage band’ playing carols and the kids where singing along).
We all have something to appreciate about our communities, those immediate to us and we can go wider and see how there is support in many areas in our lives, being closed to the relationships we build makes us feel isolated, but if we start being aware that every time we say hi or thank you or how are you to the shop assistant, cafe owner, neighbour etc we build something we decide the quality of that and can appreciate it.
I love when we are given an opportunity to deepen our understanding or in this case appreciation. Just exemplifies the magic of the Universe.
Our relationships that extend out from what we consider close friends and family are just as important as those ones. It is super important to appreciate every relationship that we have and not take them for granted.
What’s beautiful about this blog is how the author went from labeling the neighbors to honouring each one of them according to what beautiful characteristics they bring to support the neighbourhood and the world. Too often we can fall into judgements of other neighbors based on looks, ethnicity, social status, etc. without ever really making the effort to connect with them.
Yes Michael, judgement is such a connection killer. If we got this out of the way, there would be no end of true relationships and support for all in everyones neighbourhood.
Absolutely, and I have done exactly that countless times. When life is moving fast, we tend to jump to assumptions and short-cut opinions. I have also done this to shore up my own protection because to see someone’s truth you have to let them in, and to let them in requires me to let myself be seen. So it is a game that is played by both parties. Totally understandable and it is the way of much of the world. That’s OK – it just makes that connection and appreciation all the more important and something that we all need to commit to – asap!
How true Otto – I am sure this is a game we are all playing from time to time and some perhaps all the time, where we are consciously or unconsciously putting up a shield and protection to not have to let anyone see who we truly are. As a result we are all sorely missing out on true connection.
“…to see someone’s truth you have to let them in, and to let them in requires me to let myself be seen.” So honest, so vulnerable, so true, so powerful.
But it totally demolishes all judgement when we see it from this angle. The choice is always ours, first.
Not only does appreciation make everyone feel better but it brings out the best in everyone and no wonder then that we seek and enjoy each other´s company.
I agree Alexandra just by appreciating it changes the whole energy, it brings out the best in people and makes everyone feel better.
I love the extra attention and interest the retail estate agent displayed. It allowed for a more human approach in selling property, rather than a mere functional process with no attention to detail or care. It would be great to see and experience more of this in this industry.
There is always more to people than meets the eye – we need to be open to receiving more – our physical eyes can deceive us but our clairsentience can reveal so much more. On a physical level we can also be more open to engaging with people, talking with them, not just waving hello or smiling politely – it’s amazing what you learn.
Reading this brought tears to my eyes as I realised how much I deeply miss this sense of true community where I live. We live such isolated lives in the main, focused on living with a facade saying ‘we are doing fine’ which is false. It is changing and there are many things to appreciate about the care and dedication that goes into supporting the local school, caring for neighbours, they way so many are open to stop and say hello but it could be so much more. Your community is deeply inspiring.
Embracing community – accepting, appreciating and truly observing.
I have so often rushed away from a deeper connection with a member of the community..believing that whatever it is that I was racing to do was more important; but there is such gold to be unearthed in these simple connections….and I am frequently humbled and inspired by the times when I do ‘stop’ and allow the space. Now, I actively seek them out and am living a life of wide open doors.
I love this Otto as it shows how by giving space the gold is there and that by choosing to be busy we miss so much.
Every relationship, interaction or conversation offers us an opportunity to evolve. That doesn’t mean that we have to spend hours of our day talking to everybody we come across; in that there is also much to learn from not doing small talk and claiming our own purpose in our day. But either way, we learn.
Great point and an important one for me. What has always supported me on and on is those “deeper connections”. Whenever I am “rushed away” I can always sense it and do my best to return to it the next time it’s there but continually allowing these ‘connections’ for me there is nothing more supportive and no end to it. Just from even writing this comment I have been able to see back to how things were, like writing has opened an old door that had been shut. I can see that the community connections are age old and it’s no coincidence to have the people that are around you at this point.
It’s interesting to consider this at this time; when I am meeting up with family. Yesterday I got a sense of incompleteness from some of the day. Not enough time to connect deeply withe everyone – but, on pondering, I can now feel that this is actually a reflection of the past where there hasn’t been that foundation of connection; thus, there is a ‘gap’ to bridge. A note to myself on this; work to be done but also important not to judge or impose and try to ‘repair’ untruthfully quickly.
Yes, time and the fear, perception and picture that there isn’t enough. Moments in ‘life’ are moments or parts of space to be filled with energy. We see these moments as many things but basically or scientifically which ever way you look at it it’s space and in space there is no time. So no matter what we perceive we have ‘time’ for all we need do is dedicate to fill the space as best we can at any point with the quality of energy we know to be true at that point or moment. We may at the end of that moment feel it is incomplete but it’s not a then a point to regret, self critique or similar but simply be aware of this feeling and appreciate what you saw as ‘it’ or the all has now expanded to take in more. From there step to the next part to include that expansion and from there this process continues and continues and well yes continues, ever expanding.
Making connections within our communities is a great way to learn about what others have to share and can create lots of opportunities for potential and growth that can bring a new way for us all to work and be together.
I have been living away from home for a while due to work, where almost all of my hours are spent on that work. I’m back at home for the Christmas break and last night I went to an event at the local hospice and it was amazing to feel the joy, expansion and purpose of re-connecting to the wider community. This is the way we are designed to live.
Anonymous, ‘the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’ It feels lovely reading about making life about supporting each other, this feels like a true and loving way for us all to be with each other.
From the observation you offered here, that “the judgement that comes with ideals and beliefs often clouds both people from sharing what is on offer to appreciate about the exchange and see what can be offered to everyone in the long run” got me realising that this creeps in, in any manner of exchange, that if another holds a view (and we’ve sussed these things out way in advance) we may well choose to ‘cater’ the response accordingly. On the surface you could say this was being ‘appropriate’ but I’m feeling quite uncomfortable in the knowing that actually ‘appropriate’ can be read as ‘harm’ in the context you’re sharing here Anon, and when we consider exactly what are we contributing.
I am still blown away by the contrast of how we can hold people both in appreciation and without, matter of fact or depth of truth. I love what you share and the difference this makes especially for the person sharing and expressing what they feel.
True community is determined by the lived quality of its members, as you share so well Anonymous, rather than their occupations or lifestyles.
It is curious to reflect how people rally round and come together in times of crisis then drop the connection when the crisis is over.
Neighborhoods where people live separate lives, not knowing or connecting with each other. are found in city, town and country. Breaking the cycle of separation starts with us, how we move through our streets. Walking instead of driving is a great way to connect with people. And community means everyone, shop-keepers, street cleaners, refuse workers, bus drivers, leisure centre staff. Who ever we meet is part of our community, not just people on the street we live on.
Expressing appreciation makes the difference between it being in the background and being lived.
I live with some very diverse neighbour’s they are not an easy bunch of people to get to know, even so I love them dearly, some of them find it really hard to accept my openness too be honest. But the other day I met one of them and they saw I had just returned from a trip away and was quite poorly and within a few hours I got a text to say they had left a flask of soup in my porch for me to have in case I wanted something hot and nourishing to eat. I was extremely touched by this genuine kind hearted gesture.
Describing your neighbourhood with a deep awareness and love for your neighbours is a great example of brotherhood.
I love walking around my neighbourhood, there is always someone to say hi to and even chat for a few moments. Another wonderful observation and awareness of the neighbourhood comes in nature, with the seasonal changes to the plants (and the temperature). We are all under cycles whether visually obvious like plants or more subtle in people. Today I could appreciate while I might not actually be up on what is happening in homes everyone is still experiencing cycles and we are all feeling similar on some level whether we are aware of this or not – behind our fences and front doors we are all equal.
When we presume to know the intention behind another person’s words or actions, based on our ‘beliefs’, we are reducing them to the same energetic vibration as that ‘belief’. However, to allow the space to consider that their intentions and actions come from the love that they innately are holds them in the energetic quality of love – which feels very different for us and for the other person.
Appreciating a neighbour or community of people is awesome and something I have come to do in the block of flats in the UK i have been living in for a number of years now. When we develop true relationships we realise those who were once strangers are in fact our family.
It is very important to stop and appreciate all those small gestures that we do for each that on their own don’t seem to add up to much, but all together make up a very loving community. Proof that the little things in life make all the difference.
By each one of us truly appreciating another (or others) we naturally inspire them to do the same… the ripple effect of true appreciation has a profound effect on us all.
I so enjoy re-reading this blog… there is a warmth and care that is naturally there when we truly appreciate one another. Thank you for sharing Anonymous.
I’ve spent time in places far away from what I called home and was taken in with such care it actually shaped my life from thereafter.
What an awesome community you live in Anonymous. It feels like one big family when everyone around us is open to supporting each other, sharing, and being themselves.
It can seem foreign to take a moment to appreciate when in life we so rarely do so, but it can be a great way to really cherish and grow what we have because we have taken the time to appreciate it
“Even though this was a factual account, there was nothing that had dropped into my head that was truly sharing what a great community I live in” – “great community” through factual word or through expressing quality? Nothing beats feeling and expressing with energetic quality to get a true feel of any place, thing, or person.
Workplaces are also neighbourhoods and it’s interesting to consider how we approach our neighbours here. Is there a ‘professional’ posture why we don’t get to know people, just like where we live? How many reasons can be used to hold ourselves back from people?
I love these Ariana – how much do I have to give myself permission to be all of me all day with everyone, everywhere?
What a great thing to stop and do, appreciate our neighbors and everyone else for that matter, it’s far too easy to overlook and take people for granted if we are not careful and aware.
So true Kevin. And it only takes a moment in the day to do so and what a huge shift it can make for all concerned, when we make some space to go beyond the functional day-to-day stuff and connect to the qualities we all bring.
And when we do appreciate people our relationships are far more meaningful, true and fulfilling.
Yes and sharing like you did also leaves no room for filling in from ideals and believes that other people themselves might have. Like about gay people or a young couple with a newborn. Sharing like you did is clear and gives the true picture of what the people are like.
Great point Lieke, how often do we superimpose our ideals and beliefs over the top of life, obliterating the truth in the process.
Usually most people are easy with knowing and complaining about the weaknesses and faults of their neighbours, something people can gossip about and indulge in. Appreciating our neighbours or actually anyone for their qualities and strengths is a game changer. It doesn´t mean to ignore the shortcomings but not to judge people by it but see them for who they are with all the imperfections that reflect the potential we all have.
This is beautiful sharing Anonymous as appreciating the people we live side by side with dispels mistrust and judgement and expands and opens our hearts to all.
It certainly does Kathleen. There is so much mistrust and judgement in our society but there is a way we can live that breaks down all of this. We can live in a way that shows our community and the world what a loving world we live in by being open to connect with people, being open to supporting each other and appreciation is the key ingredient to this loving way.
Yes chanly88 we can never underestimate the power of appreciation.
The beauty of our neighbourhoods is that they are full of diversity; different people with different qualities. backgrounds and skills, they are amazing playgrounds for reflecting all of life back to us to learn from one another.
To heal comes from our Soul and all else is harming, so when we all re-connect to this deep level of Love our neighbourhood will become this planet!
Appreciating and taking care of each other as a community grows our connection and our relationship with brotherhood.
An eye opening and beautiful sharing Anon.
Reading this I realised that I would have described my own neighbours from the first list and would have said I don’t know my neighbours well enough to expand on the second. Sometimes we only see the not so evolved behaviour of people we know and then hold them in that forever as if there was no possibility of change.
“… the ways in which we project towards each other and assume another to be without stopping to feel what is the intent of each person’s words, including our own….” This is a key realisation to have. It makes you realise just to give yourself a moment, a pause to allow the body to register and feel what the intention is behind the words that are heard… a moment which in our fast-paced ‘modern’ living, coupled with guard and protection, we may hardly do… Yet, in these moments of pause, does space exist – allowing for the feeling of having all the time in the world and thus being able to register and ‘read’ so much more about what is going on and being asked.
Opening doors is an opportunity for us to evolve, so why does a vast amount of people not know who their neighbours are?
Well, you’ve answered your own question Steve! Is it possible that many of us are actively choosing not to evolve – preferring to stay in the ‘comfort of their existence – behind closed doors? But I love how you have nominated that opening doors is evolution. Now I’m trying to think of a ‘knock, knock’ joke!
We are getting caught, busy, not time, to many ‘to do’s’, not really into that, etc etc and yet we are built on community. You only need to look when a disaster or similar occurs everyone just supports each other no matter addresses, colour, titles or pay checks, we are all simply there for each other and the feeling usually is overwhelming. We open up you could say because we have to, it’s something we need to do but what if in those instances it’s us returning to our natural way. What if because we see there is no choice but to roll up our sleeves then this doesn’t allow us to think about the other things we need to do and so the most important part stands tall. It’s not that this part truly stands tall it’s more that we activate it or it is allow to be there in this time. We don’t need to wait and it’s a quality and value that we are needing to keep ‘being’ with, tea anyone.
This is a really cool way of observing it; the notion that when we haven’t got the time/ space to play the normal life/existence games, then our truth actually gets to shine through – our innate truths of brotherhood, community and equality.
Sometimes I find myself in an environment were appreciation is not the normal approach to things with people and this can feel so back to front – everything can happen from appreciation, lack of it will not allow everything to fall in place as it could.
Wow the contrast in how you (and therefore most of us) talk about people from when we are just factual to the point where we expressing as we hold that person in deep appreciation is remarkably different. Very inspiring to consider another way.
Wow what a beautiful sharing, it would be great to live in a neighbourhood like this, and a testament to those who have made it a reality instead of guarding, talking behind one another’s backs/ and not connecting etc.
How quickly we can drop into superficial expression when we are taken by surprise, or challenged, or, as in this case, merely asked a question. Pausing to feel, rather than pause for thought, could support us to express the whole multidimensional quality of any person or situation which brings a depth and richness to any conversation, and our lives.
Lovely point Joan, pausing to appreciate qualities in others brings richness into our lives – just wonderful how this works, how it nourishes everyone.
Yes Joan, I was standing outside work yesterday evening talking with a colleague there was a pause then we were appreciating the people at work, the area where we work and and the people we have connected with in the neighbouring work places. The depth and richness was clearly felt and felt like it expanded around the whole area.
We all have ideals and beliefs, they are the foundations we have laid for our existence, for our comfort, for our security. The problem is they create pictures of how we think the world should be and then we are forever disappointed with how the world actually IS.
‘Do we speak to heal or harm?’ …. I love that you ask this question as it’s not something I feel I am often truly aware of before I speak, I know after I have spoken whether I’ve contributed love or harm – bringing this question to the forefront allows the space to be constantly considering what energy I am aligning to, love or the opposite.
Bringing this awareness to the every day supports in stepping up to the responsibility we have in learning to live in a way that consistently heals.
It’s important for us all that we lead into the community what we are seeing as it’s value or what we see is needed from our awareness. It may look like at times we are on our own but in fact like many things ‘our’ lead allows others to access the same awareness and we all then realise how appreciative we are that someone stood up. It’s like anything you don’t use it you loose it in away in that if we don’t hold true to the value we see then it is eroded further and we don’t even have it in thought. There are many things we see about our modern community that many say are slipping away and in this case this is where we are needing to start leading stronger. From this article and comments you can see a lot of people are on the same page, a true community connected is the way to be and now we are just needing to go on and consistently live it.
One person making the first few steps can be all that is needed to inspire a big group movement.
Yes we often get caught in the not wanting to go our own way or not wanting to be different tag and yet this is a jumbled mess. We are inspired by the way each other do things, the quality is what leads us. So no matter what we do the quality is the leading light, it’s what we all look to whether we are aware of it or not. It’s not about being part of the crowd or standing out from the crowd it’s simply about truly being.
Yes the lead no matter how big or small is taking one step that others may be reluctant to do so. There is such power in the simplicity of life when we are willing to go there.
There is quite a difference in the two lists presented here, and it is more energetic than anything else. There is a containment in the facts profile, a limitation… whereas the list that was actually given has an expansiveness about it, there is so much more space and openness to share even more. It really exposes the energies behind our expression.
Such a beautiful message shared here, of what it is to live in true community and to reflect on how open we are to developing relationships in our community. As you have shared it is not about perfection but more so about being loving, respectful and open with one another, and leaving judgment and comparison behind us. There is a lot we are learn from each other, and support each other with, if we are open to the blessing of what our connection to one another brings and can truly offer.
I wonder if your neighbours now relate differently to you once you changed your awareness of them?
Recently I saw a woman who lives on my street who I had a picture of that she didn’t like me. When I pictured her in my mind’s eye it was always with a scowl on her face. I saw her the other day and she looked so sweet and joyful and we exchanged a very simple yet genuinely loving chat. It came after reading this and I realised I’d been looking at these neighbours and holding them in a certain way instead of seeing the beauty in them and appreciating them for who they are.
I had a similar experience at work where on a regular basis I would here a certain coworker talking in the lunch room in a real harsh and super critical sarcastic way. So I had built up this negative picture of him in my mind as if that was the only way he ever acts. The interesting thing is that recently he had been assigned to be the inspector on a job I had done and he made some of the most gracious and genuine compliments on not only the current job I had completed but the high level of care and integrity that he said he had noticed in the nature of my work and “how I walk and hold myself”over the course of the previous year. Wow, I was humbly blown away and appreciative and asked myself “Who is this guy?” That moment was a game changer for me as I realized jusy how much I had not allowed myself to see and appreciate all that people have to offer and allow them to make a choice every moment to be their true self without the judgement that can block us from seeing the truth of every situation.
When I allow myself to see the love and beauty in others it is like a box is opened and more, new things and realizations keep coming. They keep deepening and deepening with more and more details as well.
Ideals as good as they may look actually take away the really good things from us, the essence of who we are, the openness to see and meet each other simply for who they are without any expectation or judgment.
Yes, they also take away our awareness and our ability to express joy, love and truth, replacing them with excitement and righteousness.
I know what you are saying and agree and yet things only ‘look good’ because we are needing it to be that way or they are good in comparison to a low point. There is a flow to life that has no space for good, judgement, openness or any picture, it’s the place where the all is seen. In this way we don’t see other animals on anti depressants or needing to have the morning off or needing a holiday overseas or anything like that. Their existence is naturally joyful and they simply love to move, so what are we missing that is surrounding us and not only that is actually the impulse from how we are all we are? We are missing simply being and from there all else comes and if we leave this at any point then it allows us to be anything.
Living in appreciation of both ourselves and of others opens our hearts to the joy that is innate in us. What could be better?
How beautiful it is to live in communities that know what the word truly stands for.
It’s a blessing to be continually appreciative of and know that the way ‘we’ are living has an impact everywhere. No perfect picture just old fashioned honest living of the values we all hold dear, as the saying goes ‘it’s not rocket science’ but simply something we know to be true.
True change is always simple and equally accessible to all. If something is either complicated or not equally accessible to all then it’s not true.
Life is all about how we are in every moment, who we live with and who lives all around us. So appreciating our neighbours and community is wonderful because it comes full circle that we appreciate ourselves in the mix too.
Opening our hearts to our local community is important – I have lived in places where neighbours don’t speak to one another – they climb into their cars, may wave if they see you and then drive off. Where I live now I walk a lot and will always say hello and if I have time chat to the people I pass if they want to chat. I am letting go of many beliefs about different cultures, letting go of stereotypes and discovering that everyone is worth engaging with.
‘Opening our hearts to our local community is important’ And opening our hearts to all, not a few, is a mark of true brotherhood.
Being part of a community supports all concerned as each person offers their own unique quality, reflection and skill set.
I feel a sense of longing for a community such as this, but realise this is a picture that can be true in some places but will never look the same. A friend inspired me recently that community is something we bring with us. If we live in community with others we will inspire community in them. The one spark of light will ignite a huge fire.
Our neighbourhood and how it feels to live there offers us a reflection of how we are choosing to live with each other, how open we are, how interested we are in each other. It feels like there is so much potential in every community and how it is in reality comes down to us, and how we choose to be with each other on a consistent basis.
“a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another” – This is how neighbourhoods should be; not separate or riddled with politics, but a community of people who can support each other!
“… and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.” The keys to unlock the riches that can lie within us all when we choose to make life about connection.
Gorgeous to feel at home and with family where-ever I am.
The other day and after many years, I invited a neighbour to my home for tea. I loved the intimacy we shared and observed how any preconceptions held simply dissolved as we spent time together. To open up and invite others in, inspires them to be the same with you.
I agree and to bring another in in this way is truly touching for everyone. If we wait for someone else to do or be something we are seeing or feeling is needed then we are allowing the world to continue as it is. Taking or making the first step into this quality of change may seem difficult but it is always this style of negative talk that needs to be challenge or checked when we hear it as a voice to us. Often there is a thought of keeping a status quo, one that actually is a perception because in actual fact things aren’t staying the same as it appears they are moving in another direction and we can’t live a status quo, not only is it impossible but as we can see it has never worked.
Yes Ray, so much offered here. To rise above the confines of judgement and see all is the first step.
In my own family, when I moved towards them and not wait for them to move towards me, over time and without expectations, proved richly rewarding. The quality of connection we have now is becoming true family: loving, equal and respectful, something I could not have imagined before.
This is great and also to note that ‘I’ doesn’t need to always make the first step. This process like any has a flow, a rhythm and purpose. All we need do is ‘be’ our own natural quality and honour what we see is needed from there. At times perceptions will be at work in all pockets and truly honouring what we feel in place of how it looks is the bravest step we can take.
Anonymous, this is gorgeous to read; ‘This is my neighbourhood. A place where there is no perfection but a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another’, I can feel how I have had a picture of how a community should look rather than appreciating the people that are in my community, letting go of judgement and accepting everyone as they are and for what they bring and the ways that we all support each other.
Well observed Rebecca. There is no special or ideal community, simply community and we work with what we’re given. This is our playground, our space to evolve in communion with others.
This lovely blog has inspired me to deepen my awareness of my neighbours and re-appreciate the different qualities they all bring. Thank you Anonymous for the gift of ‘seeing with new eyes’
Life to me is all about community but living in a world that promotes individualism and privacy this is not a life that most of us embrace. I grew up in a small cul-de-sac where we knew all our neighbours, the road was our safe playground and we all supported each other in times of stress; that was community. Fast forward to today where I live in the country up a long driveway and hardly ever get to meet the neighbours, people who are living their individual lives up their own long driveways. This is community waiting to happen but it certainly won’t happen unless someone takes the first step; it’s time to put my hand up!
It depends so much from where we connect to people. If we connect from our little selves we have the tendency to go into protection and we only see the outer aspects of someone’s behaviour. But when we connect from our inner heart, the inner qualities will be seen and valued for what they have on offer for all of us to benefit from.
There is so much more than the surface, and if we drop any pictures we have, and get to feel and see what is really there and how amazing people in fact are we open ourselves up to the world and to seeing how amazing people are and how much we are here to support each other and how our communities can and often are that. We’re here to do it together.
Judgement always harms no matter what form or size it comes in.
To drop our ideals and beliefs about other people, open up and let them in is richly rewarding.
Being in sales myself, dry fact stating [lip service] without injected quality is a total turn off for and always a deal-breaker.
In reading this it makes you want to move to your neighbourhood, or better yet, connect to what you have shared and make the effort to build this in my current neighbourhood and home.
‘I knew at that moment that what had played out was the instant load of ideals and beliefs that are constantly on standby waiting for us to take or leave about the world and how we see each other.’ Yes, we are surrounded by ideals and beliefs and if we take them on they can dictate how we see the world and then how we interact with it and then use these interactions as confirmations of the beliefs we’re living by. In this way many people can have very different realities – and I notice I can have different days depending on if I take on the beliefs surrounding me.
This is beautiful – there can be this automatic reaction to life that puts us into the same ruts of behaviour or thoughts as many times before, but stopping and questioning where these thoughts come from offers the opportunity to respond with truth
When we then consider we are surrounded by divine beings… now that is something to celebrate and appreciate!
How could we not appreciate the Love we all come from? When we understand the True relationship we have with God our whole life becomes about humanity our friends and neighbours the stranger and bringing a divine reflection for all to feel!
I really love this blog. We notice things in our neighbourhood but how often do we truly connect with the people in them? I currently live in London in a block of flats with other flats around me and although I know and have built some relationships with the people in the block I live in outside of this it just seems to be concrete and cars!! This has highlighted the importance of connecting with the communities we live in no matter where we are.
Recently I visited a retirement village where the houses were quite cheap and people living there clearly had very little money. However I was knocked over by the love and care I felt each one had put into the little patch of garden they had out the front. You could feel it was a beautiful and loving community and so even though they may have had little money they were certainly very rich where it counts.
Nicola this is so true the richness in life is the true love and care we share with others.
I completely agree and it is great to have money too as there is much we can do with money when we know how to use it wisely.
Nicola, I live in a retirement village with my client. I’ve had to bash on the head my own ideals and beliefs about such communities. Yes there’s a strangeness about living in a community where all the people are aged between 65 and 95. But it is a community and I love getting to know people: residents, staff, their families and being welcomed each time I return to work after a spell away. I always say never say never. and appreciate the opportunity I’ve been given to experience first hand old age and the different ways we respond to it.
It is only a question of time until we all experience old age. I am absolutely loving being in my 60s – I wonder at what age old age happens? Is it a number or an attitude?
Great to be loving being in your 60’s Nicola, as do I. Old age is often defined by numbers, but as you question there’s much more to it. I met a woman 85 years old yesterday but with the energy of a young woman. Aging can affect our physical body as it wears and tears, but not our true essence which is universal and infinite.
Love it Nicola.
Its interesting to feel the difference between your two lists Anonymous… the first ‘facts profile’ feels like a tick box exercise, hard and dismissive of the people involved… whereas the second list offers such a strong feeling of care and connection with them which is very inspiring and so lovely to feel.
Life is all about appreciating our qualities, our own and others, and honouring the truth of who we are.
Appreciating we have neighbours is a wonderful way to connect and potentially develop relationships. If there is any resistance to neighbours they would feel that, and what often plays out is we end up getting more of what we are resisting in the first place.
How much do we speak for our behalf and needs, how we want things to be or do we present the whole picture that is needed for everyone?
I was just about to write how I don’t really know my neighbours but as I was writing I realised I knew them quite well from our short chats when our paths cross…. What has really amazed me as we all probably live in quite amazing neighbourhoods and may not even appreciate those who make it amazing…. Thank you for your inspiration anonymous.
We can be blind to the gorgeousness that surrounds us or we can choose to see it. We often get blinded by the things we don’t like or we can seek to find faults. Appreciating what is around us is heart warming and can be felt a million miles away.
When we see and feel the gorgeousness we each hold within – it is easy to see all that beauty around us and appreciate the gold others hold. Yet when we do not appreciate our inner beauty it is easy to miss it everywhere else. This brings the awareness to the fact that all relationships start with self and how we treat and care and appreciate ourselves and so forth. For me, I know that which I have developed within myself I can not go below that level with others. This blog is not only a beautiful appreciation of what anon has felt from his/her neighbours but what she/he has also developed within her/himself first.
Beautiful Nikki, I live in what could be described as a run-down inner-city community, it is imperfect, has been neglected over the years and in the process of regeneration. What I love and appreciate is the people, their lives and stories shared over the years. I feel blessed to be part of it.
What a great opportunity Anonymous to truly get a feel for your neighbours and express about them in a way that confirms and appreciates them all at once. A truly great contribution.
The difference in the 2 descriptions is striking! I wouldn’t want to live in the neighborhood from the first description and yet would love to be part of the group in the second description. Judgement, control and protection versus equality, open heart and brotherhood. What an effect on all of us.
It just goes to show the effect our perceptions and communication can have for others and their potential decisions. This brings to the forefront our responsibility to communicate from appreciation,truth and love.
I love this. My heart warms just reading the title. There is so much honouring through your appreciation.
I loved what you have shared Anonymous, true community is getting to know, support and appreciate one another, I am inspired by your article to open up to and get to know my neighbours much more than I do at present.
It is wonderful when people appreciate the godly qualities in each other. This inspires the awareness, acceptance, expansion and deepening of those qualities.
A it’s a confirmation of the knowing we are all godly – very equal and beautiful.
How gorgeous to appreciate neighbours in this way. I am originally from London and it is very rare to engage with neighbours there let alone get to know them so well. We can have a whole host of expectations about neighbourhoods when we move in but allowing relationships to unfold naturally and to share with an openness feels rewarding and enriching.
I grew up in London and lived there for most of my first 30+ years and don’t remember ever knowing my neighbours or having a sense of community. Same applies for Sydney and other big cities I lived in. I now live in Goonellabah, a regional city in Australia and know many of my neighbours and love being part of the community. Some I know very well and some we just wave to each other every morning as they drive by. Wherever I go in town I meet local people I know from work, the local chamber of commerce or some other way. I know most of the people in the shops and in the supermarket. There are genuine greetings everywhere ~ it is such a heart-full and wonderful community and I know we would all look out for each other. Why would we live any other way?
It seems common for the busy cities to have less engagement with neighbours and that community feeling. Almost like the busy-ness is there to sever relationships and communities, therefore appreciation of what we each bring to community. But does this have to be this way? I’m sure that it really comes down to people making the choice to connect with each other and making the effort to engage.
When we come to the awareness that our words are not just ‘two a penny’ throw away things, but are in fact energetically powerful, it is a stop moment in life, at time of reflection to consider just what the impact of our words is and that we have a choice to make. My sense is that there would be far less abuse in our world if we all were aware of the harm words can do.
So very true Richard.
Taking this beyond first glance, thank you Elizabeth. The fact that the people we live and work alongside are all there for a reason and all have something brilliant and unique to offer us, as we do them. This is the richness of our relationships and the learning that is always on offer.
This article brings home to me loud and clear the power of appreciation and enjoying the many qualities we all have that build our communities.
Deeply appreciating others comes from having this relationship with ourselves first for otherwise it is just courteousness and polite behaviours but not the genuine appreciation we can offer others.
Well said. There is a vast difference between the aloof courteous and polite and the warmth and love felt in genuine appreciation.
Appreciating those around us and all that they do and who they are brings a richness and a fullness. I have the most fantastic neighbours and it’s always a joy to connect and say hi.
Every conversation is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of life and to bring truth to it.
Your feedback to the Agent shows in real terms how you all support each other, but what comes across as the common denominator to me as the reader/witness, are the integral values of community and the qualities of each of your neighbours.
Reading your snapshot of your community makes me appreciate all the little things that happen in my own neighbourhood… it truly is those little things that add up to a whole community of care.
What a difference it makes to speak of the things that people offer, rather than simply listing the facts.
“It made me realise the ways in which we project towards each other and assume another to be without stopping to feel what is the intent of each person’s words, including our own.” This is so true Anonymous. It is actually quite alarming how often a conversation can very quickly diverge off track from its origin if we are not fully present, and confident enough in ourselves to reign it back in when it does so. It highlights the responsibility we have to stay true to what we feel and know and to not hold that back.
So often we can be caught up in our little world and not allow ourselves to appreciate those close to us, let alone those in our neighborhood. Its a great reminder that whilst we don’t need to know everything about everyone, we don’t need to spend lots of time with everyone that we can still appreciate every one. One quality with all, no matter the time or details.
Do we speak to heal or harm?
Many times, the judgement that comes with ideals and beliefs often clouds both people from sharing what is on offer to appreciate about the exchange and see what can be offered. How pertinent this statement is. If we could focus ourselves on more of this there would be more space for greater harmony in our lives.
If we all replaced judgement and condemnation with appreciation then we would transform our world overnight.
There is such a difference from the first list which feels more like reductionism and dismissiveness, than the second one which has an appreciation for what each person brings.
I feel we all have neighbourhoods like the one you describe but we don’t take enough time to stop and appreciate what everyone brings to make it the community it is.
This expressed and lived appreciation is our true responsibility as a neighbour and member of a community.
Just like your street Anonymous, is it possible we constantly look around with ‘glass half empty’ eyes, critiquing life and mistaking this humdrum view for what is true? For if we look again as you did here and get prepared to appreciate what is sweet right under our nose, perhaps we will find we are richer than we think, both inside and out?
Anonymous, I have felt this is my community too; ‘ the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’ I can feel that the potential is huge, in my community there are two women who are elders, for my son who has no extended family nearby this means he has ”grandparents right on his doorstep and offers them a grandson” that they adore and who lights up their day, we have teenage girls who look after my son and treat him as part of their family, so he has big sisters down the road, there can be so much support and it is very beautiful when people come together in this very open and loving way, it benefits everyone.
Such a beautiful lesson in showing us that it only takes a moment or two to really stop and go deeper, to drop below the surface layer to see and appreciate the qualities we bring to one another and to never take them for granted.
We always have a choice – express from the head or express from the heart. The head will offer up false protection yet keep you imprisoned. The heart will remind you how truly beautiful and expansive we really are.
Attitudes about people are often given to us by Society and for me it was the same. Not until I got to know several Gay couples personally as an adult did I understand that we are all the same.
What a beautiful community you live in anonymous and this is an awesome reflection of how you are with your neighbours. I find when we open our hearts people around often will do so too.
developing relationships with our neighbours begins with being open and connecting with them and then appreciation can naturally follow. Over the years I have felt this as a process I have gone though in that my relationships with those around me have been affected by how open i am and not the type of people around me.
So great to appreciate neighbours and community! I have sometimes lived on streets where you didn’t even know your neighbours’ names but generally some sort of community has arisen out of where I have lived which shows me that we are all looking to be part of something but most of us are not looking at how big our communities could be.
I have read this blog and a new neighbour has just moved in across the road. This is a great opportunity to take on board what has been shared here, about the amazing support we can offer one another when we open our hearts and allow others in.
Ideals and beliefs are like bricks and mortar we wear and carry with us everywhere, without them we all are living in glass houses.
Two ways to look at the exact same place. This is a great example how we configure what we see and notice.
Dear Anonymous I felt so inspired of what you have shared about your experience with your neighborhood: “. . . it has deepened my understanding of the importance of being part of a community and what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.” As it seems that it did not work with living only for our own – supporting each other could be a wonderful way out of the hardness most of us are living in.
There is no joy greater than the letting go of more ideals and beliefs in life and expanding our awareness and openness to life.
What this blog clearly demonstrates is that how and what we express has a huge bearing on what we create. So often we don’t pause to consider the effect of what we say, we just talk automatically and often our expression has a negative, defamatory or emotional element. If we all paused, as the author of this blog did and chose to appreciate something in what we shared, we would light up the world we live in, rather than keep it in the shadows.
This is really important and I feel something we should discuss far more and in some depth ‘Do we speak to heal or harm?’ I also really loved your honesty here in what you shared in your first initial reaction and thoughts of what to say to the estate agent. .. because it gives the reader the space to be honest too – which brings me to the next point … protection! And the many different ways we try to protect ourselves, in not being transparent and not letting people in. For example calculating just how much information we should give another person and what they will do with that information. I loved what you shared about your community I felt a part of if just by reading. This could be an awesome project in setting up a platform where people all around the world could appreciate their neighbours and the community they live in.
When we stop and dig deeper to truely see and appreciate our neighbourhoods and communities, what we can realise is where we, ourselves, have judgement, hold back, close off, but also how much everybody wants connection and to be accepted. The joy of truely seeing and meeting another, no matter where they are at in life or what their choices are, brings a community together. It starts with our own family, then our neighbours, our street, suburb, our schools, supermarket, town, city,
The conversations and thoughts we choose to engage in have a profound an indisputable impact on everyone else as well as ourselves. What a wonderfully loving example offered here to periodically make a point of observing and reflecting on what we are choosing. Is it healing or harming?
Very true Golnaz. This blog also shows me that even a seemingly factual and boring conversation can be harmful. In the example shared here, no cruel, mean or untrue statements were offered up by the head and yet the judgment and protection that these thoughts were delivered with could only cause harm. When we open our hears and express with love no harm is possible.
This raises the bar. Anything less than an expression from our heart which can ignite the same light in everyone else is not at all as harmless as we think it is. The example in this blog is indeed wonderful, as it shows the ripple effects that just one simple conversation can have.
Lovely to read what you share connecting with the community and truly appreciating what they bring and share with each other. Stopping to feel the amazing connections in the things they do for each other, things we take for granted.
Yes, and taking the steps to know your neighbours this well!
This is sweet, with the two different perspectives of the people in your street – one that is just about facts and the other that is about the movements of people.
‘Do we speak to heal or harm?’ – great reminder for us to be very aware of how we are contributing to the energy pool that we are all living in, with our words and our movements – are we adding love or harm?
Real estate agents are generally not trusted and known for a certain cut throat way of selling houses will no real consideration for the people buying the home. We need to be careful to not box or judge any person by their job description. It can easily be done as society tends to pigeon hole people this way. We need to see the person first and not their role and make our assessment of wether they are trustworthy or not from this connection.
Thank you for sharing Anonymous… it is inspiring to read of your neighbourhood as a community, living together and supporting one another in each unique way – rather than as individuals in their boxes doing their own thing.
This is a beautiful blog highlighting the opportunity we have in very moment to present a true reflection to anyone we communicate with.
Appreciation brings not only things to live but also brings a depth that is quite divine.
Great point Sarah appreciation is far deeper – even multi dimensional than we might initially be aware of.
“Do we speak to heal or harm?” we are often so focused on trying to say something or complain about something that we forget to actually ensure the quality of what we say and consider if what we say is helping evolve and inspire or hurting people.
When we see people from their true qualities there is no room for judgment. But if we do find ourselves in judgment of another, we need to ask ourselves where am I at?
Simple loving gestures can have the most profound impact on those around us.
I have recently written up a short blurb or description of myself and I started by just talking about what I did. Now this felt rather hollow, but when I went to re-write it with the qualities that I bring to everything I do, the blurb came alive and I could feel what a difference it made. Making life about the qualities of each other rather than just what we see and do makes a big difference on all levels.
This is so true, the way we are in our homes and with our neighbours is significant and can be felt.
I live on a particularly awesome street in London where we all know each other because it is a private road, sounds posh but it is not just a quirk of the set up. But what it means is we have a committee and we have things we have to do together, I love it and are fully appreciative of how everyone looks out for each other. It is what life is about.
Amazing how our life opens up in a completely different way when we stop to appreciate all the qualities of people in our community that surround us. There is an expression that says ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ and I know from experience that the situation may not change but when I shift my energy/my perception of things, then suddenly what may have appeared not so nice or dismal, actually is beautiful. Something to be acutely aware of these days.
Beautiful, there is something so supportive and nurturing about a truly cohesive community of people, and being able to express that to the estate agent so they get to feel just how amazing your neighbourhood is.
A beautiful reminder for us all to appreciate the potential that there is in every interaction we have, and the value of what it can bring to anyone of us. When we live in isolation, we can end up being very sad and lonely even when we are surrounded by people.
So beautifully said Sandra – every moment in every day is an opportunity to appreciate and deepen our relationship with self and with all those around us. How much we use these opportunities or not is actually quite exposing and good to look at so that we can have less ‘missed opportunities’. I am loving reflecting on this – another opportunity presented in simply reading and writing this, and then putting it into practice more and more!
When we appreciate we let ourselves see – not the role the person plays but the person themselves and the beauty within them. When we appreciate a community, we see the immense gold we all have.
Love this! Appreciation opens our hearts and then we can see the hearts in others!
We can find community everywhere, it is a sense of togetherness and mutual support, whether that is in family, work or our neighbourhood, “we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.”
There is a real joy in knowing our neighbours and appreciating them for who they are. It breaks down any sense of us being here alone to do it all ourselves.
I’ve loved reading your blog, Anonymous. It makes me appreciate all that is already shared between people in every community, which is our natural impulse… sharing who we are, our skills, our support, our presence, offering our genuine quality for a bigger purpose in which all of us are equally needed and enjoyed when we open up our house doors and hearts..
I had not associated judgement with ideals and beliefs but of course this is true. Every time I judge another where does the judgement come from? Let go of the ideals and beliefs and there is no judgement for we are all one of the same expressing in our own unique way.
We bring into being that which we appreciate.
Very true Alexis and equally on the other hand we dismiss all that is on offer the moment we turn our backs on appreciation. It makes me ponder on how much I am missing out in life every moment I resist and hold back from expressing and welcoming appreciation into my life.
Great to clock how we short change ourselves and others when we go into protection and deliver facts without truly feeling what is being asked and sharing from the heart.
Living in appreciation of others – and ourselves – makes such a difference to the quality of life. How amazing it would be…and could be…if we chose appreciation as a way of being.
Opening ourselves up to the learning on offer from everyone in our lives makes for rich opportunities to get to know ourselves really well and to live in connection with others rather than comparison and judgement. Thank you for this inspiring article.
It’s beautiful how life presents us with opportunities to open up, see, learn and appreciate more.
Could it be when we appreciate what we bring we can then also feel the True appreciation that we have for others and this always plays out for the greater good for all involved in our community?
Yes, this appreciation leaves beautiful ripples for others to feel and be inspired by. We can see this when areas get a bad name for themselves and the neighbourhood ‘goes down hill.’ It takes people saying no, it doesn’t have to be this way, and appreciating the people who are there, to change.
So True Karin, it only takes one and everyone will feel the magnetic pull towards the awareness our Inner-Heart brings!
Appreciation of the people in our neighbourhood is something we can never underestimate, it brings people together and makes us stop and see how the simplest of acts can support the community as a whole.
Appreciation develops connections and grows communities… and brotherhood.
It is very honouring to see people for who they are and the qualities they bring, and the more we appreciate these qualities the stronger the connections and the community.
When we reduce ourselves and others to what reads like news headlines, we miss out on the core wonders of who we are. We become a stereotype and not a person with all the wonderful angles that shine back to the world.
I know I do a huge disservice to myself if I start describing myself in these terms. Even my age carries assumptions (many of mine are based on very outdated imaginings of a teenager!) Add lives alone, has no children and other pictures, usually negative, creep in – lonely, purposelessness. I can even start buying into a reduced version of myself. I notice others doing this themselves especially around labels – ‘I’ve got this or that’ and it becomes who they are. And we do live in a world that encourages this through the media. I know many times when I’ve been aware of this and tried to overcompensate by creating statistics that would sound good on paper but that weren’t reflective of where I was truly at. Needing to have a partner to say, ‘look, there’s nothing wrong with me’ for example. My relationship with me wasn’t great and in trying to look normal I was ignoring what was there to learn.
Rather than pay attention to these reduced versions of anyone, it’s about feeling the quality of how I am living my life and making adjustments when needed so we all get these beautiful appreciations of each other.
Yes, it is beautiful to appreciate that everyone has a unique role to play.
The true key to living in brotherhood is opening up to your fellow brothers and sisters and see their magic quality of effect. Appreciate the fact that there are more people just like you sharing their piece of value and quality. Once we appreciate ourselves in the element that we bring to life we can start seeing that of others, and then understand that everything in life is to teach us to come back to everything we already got inside, just held back for a very very long time.
‘The ideals and beliefs were blinding me from hearing that this real estate agent was genuine in asking about the place.’ Our ideals and beliefs really cap us from seeing and hearing the truth, even though it is there right in front of us. It’s like we live life through a filter only being able to interpret information which is tainted because of an inner block.
There is such a cuteness in this expression of appreciation and in its detail. No one act or person is made to feel any more of less – everyone equal in what they do (or don’t do). The foundation of a truly harmonious society.
True ottobathhurst, a foundation for a healthy and harmonious society, built step by step with every encounter.
There is gold everywhere. And it shines even brighter when it is appreciated like this.
Yup. Appreciation is an absolutely life changing activity; something I am willingly practising bringing in to my everyday.
Anonymous I usually refrain from using set phrases as I feel that they are rather automatic and often have a washed out feeling about them but I am going to use the phrase ‘heart warming’ for what you have shared because I could literally feel my heart being warmed when I read it. A glorious sharing, thank you.
Beautiful Anon that you were given the opportunity to value and appreciate your community in this way.
It feels to me that in every interaction we can choose the functional protected response that serves to confirm our separation or we can let down the guards speak our lived truth and open up an opportunity to appreciate and celebrate our rarely expressed love for one another.
What a different world would we live in if everyone would view the people around them with that appreciating and connecting look!
Its amazing to note the difference in description between a protected response to a question compared to a response that is open, and connected to what is truly being asked
Thank you Anonymous. This exposes just how easily we jump into our ideals and beliefs and take the functional route (something I am quite good at doing myself) rather than taking a moment to stop, connect and appreciate the qualitative aspects of people, our relationships with each other and the amazing treasures that arise as a consequence.
People have more depth than at first appears, for example, I was working with a group of people in an aged care facility, just reading them the local newspaper. Some fell asleep, some listened well, others actively engaged, and the stories they shared were fascinating. I found that before when I worked in a holiday resort – the grandparents there had all led interesting lives, and that makes me think about our past lives – most of us don’t remember them, but their imprint is here in our bodies today. There is a lot more to all of us than we are conscious of.
This is true Carmel, and how we miss out on the richness of what people have to offer when we go straight for the pictures, which stops us from connecting to people in the true sense of the word.
Anonymous, this is really lovely; ‘what we can all offer each other when we make life about supporting one another, deepening our relationships and opening our hearts.’ It makes me reflect on and appreciate the community that I live in and the love and support that is there, it is easy to take this for granted and not build on these relationships and not appreciate everyone in the community and what everyone brings.
It is interesting how so often we just take people or things for granted around us and do not fully stop to appreciate them and what they are offering us. It is often all too easy to blame or criticise others yet makes the world of difference when we appreciate them. Then we also start to see more of the true and real side of them not just the morphed twisted side we associate them as being!
Thanks for writing this it just made me appreciate more the street I live on, for it is a little community in itself and there are always people there to help out. It also shows me that people in general are good people but there are a few rotten ones that ruin it for everyone.
A neighbourhood that is a family with everyone being a part of the whole, including the author who appreciates and is aware of them all.
I’ve loved reading your blog, Anonymous. It makes me appreciate all what is already shared between people in every community, which is our natural impulse… sharing who we are, our skills, our support, our presence, offering our genuine quality for a bigger purpose in which all of us are equally needed and enjoyed when we open up our house doors and hearts..
I see my neighbourhood in London as a place with people from different places, ages and jobs. Our street is a place where children climb trees in the park and play, and we accept parcels for others when they are not in. Who requires a TV when life is the best show, on any window of our street.
When we come from hurt and protection we are not open to receive the true messages people are communicating and tend to go into the commonly held ideals and beliefs that are there for us to tap in.
Yes people are very precious and what makes a neighbourhood. I too have the most lovely people all around me.
We really are too busy to truly appreciate our neighbourhood in this way which is quite sad as we all have so much to give and share together.
I agree Julie we have made our lives so busy that we forget to stop and connect with our neighbours and appreciate the community connection around. How amazing, loving and supportive they are. We live in a lovely village and all our neighbours are so loving and supportive and have been from the moment we moved in.
Gorgeous to read about your relationship with your neighbours and your appreciation for them. I find it rare these days to hear people are getting on with their neighbours and about people coming together as a community to support each other. To me, this is what most of us would love, to live in a neighbourhood where everyone is open to support one another. Thank you for sharing with us what a true community looks like.
We are all so much grander than the roles, genders or nationalities that society identifies us with, or the boxes we confine ourselves to, and it is definitely a reduction to describe someone by these associations rather than their true quality and what flavour they bring wherever they go.
Beautifully said, Susie. I love it when I free myself from the stereotypical beliefs I have filed away and allow myself to meet people and their true qualities.
You have reminded me to truly love and appreciate every person in my life.
What a great moment of appreciation you got offered. I can feel how we can easily rob ourselves of golden opportunities when we allow judgment and belief to propel our movement. I am sure there are plenty enough parables telling us not to, but we still do.
Beautiful to feel your appreciation of the people who contribute to making your neighbourhood so supportive. Thank you for sharing and giving me the opportunity to reflect on my own neighbourhood which I value being part of.
It is easy to pre-judge a neighbourhood however if instead we open ourselves and meet the people for who they are, then we have community.
It’s amazing how much detail there can truly be in appreciating the world around us when we let go of the ideals, images and thoughts and feel from our hearts the true community and world in which we live everyday.
Thank you Anonymous, there is a big difference between the first list of facts about your neighbours and the second list that connects to the people and describes their inner qualities and the way they live. It’s very touching what you have shared about community and how we each can make our contribution to that, and connect with appreciation to those around us
How often our ideals and beliefs are ruled by ‘should, ought, and must’ – they bind us in illusion and limit our true vision. Great realisation Anonymous
“This is my neighbourhood. A place where there is no perfection but a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another, and in doing so have broken down the beliefs and ideals I have held about people in general and how a community should be”
Wow I loved reading your blog, it’s incredible to see how we can approach, appreciate and have such a different relationship with everything including those in our neighborhood depending on how we are and the quality we approach not only conversations but the moments of appreciation we have.
Wow, the difference between the first list and the second is striking. The way the facts were listed in the first one had me already tempted to make judgments on the people and thinking ‘that is not going to be a neighbourhood that sounds appealing to a potential buyer’, whereas the way the truth was expressed about these same facts in the second list brought me to tears as I could feel the depth of love and care of this small simple community as something I would love to be a part of also. It just goes to show that when we speak from protection, that is all we offer – a closed door that will naturally invite suspicion and caution. Yet when we speak from an open heart, the truth sings and invites us in.
Like chalk and cheese reading the two different approaches to sharing information about your neighbourhood. One felt quite clinical and as you say factual, and the other felt warm and almost leapt off the screen. Appreciation brings the world alive.
I agree, the power of appreciation opens up so much more. We are experts it would seem at critique of both ourselves and all else and yet there is a whole other side to things. I don’t doubt we see things that we don’t like but can it all be truly the same, in other words can it all be in the ‘we don’t like’ pile? If it is there would have to be at least a 50/50 of like and not like, a balance of 2 parts and yet we often just run down one road. Appreciation isn’t about ‘likes’ it’s about a living approach to how you see the world and if you tire from running down one road then open up to a daily dose of appreciation and see that there is an entire universe beyond the road and it’s there regardless if you choose to see it or not.
It’s so much simpler having a harmonious relationship with your neighbours and sustaining that than being in protection and holding back and not seeing and being open to them as the amazing support they all can be.
A wonderful blog that I am sure will have each of us asking whether we know those in our neighbourhood as well as you do those in yours. So many of us live behind walls, literally and figuratively, walls that not only prevent others from looking in but that also prevent us from looking out at and being in the world. As a result, our world begins to shrink until it eventually becomes just about us on our own individual ‘island’. In stark contrast there is so much joy waiting to be had when we demolish those walls and let people in, and us out.
Absolutely Ingrid – it is key to gently demolish the walls of protection and reveal the truth of the hidden treasures within – joy, harmony, stillness and love.
Firstly, what great care and detail you took to describe your neighbours. Secondly the fact that you know your neighbours, some people keep themselves hidden a away no matter what town they live in. I cried for some reason when you were talking about all these simply, yet touching qualities of the people that you share your street with, you made that Real-estate’s job super easy, as I was sold, who wouldn’t want to live on a street with that much love?
We all bring something different but equally beautiful to the table. Love is in us all.
This blog reminds us to deepen our expression in every moment, no matter, what we think the other person can handle or is interested in. Our expression counts and is everything.
Agree! The former one keeps us in separation the latter one connects us instantly because we are not talking about superficiality but qualities- what everyone offers in the community. The beautiful thing is, that answering in the latter version the real estate gets confirmed and appreciated as well just through responding this way.
It is easy and just about second nature to go into protection and resort to our preformed pictures and mental images when someone approaches us with an unexpected question; protection is the opposite of openness, so what are we doing to each other and what kind of life have we created for ourselves?
Having assumptions before actually getting to know a person is like looking down at our phone and saying I don’t want to know. When I’m stuck with thinking a particular way about someone, I try to look at what I appreciate about them and before long all the other stuff simply faded into the background.
Talking in true intimacy and truth with no matter to whom we are talking to will bring a greater depth to all our communications. We are ALL innately looking for that- we should not ever dismess or forget that!
I love to be in that true intimacy as it opens up that natural connection we all have as human being which gives us that greater depth of communication you are talking about
We all sure are and to even think that another is not means we are way off as we are then judging them to be lesser. Present absolute love to another and pretty much everytime they will open up. But present a lesser version of love, one you trick yourself into thinking is love, and they will feel that is coming with something else and so may not open up. I know for myself I have never been rejected for being love but have been when I have been presenting a lesser measured version. So it’s effectively all or nothing!
I agree James, but I feel it is important to understand also, that you can be rejected because you are love & the real deal. Not everyone is ready to go there and to avoid the reflection you can be very much attacked or rejected. When you truly stay with the love and truth you are, it won´t affect you though, as you can clearly read what is truly taken place.
That is the key Stefanie whilst people may say no to the love you are presenting and reflecting to them they are rejecting that level of love and not you.
Some months ago I moved into a new neighbourhood and I love it. I live in a complex and the only complex thing about it can come from my perception, so far this hasn’t been triggered. It’s community and we are who we are and being open hearted makes the world of difference. Our differences are part of our essence which reflects the universe. What’s not to appreciate?
Lovely to feel the openness in your neighbourhood and appreciation you all share for one another. A great cross section of community in one vicinity. It is our natural way to live in connection with each other and share our resources.
I guess we can see the difference here from living in a neighbourhood and truly being in a neighbourhood. It’s lovely to see this quality of interaction between people as it’s no longer the norm. I remember growing up and there were no fences between our yard and the neighbours yards. It was like having a massive playground, you needed to respect it but it was yours to play in at any point no questions asked. It was another way to live as opposed to what we see now were fence building companies are successful and busy businesses. We can still have our fences but as the article is showing there is no need to build walls.
Yes we can build the-fences but not de-fences 😉
Haha, thank you for ‘building’ on what was said.
This is a beautiful blog appreciating your community and the part each person plays in supporting another.
What a totally heart warming blog, there is so much to appreciate when we step outside of circulation energy (so fitting for what is being shared by Universal Medicine at the moment). It really is soul sharing, a sharing that comes from our love within.
Its great to see, feel and appreciate all the great things people bring to the neighbourhood, and as we all open up more to living life with more appreciation and connection to others these neighbourhoods will grow and flourish.
Yes, I agree Greg and with this reflection, I am sure more and more people will be inspired by this example.
It is easy to just sum up the facts but if we just take an moment to truly express what we feel there is much beauty to be shared which can evolve all who are involved.
There is very clearly two differing aspects here, both were informative but one had some substance to it, some soul rather then just a factual cold account.
That’s really beautiful. It’s not that hard to go that one level deeper than what we see on a surface level. The difference between the dot points snd the expanded version makes all the difference for someone considering living in that area. one list is the hard facts, and the other describes the liveable culture – a list designed to communicate to other humans through experience, which is basically connection with others, which is what we all naturally want.
In my late teens I went to live in a little village, that had a regular bus service to the main town with connections on going to anywhere. It was a lovely village because all the people who lived there made it so. I have fond memories of the friendliness of everyone, and if there were problems you knew who to go to for assistance. In those days everyone met at the local pub on a Friday and Saturday night for a catch up it was the hub if you like for the youngsters of the village including me that didn’t have a car to go further afield.
We are so quick to reduce people to their labels rather than the loving acts they do without thinking about it. This list reminds us all that our neighbourhoods and communities are a living entity to be posted and nurtured.
I love my community – I was nervous when I first moved to a place I knew no-one and the south I don’t believe is known for being friendly but my neighbours are all lovely. In the winter we don’t see each other as much but I love the summer where we sit out on the walkway that serves as an outdoor communal patio and chat.When we break through prejudices that are fed to us and put them aside we can have great relationships with neighbours.
When we come out from living behind our walls of protection we find people that have incredible qualities living literally right next door. I wonder as well did you describe your own qualities along with that of your neighbours?
Yes, how interesting that you went into giving a statistics snapshot and realised how little that actually shares about the community. What struck me was how rare your community sounds. The fact you all connect with each other and talk to each other is, in itself rare, so lucky family who move in!
I love how no matter who someone is or what they do it does not change the fact that they have something beautiful to offer us all.
Beautiful anon, we all have something to bring, something beautiful to share and it will only come to full expression when we are in communication and community with those arounds us.
I was deeply moved with the change in perception reflected when you stopped focusing with your ideals and beliefs and instead chose to reconnect to your heart and speak from the depth of your experience. I almost cried with the appreciation of beauty shared about the people in your neighbourhood. Our world would be a very different place if this was the only way we related to one another.
A true appreciation and acknowledgment of the rich diversity of your neighbourhood.
It can be very interesting how we respond when asked a question. I have been aware of this too only recently and noticed how I can immediately as if without thinking go into protection or shut myself down because of what has been asked and answer the questions from my head but this behaviour is beginning to make me feel uncomfortable. The lie sensed in my body is obvious and blatant. What if I looked at these questions as moments of growth and appreciate what is being offered to me?
Wow I can really feel in this blog how we can easily skim the surface and stick to the superficiality of how people are rather than really feeling and appreciating the depth of what we offer each other.
When we live life on the surface, we miss out on the depth of beauty that is always on offer to us the moment we choose to connect with it.
Do we take time to really, deeply appreciate the people around us and how amazing their qualities are? That is definitely a question worth pondering on.
Yes, and what is our usual way of responding to another’s question, do we stay open, connect and answer from our heart or do we come from protection and answer to be able to keep going with what we were doing? Do we appreciate every opportunity to connect to another?
It’s so beautiful how well you know your neighbours and the connection you have built with them, thank you for sharing.
I often wonder how often do we truly stop to take a moment to realise that our neighbourhood is an extension of our family.
True, what an opportunity this was to explore the depths of our appreciation and the real support offered by our community.
The second list left me feeling very warm inside, the first was very stark and bland. Appreciation really does bring a sense of aliveness to life.
Beautiful expressed Leigh !
It’s great to recognise when we’ve just transferred a judgement or expectation onto someone simply because of a past experience we’ve had or a belief we’ve taken on about how certain people are (e.g estate agents) that blind us to truly seeing how they are in that moment.
It was so interesting for me to read this blog, and the first summary of the neighbours. I immediately added in my own detail ie. how serious were the gay couple, why is the gay woman single and letting out rooms etc. And so without the fullness and love you delivered in the second time you described the neighbours, it allowed judgement to come in. What a reflection this is, and the importance of taking the time to build context into our conversations and deliver them with all of us.
Thank you. I love this. I had not stopped to really appreciate the people in my neighbourhood and feel inspired to connect and convey this in some way.
I couldn’t agree more with you anonymous when you share “this group of men women and children who live in my street bring such a sense of community and family”. I too am fortunate to live in a very lovely little community, this is particularly noticeable since a young family moved in next door. They are a magnet for all the children and the parents in our area and we have a whole sense of community now!
What this shows is that we all deep down care, and deeply care about each other. It might not always show and we tend to step on the protection break faster than we know but the more we allow ourselves to feel and see how much we care the more natural it will become.
Absolutely agree Esther that it is in our very nature as human beings to care and support one another in community.
Thus caring is not a big deal for us and it can not even be argued that it is a bit rusty because we haven’t used it enough, as when catastrophe strikes and our brothers are in dire need for help we are a 100% onto it and care deeply.
Yes, it is very easy for us to pigeon-hole people rather than taking the time to get to know everyone from their essence and the unique qualities they bring to the world.
Yes, even labelling us by our sexuality or the events that happen in our lives are surface level and don’t touch on who we are and what we bring. The care you all express in your own way is what struck me as worth gold.
‘This is my neighbourhood. A place where there is no perfection but a community of people who are all playing their part to support one another, and in doing so have broken down the beliefs and ideals I have held about people in general and how a community should be.’ – what you share here about your community is so very beautiful, Anonymous, I’m sure the estate agent was really touched by how supportive you all are with each other.
‘Do we speak to heal or harm?’ Great to bring awareness to how we are moving, speaking, expressing all of the time: what quality are in as we go about our days, and so what quality are we adding to the world?
The two lists you describe feel very different, but I love your description on the second list of your neighbourhood. It makes me very aware that there is a lot of protection in my neighbourhood, although it is a low crime area, I can feel the barriers people can put up. There is a sadness that we have learned to live like this, when we could be living in more harmony together. We can all reflect another way of being, by simply being joyful and open with everyone we meet.
What a beautiful neighbourhood Anon – and of course your gorgeous self too. “Do we speak to heal or harm?” A great question and one to ponder deeply on as I go about my day.
It was a joy to read this blog. How beautiful to share the qualities that your neighbours bring to the neighbourhood instead of just naming them by the usual labels we use to categorise people.
It is interesting how the ideals and beliefs just kick in about a person, depending on how others in the same profession conduct themselves and then we automatically tar everyone with the same brush.
This blog will have far reaching healing effects not only on the members of the lovely community in which the writer lives, but to the pictures real estate salesmen can paint when they describe a property for sale – a true picture of love, support and brotherhood.
That’s very true Ruth. Its great to hear about a Real Estate that wants to know about the community in which they are selling a home. It says a lot about the quality in which they conduct their business and how they care for the community that they are part of.
The walls we errect to keep us safe, block out Love from being felt. Protection is the ultimate life sentence, and one we condem ourselves to receive. Thank you Anonymous for reminding me that community needs us to appreciate for it to flourish and be rich.
A very relatable and inspiring blog to read. Every moment there is an opportunity offered to feel the impact of our ideals and beliefs and our projections that come from them. Thank you for sharing the deepening of your awareness Anonymous.
A beautiful appreciation of people Anonymous, there is true good in everyone when we’re prepared to see it.