Won't you be my neighbor?

Who lives next door to you? Behind you?  Across the street?

It seems in our digitized, fragmented world, the word "neighbor" is losing its connotations of friendship, trust and helpfulness.  It has retained its primary meaning of "nearness," but is becoming limited to strictly geographic relationships.  The definition--"A person who shows kindliness or helpfulness to his fellow human beings"--allows for much broader usage of the word.  So, of whom do you speak when you refer to your neighbors, or do you speak of them not at all?

I was surprised to see that a valid definition of neighbor is stranger, depending on the friendliness of the speaker.  I know the parable of the Good Samaritan, but I have never gone up to a stranger and addressed them in a friendly way, saying, "Hello, neighbor!"  If I did, would you think I was weird?

Modern technology has also changed the usages of the word "friend."  I have my work friends, my church friends, my parents-of-my-kids'-friends friends, my old high school or college friends, my friends-of-the-family friends, and my Facebook friends.  It seems an odd limitation of our language that I apply the same word to these very different, though often overlapping, groups of people.

Perhaps in our search for like-minded or similarly-interested people, we have dropped the concept of a neighborhood "community" of friends as people who actually live near us and interact with the same physical environments that we do.  Or maybe it is because we drive cars (enabling us to work, live and play in separate geographic areas comprising different groups of people) that we think less of neighborhoods and more of "circles of friends."  In fact the last time I carefully considered the word neighborhood was when I was looking to purchase the home that I have now occupied for over four years!

I want neighbors.  I want meaningful conversations over the back fence like Tim Allen had on "Home Improvement".  I want to have a block party that my neighbors attend and know each other's names.  I want to recognize more than a handful of people that I see when I take my children to and from their schools or activities.  I want to feel like this city is my "hometown" and not simply the title of the urban area in which my house is located. I want to create a community of neighbors...and I want help!

Recently, a friend of mine said, "I want to change the world, and I want you to help me."  I laughed inside because I thought, "I wonder if you realize how much you are approaching the right person."  I'm kind of ambitious.  I would love to change the world, someday.

Today, I think I'll start with my neighborhood community, the geographic one where my house is located. I've got a lot of ideas, a lot of questions, and I'm excited to discover where I'm going from here.  But I'm not interested in having a self-reflective, solo journey into my own egocentric creative process.  Healthy, stable communities are built by people, neighbors, friends--all nouns in the plural.  So, I'm starting a blog.  Ironic, right?  I'm reaching out online first, to rally a community of neighbors that want to strengthen, support, inspire and encourage each other to create meaningful "offline" communities.  Hey, stranger?  Want to be my neighbor?