By: Edwina Baily
Building connection with your neighbours at Christmas is all about keeping it real.
Christmas can be a moment to reach out to your neighbours, offering a hand of friendship and connection.
Ten years ago, we received a note in our letterbox. It was an invitation to a simple street party at the home of one of our neighbours.
There was nothing complicated or over the top about the gathering. Held a couple of days before Christmas in our host’s front yard, neighbours from up and down the cul-de-sac brought a plate to share and our new friend cooked up hot dogs for the children.
It was a laid-back time of meeting neighbours, hearing stories and marking the moment together.
Our children made new friends, we had names for the faces of the people who lived around us, and our street became a neighbourhood.
And it all started with one person taking the time to gather their neighbours together. It wasn’t expensive or fancy, all it took was some initiative and a willingness to invite others in.
What Can You Do?
There are endless ways you can connect with your neighbours. Some will take more effort than others, so pace yourself and do what works for you.
- Gather neighbours together for afternoon tea. If everyone brings something, it won’t be too much work and there’ll be a shared sense of making it happen.
- A breakfast BBQ is a fun way to get together without any need to dress up or worry about desserts or drinks.
- Bake your favourite treats and share them around. Cookies, shortbread, gingerbread or fudge. Everyone likes a treat they didn’t make themselves.
- Christmas cards. As we use email and text more and more to stay connected, cards and letters are becoming rarer. The upside is that yours will stand out! Take the time to write a card and pop it in a letterbox or knock on the door to hand deliver it.
- If you like to be crafty and creative, try your hand at handmaking Christmas decorations and deliver them to your neighbours.
- Have a swimming pool in your backyard? Host a summer pool party for your neighbours. You could wait until after Christmas and enjoy some down time when everyone is ready to relax together.
- For the adventurous, you could try hosting your own Christmas carols for the neighbourhood. My aunt and uncle have done this for over thirty years and now call their neighbours friends.
What Are You Waiting For?
Perhaps you’ve thought about reaching out to your neighbours before, but life’s been too busy, you’ve simply run out of time, or you’ve been worried about how your efforts might be received.
Before you decide it’s all too hard, take a moment to look at it from your neighbour’s perspective. What would it mean to you if someone reached out in a spirit of neighbourliness and generosity this year?
More and more we live in the cocoons of our homes, cars and offices. Less and less time is spent out there in the real world with people who literally live right next door. All it takes is someone brave to change that.
Be The Change
Do you want to meet your neighbours? Do you long to see your neighbourhood become more connected? If you’re thinking that way, it’s more than likely that the people around you are too.
Take the risk and reach out. You could be the one to bring the change to your neighbourhood that everyone is waiting for.
All it could take is a Christmas card.
Article supplied with thanks to Hope Media.
Feature image: Canva
