7 Ideas for Building a Stronger Community

If you haven’t figured it out by now, building strong communities through involvement by all is a big deal for me. I was fortunate to grow up in a city at a time when everyone knew each other and helped each other out. It was a great place to grow up. Unfortunately, such a small-town feel seems to be a rarity these days. Can you imagine how much better daily life would be if positive news was spread more rapidly than negative or depressing stories and people were happy to congregate in their front yards and porches again? It is certainly something I would like my children to experience in their life times. This goal may seem to be a long way off, but taking small steps consistently toward the environment you want can make a big difference.

Here are some suggestions for making a positive difference in the lives around you:
1) Take a few minutes to talk to a neighbor you have seen and maybe smiled at but never shared a conversation.
2) Walk around the block or through a nearby park. You may meet people you would never have met otherwise.
3) Research local organizations looking for volunteers. Volunteer Match can be a good resource for finding local opportunities.
4) Subscribe to a local newspaper. You will learn of upcoming local events you could attend and businesses looking for customers.
5) Check out reviews on Yelp to find local businesses recommended by others. I have found a great massage therapist, many delicious restaurants and a place for alterations through this site.
6) Start a neighborhood watch program. Contact your local police department to find out how. Officers are usually available to come out and speak to your neighborhood group on a variety of topics.
7) Hold a community garage sale. Pass flyers out before the planned day, ask everyone in the neighborhood to participate and coordinate advertising on Craigslist as well as local papers.

Connections are vitally important. Everyone wants to feel they belong somewhere. Go out of your way to build at least one connection today and everyday. You will be so glad that you did.

If you have other ideas for building stronger communities, please share them. Thanks!

My New Year's Resolutions - A three month review

In January I blogged about some creative intentions I was incorporating into my list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2009. These creative intentions were set with the idea of taking care of myself so that I would have enough energy to enjoy time spent with my friends and family. Since we are now 25% of the way through the year I thought it would be a good idea to revisit my list. These first three months have seemingly gone by very quickly so I am interested to see if I did better than I think.

Here is a recap with a progress report on each:

1) Download one new song to my iPOD weekly, preferably something not played on the radio every day.
I identified 6 songs I wanted to download but haven’t gone so far as to add them to my iPOD yet. Not quite what I was going for, but I did make some progress.

2) Try out one new recipe per month.
Woops, I forgot about this one! I did flag several recipes in a cookbook to try. You may see the picture as proof. I just didn’t actually cook any of them.

3) Spend time in nature once per month.
I am on track here. In January, I ate lunch by the lake at a park. In February, we took a family trip to the beach. A trip to the Oakland Zoo was the choice for March.

4) Play soccer once per week.
This has also been accomplished, except for one week I sat out due to a sprained ankle. Several times I played two games in the same week.

5) Volunteer with three or more organizations.
Currently, I am spreading the word about 12for$12K. Until March I was a tutor with Reading Partners but had to end the weekly commitment when the hours at my job changed. Later in the year I will support The Family Giving Tree as I do every year.

6) Smile and laugh as much as possible.
Being around my children and following some very humorous people on Twitter have made this an easy accomplishment. Laughter has been a daily event for weeks now and I am so much better for it.

How are you doing on your list of goals or resolutions for 2009? If you didn’t create a list previously, spend 30 minutes of your time creating a list of things you would like to accomplish and places you would like to visit this year. Then spend some time figuring out how to fit the things you want to do and places you want to visit into your calendar.

In the next few weeks, I will be posting some thoughts on calendaring for families so be sure to check back for additional ideas.