I want to speak today about community and connection and why the world needs this now more than ever.
We obviously live in a different setup to the way that some of our ancestors would have done in the past,
Where previously people might have lived more in communities and known their neighbours,
Whereas now people change jobs,
Country,
Relationships,
Friends,
Interests and more,
More often than we ever have before.
So we just don't have the grounding or the long-standing connections that we might have previously done.
And of course,
Due to the advent of social media and technology,
We'll have the illusion of being connected and having socialisation without actually having to make any effort or leave our homes or go outside.
And now,
If we want groceries or a book or a takeaway,
We don't go to the library or to the shop anymore,
We can literally just click a button online and have it handed to us without having to have any human interaction.
And as a result,
We miss out on these moments of connection and richness that we would have otherwise had.
Take self-checkout as a simple example.
We're engaging with yet another screen instead of a person.
But the thing is,
These opportunities for human connection do still exist and we do have the agency to create them.
We need to make the active choice to go outside and put ourselves out there.
And we do exchange a smile when we recognise somebody that we've seen more than once,
Or even simply smile when we make eye contact with a stranger.
I'll be sharing more soon on why this is so important and how we can achieve this in our lives.
But for now,
I think one little tip that I'll leave you on is showing up in this world the way that you want people to show up for you.
Which I know sounds very kind of cliche and a little obvious,
But I think it's about creating and leading with the change that you want to see.
So for example,
If you don't know your neighbours and that's something that you don't feel great about and kind of even complain about,
You should be the one to say hi and introduce yourself and set that tone.
Because quite often the reason other people aren't saying hi to us is because we're not saying hi to them.
So you can lead with that and not everybody will respond or respond positively,
But for the most part you'll find the payoff is worth it of putting yourself out there.
