“No man is an island”
— John Donne
A neighborhood is strength. It is caring. It is compassion.
I’ve been fortunate to go to a good college, travel the world, and hold some awesome jobs. But I didn’t do any of these things on my own. I had support from family, friends, teachers, school administrators, and local community organizations.
I used to live in downtown LA, and loved it. Before the pandemic, you could go see a film on a rooftop, check out the newest restaurants, walk to the Broad Museum, or go see an NBA game at the Staples Center. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
But when rent prices in DTLA started to skyrocket, and I learned how important budgeting actually is (major life lesson), I made the choice to move to a small place in Alhambra. In downtown, I never knew my neighbors. Even my friends living in condos downtown didn’t know their neighbors.
But I’ll never forget, not two weeks after I moved in, a family of five moved into a house right behind my place, and came over to introduce themselves.
When I was out of town, they offered to pick up my mail, and even amidst this pandemic, they’ve never stopped caring or offering to help.
I wish the pandemic had never happened, and my heart breaks for all those lives that have been lost or touched by loss.
However, the small silver lining in my life is that I’ve been able to meet and get to know many of my neighbors – people of all ages from all walks of life. Before, I had been too busy with my job to make the time.
Crises illuminates emotional common ground and cements bonds between people. Neighborhoods ban together to support small restaurants, communities create funds to help people keep afloat, and your neighbor wears their mask so they won’t infect you.
But we can do more.
I can do more.
You can do more.
The call to action is this – Love on your community. Find ways to serve the people you don’t yet know in your community. This is the time to educate ourselves, and have those uncomfortable conversations. There are internal biases so many of us hold perhaps about race, religion, or sex. It’s okay. Almost all of us have them in some form or another. But we don’t have to stay that way. According to a 2019 psychological study by Van Dessel and De Houwer[1], we can change our internal biases when we encounter strong evidence that changes our belief systems. This is why research is important. Connection to the community – all types of community members—is important.
Growing up, many in our generation were told that we are special – and we are. But now that we’re adults, it is time we start investing in and learning about others’ uniqueness, not merely focusing on our own.
Change is uncomfortable and stepping out of our comfort zone is even more terrifying.
But fear cannot be our master, and fear of change cannot be the principal by which we live.
We’re a part of our neighborhoods, we’re a part of our community, and we’re stewards of the planet. It’s time to educate ourselves, vote (if possible), and make lasting change – together.
[1] Van Dessel, P., Ye, Y., & De Houwer, J. (2019). Changing Deep-rooted Implicit Evaluation in the Blink of an Eye: Negative Verbal Information Shifts Automatic Liking of Gandhi. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10, 266-273. https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550617752064
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