Community

There are few things that I believe could make more of an immediate positive impact on society than if a greater percentage of people got involved in their communities. The following list is from a poster entitled "How to build community." I'd love to make this list into a series of bumper stickers, and wrap them around a car. Or place them in public spaces. There are a few I'm not sure about* but for the most part it's a brilliant list of suggestions.

Turn off your TV
Leave your house
Know your neighbors
Look up when you are walking
Greet people
Sit on your stoop
Plant flowers
Use your library
Play together
Buy from local merchants
Share what you have
Help a lost dog
Take children to the park
Garden together
Support neighborhood schools
Fix it even if you didn't break it
Have potlucks
Honor elders
Pick up litter
Read stories aloud
Dance in the street
Talk to the mail carrier
Listen to the birds
Put up a swing
Help carry something heavy
Barter for your goods
Start a tradition
Ask a question
Hire young people for odd jobs
Organize a block party
Bake extra and share
Ask for help when you need it
Open your shades
Sing together
Share your skills
Take back the night
Turn up the music
Turn down the music
Listen before you react to anger
Mediate a conflict
Seek to understand
Learn from new and uncomfortable angles
Know that no one is silent although many are not heard. Work to change this. 

* Dancing in the street might be a quick way to meet the neighbors, and have them assess me for craziness. On the other hand, if I saw a group of kids dancing, or if dancing was incorporated into a street party, that would be a fantastic sight.
* Another one I wonder about is putting up a swing. We've had a baby swing hanging from a sturdy tree branch next to the sidewalk in front of our house for a year and a half, and not one person walking down the sidewalk has even appeared tempted to slide their child into it, as inviting a setting as it might be. Then again, maybe if I posted a sign...