52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 11
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Neighboring Tip of the Week - Engage in an in-person interaction with a neighbor, or neighbors, while practicing physical distancing.
Good day, friends!
This week at the Neighboring Movement, we have been thinking about the practice of distancing. There are lots of different distancing phrases going around, the most popular of which seems to be “social distancing”, but we are now advocating for the use of the phrase “physical distancing” instead. Social distancing seems to imply this intense, absolutely no social contact sort of situation, whereas physical distancing simply implies not being in close, physical proximity to others, a meaning that aligns much more with what medical professionals are encouraging us all to do. After all, we can still be social, and we can still engage in social interactions with others - we just have to do all of this while keeping a good physical distance between us!
Last week, we encouraged you to engage in an online conversation with your neighbors. This week, we encourage you to engage in an in-person interaction with your neighbors. While being able to talk to our neighbors online is certainly a gift in this time of coronavirus, we do believe there are elements that are lost when we do not interact face-to-face. Even just in terms of encouragement in the midst of this pandemic, we believe it is so much more encouraging for our neighbors to see us and interact with us, in person, and we think everyone is really missing that!
There are so many ways we can experiment with this tip, so we would suggest starting by brainstorming how you would like to do so. How exactly do you want to interact with your neighbors in person while also maintaining a good distance? Would you like to plan some sort of distanced gathering where neighbors can gather on their porches or in an open, outdoor space where they can be a good physical distance away from one another but still together? Or would you simply like to be intentional about having in-person conversations with your neighbors? The first option might involve a bit more planning, while the second option will probably involve being intentional about being outside, being visible to your neighbors, and being present with them. Then, once you have more of an idea or plan, you may want to think about physical assets that are available for distancing use in these interactions. Empty lots or big yards can come in handy for distanced gatherings, while porches with railings can come in handy for distanced conversations. Finally, after you have thought all of this through, just do it!
We do have three more notes to share on experimenting with this tip. First, one thing to be mindful of is that your neighbors might all be practicing distancing in very different ways, and these ways might not line up with how you are practicing distancing. That being said, please respect how your neighbors are distancing. Some may be experiencing circumstances, or may have pre-existing medical conditions, that make them want to distance more than you are, and if that is the case, please respect that. Others may not be distancing as much as you are, and if that is the case and you are having an in-person conversation with one of these neighbors, you may have to set some boundaries with them and ask them if they would be willing to stay a certain distance away. We have found it most helpful to just name right up front with our neighbors exactly how we are practicing physical distancing, so that they are aware of our distancing desires before they might just come right on up to us. Second, we would highly suggest wearing a mask when you are having in-person interactions with your neighbors, even when those interactions are from a good distance away. For some reason, we have discovered a sort of stigma around mask-wearing, and we think that is ridiculous; wearing masks helps protect our neighbors and ourselves, and beyond that, doing so tells our neighbors that we care about them! Third, please please please always lean on the side of caution in your neighboring experiments in the midst of this pandemic. If you are unsure of the safety of any specific part of your experiment, just don’t do it! Again, let’s do all we can to help our neighbors, and ourselves, be healthy.
As one final note, this neighboring tip will be featured on this Tuesday’s episode of our podcast, The Neighbor Next Door! Please tune in on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or any other podcast medium! You can also find the podcast on our website: www.neighboringmovement.org.
Happy neighboring!