New Neighbor Anxiety

I have lived in my house for almost 4 years. During this time, my neighbors next door have not changed. Most of them have lived in their houses for at least 10 years or longer but keep to themselves. Their way of neighboring has always been watchful. We keep an eye out for each other, but don’t have many words for each other.

About two months ago the neighbors in the house next to mine decided to move on. As sad as we were to see them go, we were intrigued at the possibility of a new neighbor.

There’s a certain amount of anxiety that comes with awaiting the arrival of a new neighbor. Will they be older? Younger? Will it be a married couple? Single person? Will they have kids? Will they have dogs(my common question as I have dogs of my own)? Will they be the type of neighbors that we get along with? Are they going to cause drama on our block?

One thing that kept popping into my mind as I thought about who this new neighbor would be is that whomever it will be is probably thinking the same questions about us. They are anxious about what kind of people they will be living next to. Working with the Neighboring Movement has taught me a lot about thinking outside my own bubble.

We are all just trying to live as best we can. If we can just remind ourselves that we have more in common with people than we think we do, the block will be a much better and more inviting space!

Happy Neighboring!