The force of community

My family home is set in a long established subdivision in a small coastal town in the Bay of Plenty. It has the feel of a close knit community where people still smile and greet you as you pass one another on the footpath or wave out their window as they pass in a car. A place where people seem to know and care for their neighbors and neighborhood, reflected in the effort to reach out and share overflows of garden produce or fishing bounty or even the genuine conversations at community barbecues or concerts.

The sense of community is about having interest and awareness of the existence of others outside the bubble of our own household and lives, the desire to be sociable and involved in developing and maintaining a sense of togetherness as part of being a resident in this place. These things motivate the local people who participate in this little community within a community. It has been a nourishing experience to come back to a place where I now consider myself a visitor, and yet I am greeted as a familiar face by both those who know me, just as much as by those who only know of me by name or stories and news that has passed along the grapevine.

This openness and care that seems to shine in the acts of neighborliness and friendship that happen on a daily basis are all things that ease the flow of life's course by filling the spaces and easing the rough patches that we all experience.These are the things which seem to be missing in many towns, cites and neighborhoods.Many factors play a part in keeping the lives of people who live across the fence or down the street from one another separate and fragmented but

"Life is not permanent, make the most of it. Quality not quantity, don't rush and stress to fill time but cherish and give back in the moments you have."