Disrupting Isolation

 

Breaking old habits is hard.  

I say that because most of us city-dwellers are in the nasty habit of insulating ourselves from our neighbors and communities. As I wrote for National Review a few months ago, "When we walk down the street, we turn off our peripheral vision and focus only on the destination, never the journey."

We have become overly-utilitarian, socially-averse and stuck in rigid routines. 

I always feel the need to admit: I, too, have insulated myself. I could be far more involved in my community. I could learn more of my neighbor's names. I need to do better. We all do. 

Some, recognizing that a life of atomization and loneliness is fundamentally unhealthy, have taken the plunge into community engagement. 

In Front Porch Republic, Dennis Uhlman writes about a chili cook-off that he spearheaded in his new South Carolina neighborhood.

From the article:

By late afternoon, to my surprise, a steady stream of neighbors started to show up. Some of the families had young children like us, others were older couples and single people who seemed excited to meet the people that lived around them... For a couple of hours, our driveway was the center of activity as people tried each other’s chili, connected over small talk, and earnestly asked if we could do more events like this in the future. It was a great and surprising day, and I hope it is a precursor to more community being built in the future.

This was a valiant move by Dennis. Many of the people he encountered when advertising the cook-off were perplexed by his neighborliness and unusual hospitality. He writes that, while handing out flyers, "the resistance against disrupting isolation was palpable." 

We are cocooned by our isolation. Dennis, chili in hand, rejected that.  

Let's all try to be more like Dennis.