We'll get back to sleep and glucose control soon, but today is about improving our health and well-being through human connection.
Loneliness and social isolation are hard on health, increasing the risk of dementia by 50%, stroke by 32% and heart disease by 29%. On the flip side, cancer patients who feel satisfied with their level of social support have a greater chance of survival.
Also, we know that lifestyle can be contagious.
So, this can be for better or worse, but tiny village making is about making life better.
What do you feel an itch to improve?
Hear this: Not only isn't it selfish but wise to focus on scratching your own itch. If you're wanting something, there's a good chance that you're not the only one. But you might be the missing piece in getting the ball rolling.
Apologies if you've heard this story before, but when I moved into my former condo, I wanted news and information about my building and neighborhood. No one seemed to be providing it, so I made a pitch to my neighbors:
To share pertinent stuff I found with anyone who signed up on my sheet.
It happens that I collected over 100 email addresses in a building of about 125 units, and was soon organizing well-attended events. But my larger point is that by doing something to scratch my own itch, I did more for myself than anticipated:
As a new resident of Atlanta who didn't know how to drive (and couldn't really get anywhere of interest on public transportation), I was feeling lonely and isolated. But by making a pitch to neighbors, I not only gained respect but friends.
My pitch attracted much attention, but here's the beautiful part:
A tiny village is a care / supportive community of 3 to 5 people.
So you only need to attract 2 to 4 people with your offer. And while virtual villages are good, I think of tiny village making as connecting with people in real life.
And the PROPINQUITY EFFECT makes neighbors ideal tiny village makers.
The propinquity effect says that the more frequently we interact with certain folks, the more likely we are to form friendships (and romantic relationships!).
Without particularly trying, I've grown so close to certain neighbors that I'd trust six of them with the key to my place (so four of them are in the same family, but still :-) ).
But I'd imagine that the average person has much more basic itches, and swapping keys isn't even a goal.
Perhaps you like the sound of a dog lovers tiny village.
Or maybe a tiny village to swap recipes and gain support for eating savory breakfasts that don't spike blood sugar.
Or a “help me think this through” tiny village for small business owners.
Uh, I'm just making stuff up here.
Think about how you'd like to connect with / get support from neighbors.
Then make a pitch on what grabs your heart the most, trusting that you'll reap what you sow (and probably much more).
I'll be making tools to help with this, but don't wait for them to get started. You can do what I did (with a tweak below) and hang up a sign where your neighbors will see it.
(Rather than make a sign up sheet where folks' email addresses are public, you can set up a tiny village email address and ask interested folks to send you a message.)
Next time, I'll tell a story about how I pitched a particular neighbor and discovered a need to course correct. The point:
Your pitch isn't carved in stone.
Make one—as big or small as you like—to get into the groove of connecting with folks.
