Karin invites you to join the conversation in this
month’s reflection on Hope & A Future’s
pioneering efforts.
Valentine Month is here! My favorite picture of love comes from the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, one of my favorites. Just like the character George Bailey (pictured left), I have ridden the teeter-totter between wonderful life and nearly intolerable hard life. I am guessing we have all had our moments. Where each of us ends up most of the time is informed by; our attitudes, internal beliefs, spiritual life, those we listen to around us, the status quo and the laws of the land. Sometimes we face seemingly insurmountable circumstances and I think that is why many of us enjoy a good super hero. Short of a super hero, I have found that the greater the diversity of people I surround myself with, the more my inner life is sanded, polished and cleaned. And that helps broaden my view for solutions. In other words, the more I listen to and interact with diverse perspectives, the more I become aware of sloppy assumptions that can get in the way of moving forward–for me as an individual and for us as the vast people group of humanity. Just like the conclusion of the movie, the only way I believe any of us can move forward is with the love and support of each other.
Supporting each other through life includes an examination of the assumptions and policies we live by. Please note that some assumptions and policies come from within and some come from the governance of the land we live in. Right now, national governing bodies are in the midst of a serious fracture. The irony of division over the building of a wall to separate people is glaring. If you take a historic perspective, it appears that unless politicians can find common ground to bridge the great divide, our country could crumble. In the Lincoln Douglas debate of 1858, Abraham Lincoln pointed out that “A house divided against its self cannot stand.” The problem of division is obviously not new. And I believe we all hope solutions can be found without the horrors of what Lincoln lived through. I hope we will soon move from name calling to solution finding. Unfortunately, it has always been easier to point out problems than to find solutions.
Hope & A Future strongly desires to create the pioneering intentional neighborhood model we call a Therapeutic Interactive Intergenerational Neighborhood (TIIN). Our goal is for diverse people to come together to hear each other’s stories and dreams. Then, encourage, strengthen and support each other as people of all ages move forward on their journey. Along the way, we hope to clarify our assumptions and build generations of purpose and belonging. An assumption that currently lives here is that loving our neighbors includes helping each person find their gifts and passions and then together supporting and encouraging goal directed living. We believe this approach results in creative, holistic, joy filled and problem solving life style! If you would like a taste of how this works, please join us at our second Friday of the month pot-lucks and house concerts. We live out both the silly and serious. From end of life issues to last months’ house talent show, with laughs and tears that may become an annual tradition! (Pictures below) I will add that although we have some great pictures, we are yet to give a public reveal of our house plays. Although our lofty goals of supportive community living have met some bumps in the road, I can stand tall and say “Worth it!”
Actually, if you were able to find the people ho can be with you during toughest times of you lives, they can get closer to you and there is a huge possibility that you might grow old with them. It’s good to know that Hope and Future does not stop in making this kind of activity possible wherein people get the chance to dasher different stories to each other and they become closer as time passes by. This is just so inspiring!
The wonderful thing is that as hard as it can be to live close in community, the joy experienced along the way far outweighs the challenges! Friendship in community is always going to outweigh invisibility in a large disconnected group.