Yesterday someone knocked on my door. This is the first knock since I moved here – other than power supplier companies – so it startled me. The person yelled through the door and identified herself. I recognized the sister of my neighbor. She just moved in with him a few months ago. She asked me if I heard anything unusual over the weekend. Something happened on their property while they were away over the weekend.
Unfortunately I didn’t hear anything. She told me her brother was talking to the other neighbor. We shared how we both hoped to figure out what happened. Then, she said something that had never happened to me before –
“Can I get your number? Just in case something happens again?”
I wondered “Why does she need my number? Does that mean she’ll call me? Will she start coming over whenever she wants and dropping in?” I am an introvert. These questions made me so nervous but I said the only thing I knew that I needed to say-
“Of course. And text me so I have yours.”
We talked about what we could do as neighbors to reduce the risk of the same things happening again to any of us. She texted me off and on the rest of the day keeping me updated on what they were doing.
It reminded me of “a trust fall” which a team building exercise. You lean back and “fall,” trusting that your teammates will catch you. You can’t do a trust fall alone. And just like a trust fall, this is how you build trust in others.
Communication builds trust. Trust builds connections. Connections build a community that looks out for each other.
Right now it’s especially important to build and strengthen our communities. We all need reminders that we are not alone.