Ross (the Boss) of NDG's Blog

  There is something quietly powerful about an empty chair. At a kitchen table. On a front porch. Beside you at a community event. At a café. At church. In a park. An empty chair can simply mean nobody is sitting there. Or it can mean something much more beautiful: There is room for you. Today, I'd like to suggest a simple idea for transforming NDG. Whenever possible, leave room for one more. Someone Is Waiting to Be Included Every neighbourhood has people who already belong to circles. Families. Friendships. Teams. Congregations. Walking groups. Coffee groups. Parents who know one another from school. Neighbours who have lived beside each other for twenty years. That's wonderful. But every neighbourhood also contains people standing just outside those circles. The new neighbour. The widower. The newcomer to Canada. The teenager who doesn't quite fit in. The senior whose friends have gradually disappeared. The person living alone. The parent who always seems to be by themse...

I’d love to invite you to take a few minutes to read something very close to my heart. Dreams and Desires of My Heart  is a beautiful reflection of the world I dream of—and the life I hope to help create. I hope you’ll read it.  https://rossg3.ca/resources/ Dreams%20and%20Desires%20of% 20my%20Heart.pdf

  There is a wonderful moment that happens in a neighbourhood when a stranger stops being “the man I see every morning” and becomes Michael. When “the woman with the little dog” becomes Maria. When “the guy at the counter” becomes David. Nothing about the person has changed. And yet somehow, everything has. We know their name. Today, I'd like to suggest one of the simplest ways we can transform NDG: Learn one more person's name. We Already Know Each Other—Almost Think about how many people you recognize. The person you pass walking their dog. The parent waiting at the school bus. The cashier you see several times a week. The neighbour who gets into the elevator on the fourth floor. The person who sits at the same café. The crossing guard. The superintendent. The person at the pharmacy. You've exchanged smiles. You've said hello. Perhaps you've been doing it for years. But you still don't know each other's names. There's a beautiful opportunity hiding ...

  We often notice good things about people. We just don't always say them. We notice the cashier who is endlessly patient. The crossing guard who greets every child. The neighbour whose flowers make the whole street prettier. The teenager who holds the door. The bus driver who waits an extra few seconds for someone running toward the stop. The parent who somehow gets three children dressed, organized and onto the school bus every morning. We see these things. We think: “That was nice.” And then we continue with our day. Today, let's change that. If you notice something good about someone in NDG, tell them. The Compliment You Keep to Yourself Helps Nobody Imagine walking past someone's garden every morning and thinking: “They've done such a beautiful job.” Then one morning you see the gardener outside. You could simply walk past. Or you could stop for five seconds and say: “I just wanted you to know—I walk by here all the time and your garden makes this street more beaut...

  We talk about transforming NDG. Sixty thousand people. Thousands of homes. Hundreds of streets. Schools, churches, parks, businesses, apartment buildings and community organizations. It can sound enormous. So today, let's make it very small. What if each of us simply cared about our block? Not all of NDG. Not all of Montreal. Just the little piece of the world immediately around us. The stretch of sidewalk we walk every day. The people whose windows we pass. The trees we live beside. The corner where children wait for the bus. The place we already call home. Adopt Your Little Piece of NDG You don't need permission. You don't need a committee. You don't need funding. You don't even need to tell anyone you're doing it. Simply make yourself a quiet promise: “I will leave my block a little better than I found it.” Pick up the coffee cup somebody dropped. Straighten the recycling bin that blew over. Move a branch from the sidewalk. Tell somebody their car lights ar...

  Every neighbourhood has people who are new. A family moving into an apartment. A student arriving for school. A couple unpacking boxes. Someone coming to Canada for the first time. Someone moving across Montreal. Someone beginning again after a divorce, a loss, a new job or a change they never expected. One day they are strangers to NDG. And then suddenly— this is home. Today, I'd like to suggest one tiny habit that could make NDG an extraordinary place to arrive. The Five-Minute Welcome. When somebody new moves near you, don't wait six months to introduce yourself. Give them five minutes. Remember What It Feels Like to Be New Moving somewhere new is strangely disorienting. You don't know which grocery store is best. You don't know when the garbage goes out. You don't know where to get a good cup of coffee. You don't know which bus goes where. You don't know the shortcut through the neighbourhood. You certainly don't know the people living behind the d...