Ross (the Boss) of NDG's Blog

  There is a kind of help that almost anyone can give. It doesn't require money. It doesn't require joining an organization. It doesn't require giving up an afternoon. Sometimes it takes five minutes. And those five minutes can make somebody else's day considerably easier. Today, I'd like to introduce a simple community habit for NDG: If you can make someone's life easier in five minutes, do it. The Little Things That Aren't Little to Everyone Imagine your elderly neighbour struggling to carry groceries from the car. “I'll grab those for you.” Three minutes. Someone in your building receives a heavy package. “I'll help you get that upstairs.” Four minutes. A newcomer is confused about which bus to take. “You're looking for the 105? I'll show you where it stops.” Two minutes. Someone can't figure out the parking meter. Someone needs a jar opened. A parent is wrestling a stroller through a heavy door. A neighbour needs a lightbulb changed b...

  We often imagine community as something we need to create. Perhaps sometimes we simply need to slow down enough to experience it. Most of us move through our neighbourhood with a destination. We're going to the grocery store. Walking the dog. Catching the bus. Picking up a prescription. Heading home. We know where we're going, so we take the quickest route. Today, I'd like to suggest something different. Once this weekend, take ten minutes to go nowhere. Walk Without a Destination Step outside your home. Then forget about getting somewhere. Walk slowly. Look around. Take the street you normally pass. Notice the little garden somebody has created. Read the poster in the shop window. Listen to the children playing. Look at the architecture. Notice the old tree that has probably been standing there longer than you've been alive. Stop when something interests you. Sit on a bench. Don't count your steps. Don't check how far you've gone. For ten minutes, simply ...

  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...