Get to Know Your Neighbor

When I think of the communities I belong to I come up with a few like my neighborhood, my daughter's school community, and the church community.

I have lived in my neighborhood for quite a few years now. At first I didn't interact much with my neighbors, but as time has gone on we have begun to speak more often. Seeing each other outside frequently naturally leads to conversation and, in some cases, friendship. This neighborhood is a subdivision with one main entrance so the boundaries are clearly defined. There are smaller divisions within the community based on life stages. People with children, older adults, and young adults tend to form relationships within their own groups. The values of the community are mutual respect of other people and property in the neighborhood and most people are good neighbors. However, there is always that one family in the neighborhood that has the loud cars coming in and the police showing up at their door at least once a month. This family doesn't seem to associate with anyone from our subdivision. Maybe they are holding onto connections in their old neighborhood instead of forming new ones.

The church community is not based on where you live. It is based on which church you go to or maybe even which religion you believe in. I have been a member of the church since the day I was born, but my involvement has wavered over the years. I went to Catholic school for 8 years. This meant that I went to church four days a week every week during that time. The church and school were very close and I spent a lot of my free time with the priests and nuns even when we weren't in church. It was a really wonderful experience. Now that I have moved out of the area and the school has closed I don't go to church as often. It has probably been at least three years since I have set foot in a church. Sometimes I miss it, but even if I did go back to church it can never be the way it was.

This blog post really did make me think about the communities we belong to and wonder if we appreciate them as much as we should. How many people can name five of their neighbors? Do people make an effort to get to know the person next to them at church? With the development of social media sites I worry that people are giving up real human connections for just another fake "friend". I don't think 100 facebook "friends" would equal the warmth and true support of a real friend. We need to take the time and be open to making real friends with people that really matter, the people in our communities.

Art in the city

This was probably the most difficult blog assignment for me so far. Selecting an art project to represent the Detroit area is a difficult task. Choosing the right project could be a great thing for the city, but if the wrong one is chosen it could create more problems for the city.

I considered the use of an object like the cows in Chicago. Then I started to wonder if this could lead to increased gang activity. If one area decides to have lions and another area wants bears this could lead to fights over which one is better. We've all seen how violent the spectators can become with each other at sporting events. So I decided that this wasn't the best idea.

I considered random modern art sculptures designed by residents and professionals that could be placed through the city. I wasn't sure that this would really be much of a benefit to Detroit so I decided against it.

Finally I felt that art can be found in just about anything so the best idea would be to work improving what Detroit already has, buildings. A few blocks of the city could be improved by fixing up the outside and painting murals or bright colors on the buildings. Even the sidewalks could be decorated. Artists could design street lights that would keep the streets looking good and well lit. This interesting area would be a place that people would want to see so it would bring people into the area which would be good for business and the whole area.

An artist that makes art to hang in a museum is fine. Making art to help a community is even better.