Aloe Vera Wellness

I have heard my parents talk about how when they were kids life was so much different in terms of the relatioships they developed with their neighbors, the pharmacist, the grocery store owner, etc.

In some way, it was so foreign to me, I mean as cities grow we are forced to live closer together, in buildings, condos, town homes, and we often share the backyards, some walls and recreation areas, YET we’ve never been so distant from each other.

I’ve owned my condo for over 12 years, it’n not a big complex, just 144 units, and if I know 12 neighbors by name it’s a lot… I could recognize less than 40 if I see them somewhere else … that’s not good.

People don’t look at each other anymore, we barely say good morning to our neighbors in the driveway, we live in such a hurry… but have you ever stopped to think who’s going to be the closest to you if something happens to you, your spouse or one of your children?

Sure, family is just a phone call away, but your neighbor is already there, it’s your neighbor who is your closest family member.

I live in a walk-up complex, each building has 3 stories and there are 2 apartments on each floor. My next door neighbors and my downstairs neighbors started to gather on the building entrance every Saturday night, they pulled out the BBQ, everyone brought something to cook, some chips or drinks, and they sat there conversing until 12 or 1am. That started about 6-7 months ago.

In the beginning I found it odd, then one night they invited us to join them… so we went and we felt SO out of place! It was something weird for us to actually spend some time with our neighbors. But then we started developing a relationship, a lot has happened since my neighbors started their little “get togethers”.

One of my downstairs neighbors had a stroke and they were all there at the hospital with his wife until their family arrived and he was stabilized.

I developed a urinary tract infection and it was my next door neighbor who was there to give me a hand, she took complete care of me, since my husband was not home.

Our other downstairs neighbors lost their 5 year old son last week and we were all there, as soon as the parents ran to the ER with their son, “the husbands” drove to the hospital too to be there with the parents while “the wives” stayed taking care of their other baby who is really sick and their home which they left open and left in a hurry to try to save their little boy.

Last night my next door neighbor mentioned that she had Cheerios for breakfast and lunch because she didnt’ have any groceries at home and that she would be eating boiled breadfruit alone because she would not have any money until Tuesday to go grocery shopping. In less than 30 minutes, I gave her a bowl of rice, my downstairs neighbor gave her a pork chop, and with the breadfruit and an avocado wedge she had at home, she was sitting there having a feast.

We need to go back to that way of living, it’s a great feeling to know that you have people around you that you can count on and that they can count on you. Is it because of the distant and cold way we’re living that we have so many social problems, so many suicides, depression, even divorce?

Humans were created as social beings, we need it, but we’re trying to live our lives hiding in our own shells…. it doesn’t work, we need to go back to our social roots, we need to create quality long lasting relationships with others, neighbors included, we need to give in order to receive (does it sound like the “Law of Attraction”?)

We need to take a break from all the craziness of business and money making and step back and invest some time in living and loving!