Neighbors On Purpose

Name
Book
Vision
Mission
Goals
Methods
Support



Name
We've found the meaning of Neighbors On Purpose to be at least double:
One meaning relates to how we can find ourselves living next to people as if by awkward side-effect of being urban, or choose consciously to be a Neighbor On Purpose and give meaning to the role we can play in making each others' lives sweet.
The second meaning is an indication of the thrill life becomes when we share what our own Purpose is, and neighbors easily help us get where we're going.  Just so, when we know what our neighbors are all about, and we easily give them a boost on their path of Purpose, too.  The anthropologist Margaret Mead said "Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."

The bonus meaning is an act, or a vision of our world:
"Neighbors gathering on the topic of 'Purpose'"



Book
We're writing the book Neighbors On Purpose now, while doing the work it'll be about, because future days are predicted to also only have 24 hours.  The book will be about how we made the transition from a regular-to-well-off neighborhood in which many neighbors were missing in our neighborhood's consciousness of itself and its social wealth, until active connecting was facilitated amongst its members by actress/facilitator/assistant named Briana, the first of many Neighbors On Purpose to come.
By blogging my note-taking, we capture snippets and share in the process.  It's important to celebrate the time between conception and realization, since it's so easy to forget the busy middle, and that's where the juiciness and the lessons are!

  

Vision
Everyone lives in a micro-local world where we feel a happily rooted sense of belonging. We know (and have proof!) that cool people are closer than we dreamed of, and they help us see how truly everyone is awesome. All of our micro-local worlds overlap and enrich each other many times over, engulfing the world.  It feels like there is only one of here, and we're very happy to be so many, since one body couldn't fathom this Sweetness... and whom would we share it with?



Mission

To cultivate 'awhereness': a neighborhood-based sense of belonging and conscious relationship to the people and environment through celebration, facilitation, and networking neighbors on purpose, based in all neighbors' needs, likes, and intentions.
To inspire, train, and consult community builders in other neighborhoods in doing the same.



Goals
Operating in a limited area (the 8 blocks surrounding the block Briana lives on), our aims are:

To research and make known
  • among those whom I intuit will enjoy one another, the likes already present;
  • among those whom I intuit will help one another, the intentions already present;
  • among those whom I intuit will be inspired by this information, the connections already present among neighbors;
  • among those whom I intuit will support one another, the shared needs and available resources already present;
  • among those whom I intuit will enjoy remembering/envisioning it, the history of our small area, our current context, and our possible futures;

To encourage and help ensure that, on an ongoing basis, 100% of the neighbors in this area feel that they are invited to partake in (and supported in creating) open, personally relevant, neighbor-generated interest groups.



Methods
These will become blog posts, and I need to state them briefly upfront.

Scale
This initial small area is both a pilot project, and the only scale of project there will ever be for future Neighbors On Purpose areas.  We believe that the scale of neighborhood one socially defines as one's own, is best aligned with the data on the number of people a human mind can hold.  Scientific research shows that our minds are designed to hold about 100 people in mind at any time before we start to feel 'out of touch'.
Inclusion
Our 100% inclusion mission is designed to stretch our imagination and our heart to realize how they must operate to fathom that perhaps all of humanity is quirky and cool like we are.  We have discovered that there is great good in inviting neighbors who seemed unresponsive for a long time.  Although their words and behavior did not directly feed into our efforts or energize us at the time, two things happened: no list was created (in our minds or elsewhere) of who to skip when inviting (which I find to be a relief), and eventually, most of these people have indicated that good things have happened for them because they know that good people are making consistent, kind efforts to deliver good, empowering news about the world directly around them.
Mulitple Media
There are many different ways to inform, connect, and celebrate different kinds of 'learners'.  We are knowledgeable of learning types, and employing overlapping media, which is further discussed in our blog posts.  The City of Seattle is developing some interesting tools through the Code for America and Engage Seattle projects that we have input on and are excited to leverage for the purpose of making neighbors happier!
Interacting

Interactions are as purposeful as they are spontaneous, and positive associations between needs, interests, and perspectives are made with the heart more than the mind.  We believe that acting is an equally good word to use to describe our work of taking action and holding multiple realities at once, and combining it with the imagination's sense of infinite possibility.  Think about it: Just as on stage an actor or actress knows that they are on a stage and has enough faith and training to also at least partly believe that they are sane to act as if in a totally alternate reality, and know that they are affecting others' perceptions of reality, temporarily or with lasting effect... just so, asking neighbors open-ended questions, going wherever their answers lead us, and trusting that we'll all be changed for the better by knowing one another in the context of creativity and possibility, are skills that we apply at Neighbors On Purpose.



Support
If you'd like to support the work we do here at Neighbors On Purpose in additional ways besides interacting online, shifting into Purposeful Neighborliness yourself, visiting the events we're at, and mentoring new leaders,
you can do so in the following ways:

Directly
Indirectly
  • Supporting the following businesses, which, as local businesses and friends, affect our neighborhood:
  • Writing about us and bringing our site to the attention of people whom we should be connected to, for us (It's amazing how much time it has saved us when you've done this!  Thank you!)
Interactively
  • Helping us get non-profit status (if you think that's what we need)
  • Getting us back-stage with profitable businesses with similar services in different formats, like girlfriendcircles.com
  • Helping in the book writing or publishing process
Basically, Neighbors On Purpose is the complimentary, volunteer side of Inside-Out Sustainable.  Initially by necessity (our pilot neighborhood isn't targeted by grants aimed at establishing social justice, equality, environment, etc.) Inside-Out Sustainable emerged as a way to fund the cost of living for our first volunteer (Briana), and any costs of her being a Neighbor On Purpose (time outweighs paper and printing and overhead by 1000-fold) are seen as marketing expenses for Inside-Out Sustainable.  In one of our dreams, Inside-Out Sustainable turns into a temp agency for paid and unpaid gigs in the neighborhood, allocating neighbors' time and interest for learning such that Neighbors On Purpose thrives.
The goals of Inside-Out Sustainable are identical to those of Neighbors On Purpose, except that there is money involved for the requested gigs of Inside-Out Sustainable, and Neighbors On Purpose is more energy-driven.  Hence, at Inside-Out Sustainable, there is more structure and definition, clients play a different role and can live a few blocks further away (or further still), and the work they desire may or may not involve gathering with other neighbors.  We like to think of Inside-Out Sustainable's services as our way to help neighbors and supporters of the vision make time to be Neighbors On Purpose, or change behaviors to permanently free up time for those who make their life sweet... and clients' way to help us 'make time' to continue as Neighbors On Purpose!