We need block parties more than ever
- Jul 15, 2024
- 3 min read
Dear Fellow Americans (and my Play, Community, Human, and Fun Enthusiasts!)
YOU DON'T NEED ME TO TELL YOU THAT IT'S NOT GOING WELL.
If we continue on this trajectory, it's a disaster for us all. Our best-intended actions have made things worse, and they are hurting each and everyone of us. It’s not about “the other side.”
Our identity and belonging don’t need to rest on a political party, and it’s actually healthier if they don’t. They rest best on our humanity as Americans. Our connection to each other is where our power and peace can be found. As a nation, we are a lonely people (there’s an epidemic of loneliness!) Loneliness makes us scared and angry, and joining with others who feel the same makes us feel seen, but it’s narrow and destructive.
We have to reevaluate. Our country is founded on liberty and democracy. Each of us needs to ask ourselves if we’ve been behaving that way. What are we role modeling for our children? This is hurting them. We need to focus on our common ground as Americans, as humans living our short (and sometimes shorter) lives on this earth.
It might not be easy at first. Our brains have an automatic negative bias. We have to be thoughtful and purposeful in finding the positive. Practice makes it easier and worth your time.
Where can you find common ground? Tempting and easy as it may be, it’s not online. You can best find common ground right out your front door.
Our neighbors share our common ground of humanity – our pain, our hopes, wanting the best for your family, feeding them, sustaining life, keeping them safe, being able to provide for them, finding joy, feeling belonging and connection. Losing the ones we love, worrying about the future. We might not agree on how to manage or fix it and that’s OK. We can all feel it and relate.
Block Party USA is not meant to be one big town-wide celebration with hundreds in attendance. The purpose is micro-local connection. Block Party USA was founded specifically to create opportunity for face-to-face, micro-local connection (not a more anonymous townwide celebration) that takes the awkward out of reaching out to our neighbors. Its purpose is also to provide more neighborhood connection for neighborhood play for our children.
We need this more than ever.
Want tips, tricks and a chance for Q &A?
Join me this Wednesday! Join with the link or meeting id below. No password needed.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024 03:00 PM -3:30 PM ET
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 893 4845 3104
UNITY. UNITE. UNITED. UNITED STATES.
Let the terror, violence, and loss over the weekend be the catalyst to change our nation’s trajectory. That change begins with you, organizing a block party this summer. Remember, I’m here to help you make it happen.
Best,
ICYMI
Thanks to The Epoch Times for beautifully capturing the essence of Block Party USA's mission -- and sharing it with their readers!
“My town is proof that you can get along with your neighbors who vote differently than you, that you may disagree on many issues but you can still laugh together and offer a helping hand.”
“We as humans underestimate our impact,” Ms. Elias said, “and the potential of the difference we can make in someone else’s world, and how it makes us have joy, how it makes us feel good. This is actionable, and you can start now, this summer, start a tradition and carve out a life for yourself and your family and your community.”
It is, as Ms. Elias said, “a win, win, win for everybody.”
And of course you can alway find out more at www.blockpartyusa.org
PS Please help me spread the word! Share with your loved ones, family and friends.
