27/09/2021
Here’s me enjoying the last beautiful flowers from a lush bouquet my neighbor unexpectedly gave me two weeks ago. Working with vast topics such as “Purpose” and “Social Good” at the level of organizations and society, I realize that creating positive impact can also be a small daily act.
It’s not always easy to start from zero. I recently arrived after eight happy years in Colombia to create a new life with my 12-year-old in a Dutch city I hardly know. Even if it’s my home country, figuring out all the pieces of that puzzle is challenging.
I met my neighbor one evening when I just got back. Sitting on the stairs before my apartment with a solitary glass of wine, I was thinking about the turbulent Latin American life I had just left behind and all the question marks that awaited me now. He came out for an evening walk with his teenage daughter. We chatted a while about his step-counting app, the damage created by the pandemic in Colombia, and local garbage pickup hours.
A week later when he heard me taking out my bike, he opened his front door and handed me the bouquet. “Sorry I’m a day late,” he said with a smile. My mouth fell open and I felt my eyes filling up with tears. A day late?? “How did you even know it was my birthday?” I asked.
“Oh well,” he said, “That wasn’t difficult to find out with all that paperwork we’re dealing with,” referring to the recent email exchanges with other members of our small owner’s association. Boring stuff about renovations and bricks and local construction regulations.
Thank you so much, dear neighbor! I felt so welcomed. At any other point in time this might have been just a nice gesture. But at that moment it meant the world to me. Two weeks later, my neighbor’s flowers still make me smile, evoking that feeling of belonging I so need right now.
It’s refreshing to realize that creating social good is not just about promoting human rights and advocating for just and equal societies. It’s also about the things you and I can do as neighbors, community members or colleagues to make others feel included and appreciated.