10 doors down. One door at a time?
One story to share from the summer just gone…
We’re on holiday. On the wish list, is to see Freddie Mercury’s childhood home. Walking down the narrow winding streets in Stone Town, Zanzibar, our guide starts the tour with a remarkable concept that has stuck in my mind. “10 doors down, in each direction, those are considered your neighbours,” he said. The idea is that If any household needs help, those who live within that concerned area are to help. What struck me was when he mentioned that as a resident, if anyone in your “10-door radius” were to end up in the hospital, you must be sure to visit them. I reflected on how that act would stretch me, and I suspect many others, outside our usual IRL comfort zones. As in, a get-well-soon card or text doesn’t cut it.
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Within the old part of the city, If you walk down 10 doors in each direction of the compass, you quickly cover the entire historic site. If you lived there, and in many other places, your neighbours would for sure cover people you know well, and others hardly. Some you like, some you may not be so keen on. Some that you would happily while away the time with and some that you might find nothing in common to speak about. And yet, this solid neighbourhood interpretation makes them your neighbours, your concern and you, theirs.
10 doors from any point we call home, what would we find? We are similar in so many ways. Our worries, our troubles, our loves and hopes. When we contend with the fact that we’ll find ourselves in one situation or another, at some point in our lives,? then we all have a lot of work to do “neighbouring”.?
And then we have our quirks, passions and indulgences. We trigger the doses of laughter, astonishment, exasperation and the rest, giving each other something to talk about at the end of each day. 10 doors in each direction interweaves a wealth of stories, experiences and talents. Heartbreak, joy and, good and bad fortune. Love, loss and lessons for all ages. That’s a lot on our doorsteps.
In this new season, may we rise to the challenge of being present (in real life) neighbours. Not easy, when we are busy being busy. But do-able, one door at a time?
Solving hard lead management and content marketing problems for science marketers.
5 个月I didn’t know about the 10 doors and I think it’s wonderful way to get outside of your own world and think about the interesting and life-enriching relationships and goings on right alongside your own. Very interesting, as always my friend! ??????
CEO at Image Ability | Image Management Consultant | Cross-cultural Executive & Leadership Coach | Keynote Speaker | Non-executive Director | Personal Branding | Re-design image for new goals |
5 个月Lovely write-up, Mainda! Neighbouring analysis occupied ~30 years of my professional life and will never leave me. I built my first business (data science) on the principle of 'birds of a feather live in the same neighbourhood and, predictably, they flock together'. The challenge was to change mindsets and, when it happened, people / corporates were hooked.
FRAeS, Consulting services incl. CVE, Dynamics, Test Development, Fatigue/Damage Tolerance, & Continuing Structural Integrity
5 个月A really interesting concept! I like how it got me thinking immediately about how that would affect my own life. Thanks Mainda!