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| I had to take a picture of this run-down building. The contrast not to mention the Looper billboard were just too cool not to capture. |
Mr. Rogers would be proud of me. I spent my Saturday, one of the hottest days that I've been here for in LA, walking and exploring the Los Feliz/ Silver Lake area. I set out with my water bottle and book headed for the lake (yes, there is an actual lake in Silver Lake). I turned left down Hollywood Boulevard, said my goodbyes to the Griffith Observatory, passed Barnsdall Park and into the heart of Los Feliz. I passed the Vista theater, a beautifully old single screen place where you can see movies for cheap (at least for LA). Continuing on past the Circus of Books that I've admired from a distance for a while now I discovered a farmer's market and a couple stores I'm looking forward to popping into.
I was on my way up the road towards the lake when the heat took it's toll and I decided that I simply had to turn around and go home (seriously guys it was 105, maybe hotter). I was out of water at this point and came across a yard sale off the main drag. I asked if those holding it if they wouldn't mind filling up my water bottle and, as one of the women went inside to kindly keep me hydrated, I chatted with them a bit. Turns out the man and woman who were having the sale are about to embark on a year-long road trip to the tip of Argentina and back. If that's not enough adventure they have a one-year old and are taking her along for the ride! He's a skateboard/snowboard artist and is hoping to get some inspiration from the trip and learn to live simply with his family. It's amazing how many awesome things the people around us are doing and the stories they have to tell.My neighborhood adventure went well with the subject of a discussion I was involved with on Sunday morning. We asked the question "Who is your neighbor?" It's something the culture at large doesn't seem to spend much time on. We talk about eating local and buying local and doing a lot of "local" things but I feel that sometimes the people who are involved in all of these things get left out. Sometimes buying/eating/being "local" fosters relationships between seller and buyer of goods but even if you know your local farmer's market vendors by name I think the most we do for or with them is buy their products.
The concept of a neighbor has changed dramatically in the modern age. Conveniences like cars and air conditionings are keeping people holed up in their personal spaces and iPods, iPads, iPhones, etc keep us in our own heads even when we are physically with other people. Then you have the added factor of being in a city like LA where you are passing people all the time and you live next to hundreds, are you supposed to get to know everyone?
What we concluded as a group on Sunday was that in the grand scheme of things everyone is your neighbor. We all have connections to each other in some way, shape, or form. The things we consume, food, clothing, services, all have attachments that are linked with the people who work behind them. Nothing we do is ever truly independent of anyone. Someone had to plant a field of cotton, harvest it, turn it into thread and fabric, cut a pattern, sew it together, ship it a store where someone else unpacked it and put it out for you to try on and buy (even if most of that was done by a machine, there are people who work those too).
My point is that if it's established that everyone is your neighbor, what does your relationship to those you meet look like? Some things we thought of on Sunday were smiling, saying hello, helping someone who clearly looks lost or in need of some help, paying for someone's toll or meal behind you, giving out water bottles and granola bars to the homeless. Perhaps this sounds idealistic, but I don't want to do this out of some belief that I am changing the world or that I am making it a better place one person at a time. Being a good neighbor isn't about me or my gratification. I think that this is a duty we have to other people. Anything that I have ever gained from serving others in any form has always been humility and a greater appreciation for others. If everyone is my neighbor then everyone is just as important as me, right? Time to golden-rule it up.
