Give & Forgive #97
A broken down car
Anthony Nanfito, Haiku Ponderings
A neighbor offers a ride
It takes a village
Pondering This Haiku
Over the past 500 years, more and more of us have moved into urban areas as our primary places of residence. In 2016, 53% of the world’s population lived in urban areas. In countries like the U.S. and Japan over 80% of the population lived in urban areas (source). This trend is only expected to increase in the future (source). In other words, more and more of us are going to be living in urban areas than ever before.
This is quite different from how our ancestors lived; they (generally) didn’t travel or live far from where they were born or live far away from family. They existed in highly socialized, tribal groups in local communities. This is quite different from the modern way most people live in urban areas: alone, with a partner, or as a single family unit.
This creates a kind of isolation that is detrimental to a tribal species whose survival depends on socialization and living in close-knit familial groups. And as we all learned during the covid-19 pandemic, living in isolation can have a few negative psychological consequences. Of course, we can (and most do) combat these consequences by joining groups in our local urban areas that align with our hobbies, interests, or beliefs.
As the world becomes more urbanized I think this will become more vital to our overall health and wellbeing, but it will also be necessary for our social dynamics. In particular, we’ll need to remind ourselves—or rather, train ourselves—that the co-inhabitants around us are more likely to be friends than foes.
One hopes this is especially true of neighbors. You never know when they’ll be there to lend you a hand or give you a ride.
This haiku reminds me that we all need a little help every now and again. And if we want to ensure our continued success as a species, then we’ll need to remember that it takes all of us. It takes a village.
A Question for You to Ponder
What’s something you can do to help out a neighbor?
Share your answer in the comments below.
Book Promo for National Poetry Month:
The featured haiku in this post is from my haiku collection, Haiku Ponderings. This collection features over 100 haiku centered around the themes of Mindfulness, Compassion, Gratitude, Love & Loss, and Give & Forgive.
In celebration of (U.S.) National Poetry Month, my collection is discounted for a promotion price of $0.99 from Fri April 1, 2022 to Sat April 30, 2022 on the following retailers. Follow the link below to download your copy today!
If you’re enjoying this blog series celebrating National Poetry Month and want to read the other posts in the series click here.
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