I didn’t plan to spend yesterday out in Kings Heath talking to people, but it turned out to be hugely useful and rewarding. I read through my mission statement at the end of the day, this would be the mission statement that I wrote on Day One and revised on Day Two, and I realised that my Day Three activities had all been outward looking. This started as a mission to look at the family unit, and to study our relationships with space and happiness, and maybe one day, move on to do the same for others. I have barely begun and yet am already connecting with outside individuals and organisations to spread the benefit of our work. There is a balance to be struck here, in the looking at time spent with those closest to us, those we know and also those we don’t yet know, but that we could help.
I began today by going for a cup of tea, well, honey and lemon actually, with another parent at our children’s school. I explained what I’d been doing and we talked extensively around space, parenting, community, identity, self-expression and happiness. This was a deep conversation of the type that we often fear to begin. We are afraid people aren’t interested, or will see us as odd, that our ideas will conflict and spoil our relationships. We’ve grown up in a atmosphere of competition and conflict and we’re terrified of connecting with people. It’s what we need, and what enriches our lives and yet we are shying away from it. I’m telling you that people are ready to have these conversations. Go ask them. Look them in the eye. Listen. Accept them. You will both come away happier.