I opened the front door

A confession:

I don't do the neighbor thing very well.

Ill throw out a couple of excuses. First, my struggle with anxiety and depression has kept me somewhat isolated. When I have babies it gets really bad and I've had 3 of them in the past 7 years. With this come very irrational fears and extreme overprotection of my babies. After my first baby, one would have thought I lived in the middle of south central LA. I had this place more secure than the Pentagon. I'm not proud of this. It is what it is.

Secondly, I'm just plain ol introverted. Most of the time. It is really hard for me to get to know anybody. Once I know you, I come out of my shell. But I really struggle with the initial meeting part.

So, all that to say, we spent the first half of our lives here, locked safely away in our home and ventured out only occasionally and mostly into the fenced-in back yard.

One of the greatest growing and healing experiences for me has been to simply open the front door. They say the best way to overcome your fear is to face it head on. That's what this was for me. And it has been powerful! We go out now and ride our bikes up and down the street. I sit on the front steps, drink my morning coffee and wave to the neighbors. We do sidewalk chalk art. And I actually know my neighbors now. They're not scary! In fact they are wonderful people. I'm sad that we missed out on this experience for all of those years. But I can truly appreciate it now.

The best part is this: My kids are playing with other kids in the hood. I'm not passing down the fear and isolation that controlled me for years. And that makes me very happy!