Difference

20 February 2020

Rebecca Cox

I have been thinking lately about the human need for connection. A need so strong that most of what we do in our spare time, as well as at work, is about finding “our” people.

And yet finding “our” people can be so narrow. We go looking for friendships with people who lives are exactly the same as us. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with this, I have had the privilege of becoming friends with a few people who are often quite different to me, and I definitely recommend it.

One of my favourite things about my time at Streetlevel is that I've learnt so much from my friends. I get to hear different ideas and opinions, I learn where community members come from and what’s important to them. I get to hear the joys and challenges that they experience everyday. My eyes are opened to a much bigger and more diverse world.

Let me encourage you, this week, to:

· Take the time to listen to someone who thinks completely differently to you

· Find a place where you are taken out of your comfort zone - maybe volunteer

· Seek out places and people that make you feel a little out of place and do some listening and learning

There is a special kind of joy you can only get by being connected to people who are very different to yourself. They may be from a different culture, they may have a different upbringing, and they may live in a different way than you do – but they are still really, really interesting.

You don’t know what you’re missing out on by always sticking to the people who live and think exactly the way you do. Why don’t you knock on your neighbour’s door this week or have a conversation with a stranger – it might make your week!