Give Me a Sign

There's a fascinating social phenomenon taking place in a Toronto neighbourhood not far from where I live.

When Ayden Bile moved onto Atlas Avenue in the Cedarvale neighbourhood of Toronto he reached out to his new neighbours in a novel way.  He started posting pithy messages daily on a chalkboard that he placed in the front window of his house for passers-by to read.  Messages are offered up as thoughts for the day, such as... "One simple hello could change everything" and "Is there any better place than here?”.  The Toronto Star picked up the story and wrote a great piece on it.  The Star recently added a link to a video interview with Ayden.  Check out the article and video here.

People crave communication and yet many of us would prefer to live in our silos. I wonder what would happen on Atlas if Ayden stopped posting his daily message. Having planted this seed of shared community and communication, would someone else would pick up the cause?  I'd like to think so. Human contact and communication can be contagious. 

There's a theme here that applies to my work and the people I work with. You can't imagine the number of times I mediate where the disputing parties won't even sit in the same room - forget shaking hands or offering a polite hello and/or a smile to start a mediation or to conclude a successful day (despite my unending encouragement). 

We can learn a lot from Ayden's example.