I was absolutely tickled when the name of my blog HOME THE MOVEMENT bloomed in my mind. It was not an overt double entendre, but it did cradle twin motives at the heart of this writing endeavor.

First, I imagined a neighborhood of highly loved homes that ignited warmth and welcome to neighbors. I dreamed that these genuine friendships would lead to the sharing of resources and regular communion through shared meals and shared lives. Through a network of homes, I envisioned a movement toward a simpler, more enjoyable way of doing life together— with kids playing outside, the elderly telling their stories, the vigorous assisting the enfeebled, and everyone delighting in the stage of life behind or ahead of them.

In essence, HOME THE MOVEMENT is a revival of home life with a community connectedness that I have witnessed in pockets, in storybooks, in my highest mind— an ideal that seems doable if only more people focus on developing and sharing their own homes.

Second, the name HOME THE MOVEMENT encapsulates my desire to revive the home as a place of motion and continual growth. In the home people move.  They cook & clean. They build & fix. They play games & discuss current events. They sing songs & practice their faith. They plant gardens & water houseplants. They make something from scratch & triple the recipe for sharing. They dance & exercise. They read books & host discussion circles. They help the neighbor fix his fence, and he watches the pets when they travel. They gather for birthday cake, small wins, and social action. They think communally & do life together.

Not because they are the same, but because diversity is interesting!  Not because they are poor, but because they are rich!  And together the aggregate is greater than the sum of the parts. It is a gentle revolution that gradually expands as each home builds itself up and out into the community.

At its core HOME THE MOVEMENT is about rectifying our lives, our relationships, our spaces, our time. I daresay that in these tech-driven days of independent living, building a home and cultivating a community are deeds of daring rectitude— acts of moral uprightness that build both quantifiable and transcendental capital in the heart.

Are you willing to open your front door?  To let someone of a different race or religion see your family photos and relics?  To share your cultural dish?  To see your new purchase?  To see your clutter?  To discuss the problem he is having?  What do you need to get there someday?  What other bold steps must you take first?