A couple of years ago, we had some yucky neighbors.
You know the type.
You kind of felt nervous walking past their house.
Dodgy cars always coming and going.
Scary looking people accompanying the dodgy cars.
And worst of all… mean dogs that jumped the fence and chased those of us walking our normal dogs.
Finally… they were kicked out (I assume for not paying their rent or mortgage.)
And the new neighbors moved in.
Yay!
My neighborhood here in South Florida is a little bit unusual.
We’re not gated.
We have no HOA and yet… everyone maintains their property and we have signage at the entrance that makes you THINK it’s a gated community.
So when the new folks moved in everyone held their breath hoping they would be ‘nice’ people.
It was a quiet move in.
No loud parties. (Hey, I want to be the loudest bastard on the block, okay?!)
No dodgy cars and no scary people.
Then the flat bed trucks started arriving.
First there was one truck. On it were two humongous bronze statues of a pair of horses in the air.
Breath-taking.
Then another truck arrived with a bunch of fairies on a wishing well.
I found myself gasping at the enormity and beauty I was beholding.
And then another truck arrived.
And another.
And another.
It took about a month for all of their statues to finally make it into their yard.
The overflow went into their backyard hidden from public view but when I peeked through the fence I could see a collection of hundreds more statues in cages.
One day I finally happened to meet the fellow who lived there.
“Hello. Welcome to the neighborhood!”
He looked nervous. “Thank you.”
He was an older man, gray hair, a belly that said he lived well accompanied by a nice tan. “Love that you’ve brought a wonderful eccentric flavor to the neighborhood.”
Now he smiled. “Ahhh. Thank you. Thank you so much. We had some complaints at first and were a bit worried.”
I laughed. “That’s hilarious! Who on earth would complain about such gorgeous pieces of art? Well, my husband and I are thrilled that you’ve brought them here and we get to see them everyday. Are you the artist?”
“Thank you, thank you so much. No I’m not the artist. My wife and I just love collecting them.”
This last piece of information amazed me.
Truly amazed and astounded me.
This was a couple who loved statuary so much that not only did they collect tons of sculptures but they landscaped the entire yard to showcase each piece as best as possible.
I pondered… what would we do? Bam and I have joked about having a superhuman Elvis Santa statue that played Blue Christmas over the holidays.
For the rest of the non-holiday year.. maybe we could display an oversized swing set to remind everyone of the importance of ‘play’! (even us grown ups.)
I still feel myself swooped up and lifted into a world full of magic and dreams everytime I walk past this house. (It’s only one block away so happily, I see it a lot!)
Wonder.
Joy.
Dreams.
Wishes.
Hmm…….
What If?
What if your yard is your life?
Your business?
Your website?
Your dreams?
Are you putting your most unique you-ness into what you do? Are you fully represented on your website or are you playing it safe as if you lived in a gated community where all the houses look the same?
Talk Back
What would you place in your yard?
What about your website? Is it letting the world know what you’re really about?
What makes a statement about you? About what you love? What would light you up to have it be seen by the public as they walk past?
Leave me a comment below and know… I hope that you will shine like the bright light you are.
(Shout out to Dyana Valentine who prompted me to write about this and kudos to Bam for the amazing photography!)
