Building a Personal Village - Roaming Your Space, Reclaiming Your Place

I'm re-reading Marv Thomas's Personal Village after having read it and gone to a presentation by the author about 15 years ago. Back then I'd found it interesting; however, at the time, I hadn't needed much help finding fellow villagers. Just having a child in elementary school almost automatically provided a ready-made circle. At the time, I was also able to attend neighborhood association meetings because I worked in the public school system and had every evening free. 

Now that I'm revisiting the book after more than a decade, I'm finding advice that could help me repopulate my own personal village. Thomas's rules for "having people in your life by choice, not chance" are simple: roam your neighborhood or area, choose a place to hang out and keep showing up (according to Thomas, 7 is the magic number - after around 7 show-ups, you'll be accepted as a regular). He also details the various types of friendships and circles, and how to choose and join them. 

Last week I decided to take his first steps to heart, and start a more conscious style of roaming. I'm a walker (I call my walks city hikes) and am familiar with my own and the surrounding neighborhoods. But roaming with intention differs from casual strolling or power-walking. While roaming, you make it a point to greet everyone you encounter and take note of places of interest - a coffee shop that might be your next hangout, a house whose quirky decor makes you want to meet the owner somehow, or a sign outside a church that advertises the next neighborhood association meeting being held there. 

I've decided on two roaming routes, one for both my days off: on Friday I'll walk upper Main St. and window-browse with the dog (having a dog gives you a good reason to walk anyway!) and most Saturdays I'll walk to the farmers' market, a good place to hang out for an hour or two. I always see a few familiar faces there, and eventually some of the new-to-me faces will also be familiar.