I move a lot. About every 3 to 4 years I move. I move cities, I move countries and sometimes even continents. And every time I build a home for my family. Something to hold us, to give us the feeling of safety and belonging. We always move with our furniture and I sometimes joke about some people moving the furniture around in their apartments to make it look different. We move our furniture into new apartments and place them in a similar way as in the previous one. One way to have consistency in a constantly changing life.
If you have moved, you know that it takes some time to get familiar with the new neighbourhood, not to get lost in the city, find a good hairdresser, dentist, paediatrician, GP, a good shoe shop, decent restaurants and so much more. But I noticed that even if you reach this point and have everything set up nicely, there is one thing that makes you really feel at home: People who greet you.
I live in a suburb and I started greeting everyone I meet in the streets or on my walks with the dog or when I go running. I greet everyone. And I do not mind if they do not greet back. Eventually they will.
I notice a transformation in most people I greet. They start smiling and greet me back. And I notice the feelings I have when greeted: I am in a good place, people are nice, I belong here.
Try it out! You can do it everywhere. Even in a big city (you may want to limit the greeting to your immediate neighbourhood). I once read that a greeting is like a powerful blessing; it sets the vibration for the day. I could not agree more.