{"id":1551,"date":"2017-12-22T03:50:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-22T08:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2017-12-22T19:20:06","modified_gmt":"2017-12-23T00:20:06","slug":"week-171-two-weeks-to-happyness-love-those-to-the-left-and-right-of-you-happyness-re-revisited-with-sarah-harmeyer-and-neighbors-table","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/?p=1551","title":{"rendered":"Week #171 – Two Weeks to Happyness: “Love those to the left and right of you.” (Happyness Re-Revisited – with Sarah Harmeyer and Neighbor’s Table)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Week #171 – Two Weeks to Happyness: “Love those to the left and right of you.”
\n(Happyness Re-Revisited – with Sarah Harmeyer and Neighbor’s Table)<\/b><\/p>\n

Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Happy Holidays to all!<\/strong><\/p>\n

We are closing in on the last two Fridays of 2017<\/a>…and this week, I am reminded once again of the loneliness of the holiday season.<\/p>\n

While Jim and I are looking forward to going “home” next week to visit friends and family on the East Coast — at every turn I’m reminded of people who aren’t, who can’t, who just won’t, or who will never be able to do so again. \u00a0Whether it’s through death, divorce, dysfunction, deployment, work demands, or just economic or logistical difficulties with traveling — there are millions of people who don’t get to “go home” for the holidays.<\/p>\n

Which reminded me of my post last year<\/a> and the year before<\/a>\u00a0about Sarah Harmeyer of Dallas, Texas —\u00a0for her creation of Neighbor\u2019s Table<\/a> <\/span>. \u00a0I thought I’d repost it this week, with a simple challenge in Sarah’s own words:<\/p>\n

\u201cMake time for someone in your community. Look for ways to love those to the left and right of you.\u201d (Sarah Harmeyer)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you’ve been following for a while, you may remember that Sarah is the \u201cChief People Gatherer\u201d at Neighbor\u2019s Table<\/a> — a movement that encourages people to step outside their homes and get to know their neighbors, one table at a time! \u00a0<\/span>Sarah took a simple concept and a sweet memory — and turned it into “A Love Mission\u201d that has kept\u00a0her (and her family) busy for over five\u00a0years now (including landing\u00a0her table on HGTV\u2019s \u201cNashville Flipped!\u201d).<\/p>\n

And it all started in her own backyard!<\/strong><\/p>\n

In my interview for Week #66<\/a>, Sarah shared her story with me. \u00a0In 2012, she asked her father to build her a table big enough to seat 20 people. \u00a0The concept was simple: she wanted to\u00a0get to know her neighbors. \u00a0That year, she set a goal to serve 500 people in a series of dinner parties. \u00a0When I interviewed her last year, that original table had been host to almost 2,000 people!<\/p>\n

[Read the full story here:\u00a0Week #66 – Two Weeks to Happyness: SPREAD THE LOVE!\u00a0(Happyness in Action\u00a0– with Sarah Harmeyer)<\/a>.]<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sarah and her father went on to build tables for other people so they could start their own “love mission” in their communities. \u00a0 At the time of my post in 2015, there were Neighbor’s Tables in 10 states with a goal of having a table in every state by 2020! \u00a0By the looks of her Facebook<\/a><\/span> page, they have been busy building and delivering ever since!<\/p>\n

I asked Sarah what Happyness meant to her. \u00a0She said, \u201cHappiness is gathering friends and strangers alike around the table and figuring out ways the entire time on how to love them. \u00a0Happiness is cheering others to love. \u00a0Happiness is doing the thing that God has made you to do.”<\/p>\n

What about you, Happyness Tribe? \u00a0Are you ready to Spread the Love again this year?<\/p>\n

Your Happyness Challenge for the week ahead: SPREAD THE LOVE!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0Do you have an extra seat or two at your table this holiday season? \u00a0If so, “love someone to the left or right of you!” \u00a0Bring a NEIGHBOR\u00a0into the mix (or student, or senior, or new kid on the block)! \u00a0Ask if they have plans. \u00a0It could be just for dessert or a drink or a quick cookie exchange. \u00a0But it might be especially meaningful during the holidays — when one or more of your neighbors are alone or distanced from family (or perhaps it\u2019s you that feels alone this holiday season). \u00a0Open your doors! \u00a0Spread the Love!<\/p>\n

\u201cMake time for someone in your community. Look for ways to love those to the left and right of you.\u201d (Sarah Harmeyer)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spread Happyness — Spread the Love! \u00a0Get to know your neighbors this week — and tell me about it in the comments!<\/p>\n

12\/22\/17 by Grace Church<\/em>
\n\u00a9 Grace Church
\ngrace@spreadhappyness.com<\/em><\/p>\n

(Thanks once again to Sarah Harmeyer for welcoming me to her virtual table and sharing her story with me in 2015! \u00a0To learn more about Sarah and Neighbor\u2019s Table, read inspiring stories, or find out how to get a custom handcrafted table for your own backyard — follow Neighbor\u2019s Table on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Facebook<\/a>, or sign up for emails or purchase at\u00a0http:\/\/neighborstable.com<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week #171 – Two Weeks to Happyness: “Love those to the left and right of you.” (Happyness Re-Revisited – with Sarah Harmeyer and Neighbor’s Table) Greetings Happyness Tribe — and Happy Holidays to all! We are closing in on the last two Fridays of 2017…and this week, I am reminded once again of the loneliness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1551"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1556,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1551\/revisions\/1556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spreadhappyness.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}