Clean Your Window First | In the Silence
Good Neighbors by Sarah Langan
My mom used to tell me this story of a woman who would look out her window to her neighbor’s clothing line and would always make snide remarks that her neighbors laundry was so dirty. One day, when she looked out the window, she noticed her neighbor’s clothes were actually clean. Her husband then said he actually got up early and cleaned their windows that day. That’s to say that this woman kept thinking her neighbor’s clothes were dirty, but it was really her own window that was dirty. Clean your window first before you make judgements on someone else’s.
This story came up for me in reading this book not only because there is a lot of window peeking in suburban stories, but that Rhea Schroeder made so many assumptions and judgements about the people in the neighborhood — particularly the Wildes — although it was herself and her household with the most shocking dirty laundry.
Gifted by my aunts through a subscription to Authentic Books, this story found its way to me and I surely had no idea what to expect but was along for the whole wild rollercoaster ride — or maybe it was more like a haunted house with lots of secrets revealed along the way? Good Neighbors showcased some of the worst parts of ourselves when we are caught up with perfection, hiding our secrets, and the hate we direct to others. Although the story can feel completely unreal at times, there is much to relate to especially in the relationships among the neighborhood. We have most likely all encountered someone who has treated us with hate. Someone who has loved us in complicated ways. Someone who we have found an uncommon friendship with. Someone we found protection and safety in. Someone we feared. Someone so desperate for perfection that they have tried to control everything and everyone around them. Someone calling out for help without a sound coming out. And at times, we may have been those people too.
Truth is, we all have a struggle we’re facing — internally or externally. It could be argued that judging others is so inherent in our society that it is practically human nature. I don’t know all the concrete solutions to how we truly move past that as a collective and be better to each other, but I do know there is always a first step: clean your window first. We can each focus on cleaning, maintaining, and improving our own windows so that when we look upon the world, we can see it in the best light possible.
|Renée|
favorite quotes:
“She’d been grateful to Rhea, for her honesty. Relieved by it, that someone as special and smart as Rhea’d had these same feelings. It’s lonely, being a grown-up. It feels like walking through life in a mask.”
“Rhea had understood then why people need friends. They need to be seen and known, and accepted nonetheless. Oh, how she’d craved that unburdening”
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