​Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?

In his 1914 poem titled, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost coined the phrase, “Good fences make good neighbors.” In the context of the poem’s meaning, it references protecting one’s turf and creating a defined boundary. If there is livestock or dogs, for instance, neighbors are likely to get along better if those aforementioned animals are contained. Fences, too, can provide privacy and safety, as well as offer some architectural beauty.

After living in our home for over 25 years, including 13.5 of those in which we had a dog, we have finally built a fence. (By “we,” I mean we hired a skilled craftsman to build it.) It’s not quite finished yet but it’s already a thing of beauty.

What has surprised me about it, enough to make it this week’s focus, is how it makes me feel. In the best possible way, it separates me from the outside world on the other side of it. It’s initial purpose was to corral all of these sweet grand babies! But it has become so much more.

Our two year old granddaughter rubs her hand in a big circle from her belly to chest and says, “All mine.” That’s kind of how this feels to me. There’s a boundary, larger than I am, that’s drawn around me and within it I can breathe. Interestingly, it has sparked other areas in my life in which boundaries are necessary and they’re so clear to me now.

So this week, I invite you to consider your own boundaries and what kind, physical and non-physical, you’d like to draw around yourself.

Whatever you discover, remember to stay enchanted!