Tiny Change, Big Change: A Reflection from Mariah

Every now and then, a piece of information comes along that helps us see a familiar habit in a new light—and sometimes even inspires us to change it. Our most recent Northaven Newsletter did just that for me.

In it, our Finance Department—working quietly and steadily behind the scenes to keep our community running smoothly—asked residents to help by reducing our water and electricity use. For me, this was a welcome reminder to rethink my own everyday habits. It’s easy to forget how expensive utilities can be when we don’t pay (or even see) the bill each month.

Reconsidering long-held habits can be a great spark for creative thinking, and actually changing those habits is a remarkable exercise for our brains. To form a new habit, we have to remember to practice it again and again until the new neural pathways become the strongest—and therefore the easiest—way for us to behave. It’s a little bit of everyday brain-building we don’t always notice.

Lately, I’ve also been thinking about shifting from being a Consumer to being more of a Citizen. That shift matters to me because it widens my perspective from focusing solely on myself to considering the whole planet. And that’s something our world could use more of.

All these ideas came together the moment I realized how often I leave the bathroom light on even when I’m not in the room. So I made a tiny change: turn the light off every time I leave. Such a small habit, but one that supports Northaven’s electric bill, strengthens new neural pathways, and gives me the feel-good reminder that I’m choosing to act as a Citizen of Planet Earth.

And I’ll be honest—on the very first day, I had to go back to my bathroom to turn off the light seven times. Yikes! But what a worthwhile challenge.

I hope you’ll join me in making one tiny change of your own. Together, those little choices really can make a big difference.

—Mariah