Happening to Things

Last year, I ran a half marathon. I didn't really want to do it, and never really planned to do it, but I told people out loud and on Facebook that I was going to do it, and so I pretty much had to. I enlisted some friends, trained really hard, and in spite of the odds not AT ALL being ever in my favor, I ran (well, sometimes walked) 13.1 miles along the beautiful Maine coast on Mother's Day weekend last May. And I loved every minute of it. A couple of days before the run, when my confidence was pretty low, I got this note and bracelet in the mail from one of my oldest and dearest friends, Tracy. Such a nice gesture, and so perfect for the occasion, right? Wise words, Mr. Da Vinci. They helped inspire me to get over both the figurative and literal finish lines of something I had worked toward for about two years. Thank you, Tracy!

Today, I find myself applying those words to something new.

The current political climate has thrown me into somewhat of a tizzy, and I have found myself at times feeling completely overwhelmed by the inability to control things - many of which are, in my opinion, really really terrible things - that I cannot control. I have been trying to do what I can. I vote, I make phone calls to my elected officials, I volunteer, I speak up publicly when I feel compelled that it is my duty to do so, but I never really feel like it's enough. So, I've been searching for a way to make a difference - not necessarily politically, but generally. Some way to happen to things in response to all the things that are happening to us. Or, some way to at least make myself feel better.

A few weeks ago, my brother gave me a book to read called "Start Something that Matters," by Blake Mycoskie, the guy who started TOMS Shoes. The TOMS story is a great story, and I got all inspired reading about it, but then I got to the steps that are laid out in the book for actually starting something myself. Step One is "find your passion." I was instructed to do this by asking myself what cause would I serve and what kind of work would I do if I had unlimited time and no financial worries.

Um...blink. Blink blink.

I couldn't answer the question. Needless to say, I got discouraged and I haven't made it to Step Two.

Meanwhile, my friend, Chris, loaned me a book called "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle," by Barbara Kingsolver, a novelist who decided to spend an entire year eating only locally produced foods, and then write a book about it. Also really super inspiring, but not in any way, shape, or form practical for most people. I haven't finished it yet, but I know more than I ever knew I wanted to know about the life cycle of asparagus!

The do-something-for-a-year-and-then-write-a-book-about-it thing is a big trend these days. I've often wondered how to capitalize on it, and make millions of dollars so Kev can quit his job and we can retire to the Maine Coast, watch sailboats all day, and eat lobster by the sea. We were talking about it the other morning, and Kev's legitimate complaint about these kinds of books is that they are so gimmick-y. The things people do for a year for their book deals are usually not even close to being sustainable for regular people who live in the real world. I think people read those books and think yeah, that's great, but there's just no way. So they move on.  It's just too much. Like the super restrictive fad diets. You're setting yourself up to fail if you take these kinds of all-or-nothing approaches to things.

So, while we were talking, I started thinking out loud about how maybe my "something that matters" could involve somehow trying to inspire lots of people to consider making small sustainable changes that will add up over time rather than me getting all hard-core and trying to fix everything at once all by myself in a year. Environmentally, Barbara Kingsolver certainly did a good thing by decreasing her one little family's carbon footprint by a LOT, but wouldn't it make a bigger long term impact if we all decreased our carbon footprints by a little?

This is certainly not a new idea, but maybe the more we talk about the little things we can do, the more people will actually start doing the little things, and the more the little things will add up to a collective big thing. So, I've decided to try to help facilitate the conversation with this blog. Maybe no one will read this. Maybe one person will read this and pick up a piece of trash, or have a conversation with someone they might not have talked to before, or do some other little thing. Maybe millions of people will read this and we'll all make the world a better place together and I'll get offered a book deal and Kev can quit his job and we can retire to the Maine Coast with the sailboats and the lobster! Who knows. At the very least, I'm on here writing and trying to happen to things instead of scrolling through Twitter and accomplishing nothing but increasing my blood pressure.

Not sure exactly where I'll end up going with all this. I have a few ideas, but it's for sure a work in progress. My goal is to keep it positive and inclusive. If you're interested in joining me while I figure it out, please feel free to pop on here and read about what I'm up to, or even better, subscribe and comment and share. We're all in this together after all.

PS. Thanks Tracy, Jeff, Chris, and Kev for helping me start something. Time will tell if it matters!