Just watching and listening…

Image by Oberholster Venita from Pixabay

As a fellow life coach succinctly put it, we help clients balance "action and reflection." Though my default nature is to take action, it seems my mind is compelled to reflect right now. There is a lot going on in my work, my town, and the world at-large that feels overwhelming at times and the "right" actions to take aren't clear, so perhaps it's time to just observe my surroundings, notice what's happening and examine my reaction. Here’s what I’ve noticed recently.

Integrity

Dalton had its Annual Town Meeting last week and it involved your typical small town squabbles as well as understandable questions and concerns from residents about their constantly increasing tax bills. But one moment in particular stood out to me. There was an article to rescind the Town’s stretch code, sets the minimums for energy efficiency in building and construction. A resident wanted to know how each individual select board member voted on this issue. (Weeks prior the board voted 4-1 to keep the stretch code.)

The board member who voted to rescind it did something remarkable in that moment. He leaned into the microphone, identified himself and said that he voted for rescinding because he had concerns and questions. “Since the vote my concerns have been addressed by a number of people in the town [...] The reasons that I was voting “for” have been proved wrong. I’ll be voting no on this tonight.

Frustration

I’m old enough to remember rotary phones, dial-up internet and VHS tapes. I’m young enough to have adapted and become moderately fluent in computers and digital devices. At the library we serve many people that because of timing, geography and profession have been left behind. A woman at the library couldn’t understand why she couldn’t email the document she had just typed up on one of the public computers. We explained that she needed to sign into an email account to send it. “But can’t I just send it from the computer? That’s what I came here to do!”

Resilience

Monica Lewinsky has a new podcast called Reclaiming. If you’ve not heard the name Monica Lewinsky in nearly 30 years, you’ve missed quite the transformation. After being thrust into the spotlight at 24 years-old and becoming one of the first people to “go viral” on the internet, Lewinsky has spent the rest of her life picking up the pieces and trying to figure out what happened–taking responsibility for her actions and examining the role the public played. She went on to get a masters degree in social psychology from the London School of Economics. In her conversation with Molly Ringwald, Molly lamented never going to college and asked Monica if it was hard being so much older than the other grad students. Monica responded that it was much harder to be Monica Lewinsky.

Hope

Spring is not my favorite month, but I won’t deny the hope that it brings. Especially this year. Three weeks ago there was snow on the ground and last week I took my first bike ride. The grass is full and needs to be mowed. My tomato and pepper plants have started producing again. There is so much daylight at the beginning and end of the day. Even the rainy weather feels hopeful.

Share some of your observations with me! janet@janetforest.com