"There are too many people doing too many good things for me to afford the luxury of being pessimistic." - Utah Phillips
Have you seen these Do Lectures? They're kind of like the UK version of Ted Talks. The series draws from the idea that people who Do things can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things, too.
I was thinking about the series as I started the reviewing enviro grant applications on behalf of the Nebraska Environmental Trust this week. To be honest I have a hard time sitting still when reviewing the applications. I'm a person who gets stirred by good ideas, and inspired by people willing to get their hands dirty in the hope of making the world better.
There's an inertia to sitting still that I just don't like. It's inspired by a lens that comes pretty readily from all corners that the problems are too big, the forces at work are too daunting to be overcome.
I fundamentally reject the idea that a person can't examine a problem -- any problem with the environment, or poverty, roads, neighborhoods, or schools... -- and engage in a meaningful, civil fight to resolve it. The Do-er might not win. History could prove the cynic who sat on the sidelines with his or her six good reasons to do so was right all along.
For me, though, it's cold comfort have stayed seated, watched the fight, and in the end say to myself "see, I knew that solution wouldn't work". So I get itchy when I listen to these lectures, or read enviro grant applications sometimes because with all that energy bouncing around it's hard for me to sit still.
I was thinking about the series as I started the reviewing enviro grant applications on behalf of the Nebraska Environmental Trust this week. To be honest I have a hard time sitting still when reviewing the applications. I'm a person who gets stirred by good ideas, and inspired by people willing to get their hands dirty in the hope of making the world better.
There's an inertia to sitting still that I just don't like. It's inspired by a lens that comes pretty readily from all corners that the problems are too big, the forces at work are too daunting to be overcome.
I fundamentally reject the idea that a person can't examine a problem -- any problem with the environment, or poverty, roads, neighborhoods, or schools... -- and engage in a meaningful, civil fight to resolve it. The Do-er might not win. History could prove the cynic who sat on the sidelines with his or her six good reasons to do so was right all along.
For me, though, it's cold comfort have stayed seated, watched the fight, and in the end say to myself "see, I knew that solution wouldn't work". So I get itchy when I listen to these lectures, or read enviro grant applications sometimes because with all that energy bouncing around it's hard for me to sit still.
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