A Minute for a Difference

A Minute for a Difference

Living a life takes a lot.  Sometimes just living takes all you have.  Since Danny was born, I feel we have been in survival mode.  The last three years have been a blur of doctors' offices, therapy appointments, and sleepless nights.  Not to say it's been bad - it has been the absolute best three years of my life.  Danny has given me the opportunity to love more fiercely and fearlessly than I ever thought possible.  The last three years have had one, singular purpose.  Danny. 

Danny has recently started going to school at the Instructional Support Center through the SMSD.  It has been such a positive experience for Danny and our family.  He is in love with his teachers and therapists, has new friends, and we have already seen numerous improvements and changes.  The major impact it has had on my life is I have a few hours sans Danny.  In addition to not having sinks full of dishes and being occasionally caught up on laundry, it has allowed me to look outside our immediate circle of concern.  Apparently, just because you go into survival mode, the world does not stop spinning.

While I have been surviving, things have been happening.  There have been positive developments.  For example, there is a store near my new house that sells exclusively pie.  and cookies.  Boulevard is going to start using cans!  Hooray!  However, much of what is happening in Kansas is...well, awful.  Our governor and many in the legislature are following a path of tax reduction destruction.  They do not believe that our government has the responsibility to provide core services.  They are not acting in the best interest of all Kansas residents, but pursuing a fatally flawed ideology that favors the very few. 

The trouble is - the people driving our current policy are pretty good at it.  A little sneaky, too.  If you see any one particular bill without much context, it doesn't seem like a big deal.  A bill to move elections to November?  Straight ticket voting?  Change the retirement age of judges?  Changing the school formula?  No big deal, right?  Nope, nope, nope.  Big deals.  These are really big deals.

When I taught fourth grade, my mantra was simple - A little goes a long way.  You need to study for a test?  Study in the car on the way to and from school.  You have a friend that is feeling blue?  Ask them if they want to swing.  You want to save the Earth?  Recycle your papers.  We can all do a little, and the cumulative efforts will be great.  I just want to do my part.  A minute for a difference.  What would happen if we all took a minute to occasionally email a legislator, kept informed, and voted our conscience?  Naïve?  Oh, for sure.  But what else can a gal do?  

I'm no expert.  I will fake it until I make it.  I just feel like if I don't do this I'm going to end up in a tent city outside the capitol wearing a sandwich board.  It is too cold for that, plus Danny has some pretty particular sleep needs (have I mentioned that he has diffused lavender oil at bedtime and sleeps with a sleep mask?  Spa Robeson up in here).  Also, I don't want to fill up my Facebook feed.  It really is just about the cute pictures of Danny.  I just feel compelled to do my part and share information.

Dan recently reminded me of this quote by Margaret Mead:

"Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”

I cannot think of a more compelling reason to try.

Signed,

Pollyanna