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Every Little Thing by April Jeppson

I had the opportunity to attend a training this week with about 50 of my colleagues from the Midwest. It was two days filled with learning, discussion and personal growth. I’ve found that sometimes my biggest takeaway from these types of things are the connections I make with those sitting near me. Between the group project and presentations, we joked, laughed and got to know each other on a personal level.

We talked a lot about community. It’s not someone else’s job to fix something within that space. When you are a part of a community, it’s your responsibility to make sure that it’s as welcoming and fun as you want it to be. If you feel like your community needs to be more welcoming, then you need to be more welcoming. Part of being in a community is to take ownership of it.

There are lots of communities out there. Church, work, hobbies … My friend has an amazing knitting community, where they meet up a few times a year and take trips together. I have another friend who gardens and their community discusses best practices, will pitch in to help weed or replant and toward the end of the season they exchange whatever produce they have in excess.

We live in a community. You see people taking risks and starting businesses in an effort to improve our town. People are raising money so that we can have more opportunities and activities for families to enjoy. People stepping up and serving in positions which are disproportionately criticized so that they can try and make our community better.

I see a lot of complaining online. It’s a curious thing, however, since I rarely see those people complaining out in real life. In fact, I rarely see those people out and about doing much of anything. I respect a person who is vocal and actively trying to improve a situation. I have very little time for someone who complains and expects someone else to take care of it.

We are all members of this wonderful community. It falls on all of us to do something if we see that something needs to be done. Activities, festivals, programs don’t just magically happen. It takes organization, planning, phone calls and countless hours of volunteer time to pull these events together. You think something needs to be done a different way? Then join the committee and help them.

Start a business that fills the need you see. Buy a run-down building and repair it the way you feel it should be done. Go out and write grants and fundraise for the project you believe this community needs. Think a system needs a complete revamp? Then run for that board, chair or representative spot. Sitting at home and spreading negativity online doesn’t do a drop of good. You want change?

Then get up and be the change.

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” — Barack Obama

Albert Lean April Jeppson is a wife, mom, coach and encourager of dreams. Her column appears every Saturday.