Allowing People to Care

20 Oct Allowing People to Care

20 October 2020

By David Allen, Development for Conservation

As a fundraiser, I can honestly say that the future has never seemed more uncertain than it is right now. In many ways, it feels like we are teetering on the edge of something truly horrible (great depression?, civil war?), but I still believe paralysis or even hesitation will prove to be a mistake.

How can you say that?

Because people care and want to help. Including some people you’ve never even met.

• Just after 9/11, a good friend and former boss told me he was going down to donate blood.
• Just after Katrina, my stepfather traveled to Louisiana to volunteer with the clean-up effort.
• Just after Trump was elected in 2016, a woman brought a $10,000 check to a Connecticut land trust.

Faced with anxiety and depression. We are moved to act. To do something. To Care.

Now is such a time. Regardless of what happens in two weeks. Regardless of what happens to the stock market. Regardless of how long we are under the influence of a global pandemic.

Now is not a time for complacency. Now is not a time for paralysis. Now is not a time for hesitation.

Now is a time for being ready.

First, and most importantly, take care of yourself. Get outside. Go for a walk or a paddle. Listen to your heart. Find the joy. Welcome in the healing.

I was out last night and heard an owl conversation carried on between at least three individuals in my neighborhood. OK – so perhaps I was in their neighborhood.

Give yourself. Give money, volunteer, or even give blood. Put yourself in the mindset of generosity. Of responding by acting.

Understand that there are people who love you and the conservation work you are getting done. Who care that your land trust survives. Who see that helping you is something they can do. How they can make a difference. How they can act.

Take this as a leap of faith if necessary.

Focus on a point beyond the next two weeks. The end of the year, or perhaps even next Spring. How can you reach out to people who want to help? How can you ready yourself and your organization to receive caring and help? How do you communicate relevance, resiliency, love, appreciation, and hope? How can you be there for them?

These next few weeks, I want to use this space to stay positive for you. Next week, I have a poem that speaks volumes. Then November 3 with a simple message about voting. And then the look ahead to the end of the year.

You can help me. Send me positive news about relevance, resiliency, love, appreciation, and hope from where you are.

Because whatever happens, we are part of the solution. We are the ones we have been waiting for.

Stay safe and stay well,

-da

Photo by lumix2004 courtesy Pixabay