A friend, who received my 2011 "State of the Human" letter asked, My question for you is what will life be like next year when Cyber Access for Technically Timid is all in place, you are established and money is coming in?
well, dear friend, as important as cyber access for the technically timid (catt) is, it's but a "leah" step compared to what i feel is my "rachel" purpose - it will provide my personal underwriting of a far larger calling: helping the general church & academy schools craft ways to deepen existing connections between vital yet inherently impersonal institutions and actual flesh & blood people.
who will get that perhaps soon-to-be-infamous request for funding? a slate of people i barely know BUT who've demonstrated dedication & loyalty to the church & academy schools. with funding to get past the current limited funds moment, will be free to fulfill my truest of true callings – infusing a stronger sense of connection between alums & supporters with the church & schools i love, especially through the college.
seems to me this vital work is best done by someone outside of the official structure, although it's hard to define why. can’t express it, yet know it to be true. catt will pay the bills (and underscore my truest of true life purpose) while i devote my spare time to volunteer work focused around crafting community.
what events popped up to arouse my interest? first the assembly, then charter day and, most recently, something experienced this past monday. the three brought home to me how the powers-that-be have put remarkable things into place with both the schools & the church, yet it feels like they're sometimes a tad... unaware about how to forge deep connections with flesh & blood people.
at the assembly, traditional open houses once held each night around the community were probably too $$. but what was offered in their place? on the first night, a band party at cairnwood. great for folks my age & younger, but zip for older people jazzed after the wonderful presentation on the church in asia. a pity. the impression made on the first day can be all important to how people remember the entire event. i was left hanging, with no where to go, but the person who felt it even more was the older friend i chummed around with throughout the assembly, who instead of feeling a sense of place at the event, felt terribly sad, all stirred up but without any place or persons to share that enthusiastic energy.
at charter day, same thing – no optional networking opportunities. pardon the bluntness, but the "open house" at the brickman center was fairly short & somewhat flat. and there was nothing for my senior friend to do other than the dance, which she found shockingly unappealing. john & i had a blast at sat’s wine & nibblings party, but it cost $ (worth every penny for us - can write it off as a networking expense - but beyond a lot of limited income budgets).
two things strike me about these less-than-optimal experiences 1) a BIG challenge faced by powers-that-be & those they delegate is that most, if not all, of them seem, by nature & nurture, unaware of feeling outside of what's happening. and 2) back in my college days, dick gladish drummed into us "show, don't tell." if the church & the academy want to turn things around financially, want to turn rare to never contributors into regulars who leave a legacy in their wills, the best way to start is by seeing the people they're courting. woo them, but lightly.
like any great match, such light-handed yet ardent courting creates a win-win environment where all flourish! for an example of what i visualize as a natural outcome to such an approach, check out my 10/28 posting - 12 months out. speaks what's in my heart.
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