I have written about what to do when you’re world-weary and feel like you can’t do anything – Your 10-point respite and rejuvenation plan for world weariness.
Likewise, I’ve written about ten reasons to laugh when it’s more important than ever.
What I HAVEN’T written about is WHY you should care about what’s happening in the world right now.
I’m surprised about the need to do this, but it feels urgent due to the callous cruelty that’s so common right now.
But first, a (true) story to set the context.
It was an unusually snowy Vancouver morning. I was getting my little kids ready for the day. I was flustered, trying to manage the chaos of getting breakfast on the table and getting them both out the door for school.
And then it happened.
A pair of legs came through the ceiling.
We lived in a townhouse, where the homes were connected to each other. There’d been a serious leak.
The whole external wall of the townhouse had to be repaired.
To the tune of an eye-watering amount of money.
And on this early, snowy morning, the repair person’s legs dangled from a plank in the ceiling he was working from to repair the wall.
I remember gazing up at those legs swinging from our ceiling.
This man, perched on a beam, who I could only see from his waist down.
Luckily, our townhouse had a strata.
Every month, we paid a fee that went into a shared pool. And when common things on the property needed fixing, that pool of moola was used.
We were a community. Sometimes “my” money went to repairs for other units, and in this case, the pool should have covered these repairs.
Except this repair was way above and beyond that pool.
So, a special levy had to be created. Essentially, a special fee levied against all the units.
It was no one’s fault that our unit and a few others leaked. It just was.
I remember anxiously speaking at the Strata meeting, with my heart in my throat, saying I was so sorry for the financial burden and that if it happened to others in our community, I’d be ready to offer financial support.
It was a hard pill for some to swallow.
After a tense vote and much animated discussion, the community held, and the repairs were made.
And there were no more feet coming through our ceiling.
Why this story and why now?
There’s a time to lean and a time to be leaned on. Feeting-through-ceiling was my time to lean. And how.
My family and I benefited greatly from that special levy.
Our home was repaired, and all was well.
I learned. I leaned, and leaned heavily at that time.
I’ve had other opportunities in my life to be both a ‘lean-er’ (leaning on others for support) and a ‘lean-ee’ (offering support).
I’ll write about those next week and why this concept of “lean-er” and “lean-ee” is so very, very important right now.
In the meantime, I urge you to think about times when you’ve been a “lean-er” and a “lean-ee.”
Now go on and learn, laugh, and lead
Learn
- Think about times when you’ve had to lean on others for help, for support, for assistance.
- And think about times when you’ve been able to offer support and assistance to others.
- Check out some of the resources I’ve bookmarked about the effects of the USAID cuts.
Laugh
- There are different times to lean in … and sometimes fall.
Lead
- If you’re in the place to do so, if you have the means and the mental heath, take the lead and let others lean on you. Now more than ever, we need to support each other.
- If you need to lean on others, please do so without shame.
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