Olivia, as usual, I concur with just about everything
you have said here except for when you question your
own participation because you helped move discussion
down a path.
One of the hardest lessons I've ever learned in life
came from Dale Carnegie: Everybody always thinks
THEY'RE right.
Now, I used to scratch my head (and other parts) and
say, how can they possibly be right? I am.
One of the things that has helped me is to understand
why it is they believe as they do because, armed with
knowledge, I can set about trying to move us more
toward the middle and concurrence. (Clearly, this
helps in having a Republican sweetheart and being an
devoted Democrat!)
In my many years of fund raising, some of which was in
Corporate America (Corporaterica), I sometimes ran
into difficulties with what I considered to be the
touchy-feelies of the group. Much of what they wanted
to accomplish was predicated on the fact that it felt
so darned good to do it.
But they failed to recognize there is a price to
everything and, in the middle of rewarding our
emotional selves, we have to have the balance of both
emotion and intellect. Practicality and reality are
both really ugly when you want to feel good about
something. But, to be a functional, responsible adult
(and certainly not insinuating any here are not), you
have to walk that fine line of reality.
With that said, I've seen many an activist--myself
included--go off half-cocked because some Child of God
didn't believe just as they did and what in the hell
was the matter with them?!?
It has been those times when I have had to stand back
and look at the values of others and weigh whether
that which I hold dear is something that must be
superimposed on others for the greater good of us all.
Just as a good writer often is not the best judge of
his or her own work--lord knows that, after having
been a proofreader and editor for five years early on
in my career, I have oft demonstrated my own
shortcomings in my printed word here and elsewhere (I
always say it's cyber gremlins, but . . . )--sometimes
we need to stand back and look at our own beliefs
about the value we are adding to the world as
perceived by others.
This is not to say that what is being provided is not
wonderful, but, when resources are limited, there have
to be (heavens, it's becoming my favorite word this
week) choices.
In a world where there are only so many dollars to go
around and the needs are great, do you fund a museum,
or a hospital? Do you fund medical research, or
curation of antiquities? Do you spend the dollars to
educate young people in schools, or do you spend the
money hoping to educate those who are fortunate enough
to be exposed to a museum?
My heart is in museums all the way. There's not a
weekend that goes by that the grandkids and I, in
assessing what we will do, don't include museums in
the mix of options. A few weeks ago, my car broke
down on a Sunday (nothing like that delightful summer
hose to blow a weekend). At the point it went, the
kids and I were deciding between: the Norton Simon,
the Autry, the Page (La Brea Tarpits), and the LA Zoo.
We have a date for next week to visit the Long Beach
Aquarium (one of their real favorites).
Though the little bits are only 3 and 5, they know to
keep their hands in their pockets and have tons of
questions about the art treasures of the Simon. If
you ask the littlest, she will tell you she loves to
go there because she likes to look at Boot-ah (which
is 3-year old for Buddah).
There have been swings in funding for a couple of
professions close to my heart: teaching and nursing.
There are new laws being written to protect each, and
there is forgiveness of debt for student loans because
the need is there.
WE feel there is a need for museum work because we
love the field. But what we need to do is to teach
others to see just what we found of value so that sent
us in this direction.
Life is tough for many. Survival in itself just
consumes them and there is no time for the enrichment
activities. I was at the movies this afternoon with
the 5-year old and heard a woman saying that, after 18
years of marriage, they had never been to a concert
(God forbid), and this was the only entertainment they
could afford.
How many of you have children come to the museum whose
only exposure has ever been through their school?
Those kids that, had school not made the opportunity
for them, would never have gotten there? Those are
the people we need to reach and communicate to.
What disturbs me more is those who make great money
but have no time for the enrichment activities. My
boss/friend (of 20 years) is just one of those. Her
youngest is a huge fan of baseball. I nagged for
months and, when they went on vacation, the went to
Cooperstown as a family.
As she relayed the story, her son was thrilled and
spent 5 hours there. After 2, she, however, was bored
and went shopping!
So, how do we convince the as-yet convinced and the
heretofore unconvinceable to partake and contribute?
--- Olivia Anastasiadis <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
>
> You've hit the nail on the head. We've got too
> many bright people with their heads stuck in the
> sand. Activism for activism's sake is the current
> norm. Yet what it boils down to is your own
> perceived value of the work that you do, and whether
> it is valuable to your work place or not is
> incidental.
=====
Indigo Nights
[log in to unmask]
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