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] __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! 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