2903 pondering about community
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 16:36:28 -0400
From: jackie ling wong <jackie.wong@VERIZON.NET>
Subject: pondering about community
greetings,
i sent this out to our local community.. i thought that some of you might be interested because of all the mail regarding how to kill a =
community.
greetings,
what i have to say can be perceived a number of ways... i would like to make it clear that it is not my intention to make anyone feel guilty...i =
think there's a fine line between guilt tripping and encouragement and i hope that i have the skill to walk that line... if i slip, i'm sorry... =
please still try to gleam something of value from what i have written.
i had the absolute joy of being able to attend a full weekend of tango... i say "able" because life has been so busy with kids, health =
problems...etc... i'm sure you are all familiar with that feeling..and i say "able" because i am fortunate to be a part of a tango rich =
community.
friday was our local tangopulse milonga, saturday and sunday were spent in new haven attending luciana valle's workshops and exchanging lead and =
follow with jacquie and judy, and saturday night was spend at gene's birthday milonga in brattleboro. i was in heaven.
as i drove - endlessly :-) but happily - i thought about how lucky i was to be a part of this LARGE community. many of us spend hours driving =
from one event to another.
and i felt thankful for all the organizers that work so hard to bring this dance alive for us through their teaching, their events..etc...
and as i drove (getting a little tired of listening to spanish language cds), i pondered the huge commitment that these people make to the =
community at large, whether through time or finances (sometimes at personal financial risk).
yes, i am an organizer but i'm also part of the community.. so i thought, what is my commitment as a community member to these =
organizers? we can't commit to everything in our life...there's not enough time... but maybe, commitment can mean less negative energy, or =
contributing a donation to bratts (a non profit organization), maybe making a dessert for the milonga, or saying a simple thank you... small =
ways that help hold the community together, that define us less as consumers and more as supporters.
so i hope to make some personal changes. i don't feel that i can give more than i already do (not without losing my family) ... in fact, i'm =
working on setting boundaries and making better choices, but i can have less negative energy and i can say thank you. i don't think you would =
want any dessert that i would make :-)
so i would like to express my personal heartfelt thanks to the folks that do so much work.
hernan of sheffield/ct
dario of albany/woodstock/lenox
judith and board from brattleboro vt
david and keira of saratoga springs
cher and pete of albany ny
ilene of woodstock ny
judy of new haven ct
tine of yale u.
jacquie of northampton/amherst ma
daniel of northampton ma
barry and mindi of amherst
kenny, yvonne, gene, and isabelle from hadley ma
jaime of west hartford/boston ma
nadel of west hartford ct
reggie and herb e. hartford ct
and my esposo, paul of lenox
the above are those that are within my driving distance of about 2 hours. for those beyond, my thanks also. keep up the good work.
rick, my friend from st. louis, shared this local saying with me - "support the supporters".
besos,
jackie
www.tangopulse.net
