To do always as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.
This idea of making a way out of no way and leaving our community more beautiful than when we inherited it. We have no room for thoughts of lack. Everything in the world requires someone to think of it first (Kujichagulia) and then make a plan to make it real (Nia).
FOR YOUR REFLECTION
- When have you made a way out of no way?
- What do you complain about in your own community and what contribution can you make?
- What will you do to make more beauty in your community (whether at the family, national, regional, spiritual, school level, etc) in the coming years?
That might be as simple as giving a manager in a store some feedback or picking up trash. When my kids were little, my husband would take them to the corner of Fleet and Brewer – by Lakewood Plaza and have them clean up where people dump all kinds of stuff including tires. They really did not understand why someone would do that. To this day they do not litter and at least one of my children will actually pick up other peoples’ trash (thanks Kofi Adams). And they understand why it matters. Thank you, former 12th district council member Joyce Shepherd for teaching us why reporting code violations by property owners can have a positive impact on property values. Let’s get the slum lords and the property holders out! (I feel strongly about this ya think?!)
It might be making Kwanzaa decorations because they are not found in stores. By the way, I’m still on the fence on whether they should be available in retail (perhaps crafting Kwanzaa kits for making them at home would be the right compromise?).
Here are a few of my decorations over the years.
