by Jan Waterman, Co-op member and Board member
I see big, audacious leaps all around me these days. There was that beautiful leap into action in the wake of the flood in July. There was the Co-op membership vote to move the store to Route 2 and combine with the Hardware Store. There is the oh so audacious, hopeful, visionary leap into possibility gifted to us by the people working on the village expansion plan.
All these attempts to change for the betterment of our corner of the world have happened and are happening without the security of all the information needed to make rational, sound decisions. All important decisions are made despite incomplete information. In order to get anywhere, we proceed with what we have. If we’re lucky, we have a whole lot of vision, hope and faith that we — especially “we” collectively, cooperatively — will figure it out. We can deal with the challenges we can’t foresee.
Via the grapevine, I saw something written by Rebecca Solnit* the other day that really got me thinking about this sort of situation. From her words, I “got” how some people, in a desire to guarantee a perfect outcome, want to know everything before they make a commitment to change. It reminds me of the saying “Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” Or as Solnit said, “…what we do begins with what we believe we can do. It begins with being open to the possibilities and interested in the complexities.” I really liked that.
Thank you, all you audacious leapers and dreamers, for the beautiful visions your hard work and faith bring into reality. Thank you for carrying forward the wholeness of our community, by just showing up to see how to help, by mucking out basements, by supporting a little store as it goes through growing pains and transformation, by creating possibilities. Thank you all who embrace possibilities and the unknowable.
*Harper’s Magazine, May 2016, “The Habits of Highly Cynical People”
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The United Nations has proclaimed 2025 as the International Year of Cooperatives, with the theme "Cooperatives Build a Better World." According to a UN announcement, the theme emphasizes the enduring worldwide influence of cooperatives, noting that the cooperative model offers a vital solution to many global issues.