Your Tax Dollars at Work

The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.  Will Rogers

As the headlines threaten a government shut down because of the few politicians enamored with their 15 minutes rather than the citizens they were elected to represent, I thought you might like a different story.  It’s about that check you write every April and its recent impact on me.

Last Tuesday we learned that we were the recipients of an $867,000 grant from the CDFI Fund, part of the U.S. Treasury Department.  Who is ‘we’ and what’s that Fund?  We is Accion Chicago, the nonprofit where I work, and the CDFI Fund (stands for Community Development Financial Institution) invests in organizations whose mission is economic development in distressed neighborhoods.  Collectively the 5 U.S. based Accions covering regions from coast to coast received more than $7.1 million.

What will we do with that money?  Continue to help entrepreneurs make their dreams come true, thereby creating jobs and stabilizing neighborhoods while providing for themselves and their families and for the next generation.  We serve the historically marginalized – women, minorities, low- and moderate-income residents, immigrants, the formerly incarcerated – small business men and women unable to secure financing from traditional sources. We serve those with no or troubled credit histories OR as the economy tanked, those with ok credit and a solid business plan but who banks won’t talk to because their need is too small. 

Our loans, ranging from $500 to $50,000, enable a ‘microentrepreneur’ to launch or grow a business.  It could be the new boutique, doggie day care, pastry shop, food truck, jewelry retailer, salon, barber shop, contractor who remodeled your kitchen, or the new restaurant in your neighborhood.  These funds could be behind a product you buy at Macy’s or the mobile dentist who parks outside your local elementary school. 

If you’re in the Chicago area and available on Tuesday, November 5^th, come and meet some of these enterprising people and my Accion colleagues at our annual Taste of Accion.  Tickets are only $100 ($50 is tax deductible) and available at www.accionchicago.org.  Our clients in the food and beverage industry cater the event, others fill the silent auction table with their product or service, and others will share their story at the podium.  That’s 3 kinds of ‘tastes’ for you to experience and see evidence of your tax dollars at work.

So this week’s blog isn’t a musing, and while it is a promo, I hope it also helped to offset all of the frustrating headlines out of Washington.  Sometimes those political folks do good.

Marilyn

Oscars, and Emmys, and Tonys, Oh My!

You and I don’t have to worry about the paparazzi as we go about our daily lives.  We don’t walk the red carpet to get to a special occasion nor are we athletes skipping down the Playoffs, Olympics, World Series, Oh My! yellow brick road. Our path is more like Weddings, New Babies, Reunions, Oh My!

It’s good to have traditional events that provide a rhythm to the months of the year and that mark significant points in our lives individually and as part of a group.  Such events – graduations, vacations, and even watching the Emmys – are part of a cycle that comforts, well, until it doesn’t, or until something breaks the pattern.  For example, I no longer watch the awards part of the show because I’m not familiar with the majority of nominated programs or actors.

I remember a Dear Abby (or Ann) column from, well, obviously decades ago, before expectant parents could know things about their baby.  It was a letter from a parent explaining their reaction to the birth of a special needs child.  In essence it said that waiting for their baby to be born was like planning a trip to California.  They read up on San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Sacramento, researched climate, studied the local economy, and felt fairly confident they knew what things would be like once they got there.  When their child arrived, however, they discovered they actually ended up in North Dakota.  It wasn’t what they expected or wanted or had prepared for, but once they got there, it was ok. 

It’s important to hope.  It’s great to plan, but it is necessary to adjust to what comes our way.  Just like the actor and athlete who thought they would win but didn’t, we all experience times when our name is not called or the bat does not connect with the ball.

Agatha Christie wrote, “One doesn’t really recognize the important moments in one’s life until it is too late.”  Some people had a very public important moment last night.  I’ll bet you recently had a quiet private one.  It’s not too late to give yourself an award to mark the occasion.  Whether you lost two pounds (Leading Actor in the Constant Struggle category), got promoted (Supporting Actress, Paid My Dues), or handled an argument gracefully (Director, Drama) – claim your 15 minutes in the spotlight and share your story!

Marilyn

That's What I'm Here For

The nurse responds to the call button and the patient says, “It really hurts.  Please give me something for the pain.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

A weary airline passenger needing help with connections approaches the information booth and sees a friendly face.  “I’m really turned around and don’t know where I’m supposed to go.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

You thank your boss for helpful feedback on an important presentation.

“That’s what I’m here for.”

While dealing with an inquisitive toddler new parents discover a passion and ability to nurture.  A recent graduate lands a dream job.  Newlyweds learn to balance their discord and harmony.   Inwardly they all sigh, “Ah, that’s what I’m here for.”

Do you ever feel a need for a deep down understanding of “That’s what I’m here for?”  I can tell you some things I’ve learned from dear ones which to me indicate, at least in part, what they’re here for.  One friend’s joie de vivre is infectious and reminds those around her to appreciate every moment and every beautiful thing. Another is a great risk taker and shows us that the safe path isn’t necessarily the most rewarding.  I know thoughtful decision makers who can help others process tough issues, careful listeners, and practical doers.  I am lucky to have friends with sympathetic shoulders and ones who will challenge me to think and explore.

But when I hold up the mirror to think about Robert Byrne’s sentence “The purpose of life is a life of purpose,” I wonder if I’m fulfilling my purpose.  I have a sense of calling and contentment that I’m where I’m supposed to be and doing what I’m meant to do but have never internalized it on the broader scale as “That’s what I’m here for.”  I’m going to ponder on this.  Meanwhile, I’ll follow what the Dalai Lama has said, “Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.  And if you can’t help them, at least don’t hurt them.”

Marilyn

When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor.  It is to enjoy each step along the way.  Wayne Dyer

Vinegar on Spinach

Going to a friend’s for supper on a school night was rare, but there I was with Bonnie at her family’s dinner table.  This was an era when families sat down together as soon as dad got home from work to eat meat-and-potatoes meals prepared by stay-at-home moms.  That evening, as the dishes were passed, I saw there was spinach.  I put some on my plate and remember commenting that lots of second graders didn’t like spinach, but I did.  Then I looked around for the vinegar.  In my house we put a few drops of vinegar on cooked spinach, poured carefully from the small cut glass carafe kept just for that purpose.  There was no vial of vinegar on the table, so I watched to see what this family did.  As the butter dish was passed, everyone took some and put a pat of butter on their spinach.  I did too.  Thus came one of my first experiences of ‘people do it differently’ and discovering I could enjoy those differences.

Do you remember a similar circumstance that awoke the idea of options and seeing that there is more than one way?  

Part of me wants to end this musing right here, offering a nostalgic reflection that might make you

smile and think of your own awakening to the concept of preferences.  But part of me pushes on to wonder about paring down today’s world problems screaming in the headlines to vinegar vs. butter.  From fashion to football to foreign policy there are differing opinions and options.  Those options can make or break reputations or fortunes.  The consequences of those differences can result in life or death. 

When the prevailing opinion informs us to buy blue or orange, wear wide or skinny ties, short or long skirts, we may go along, wanting to fit in.  One team studies the opposing team's strategies and go-to plays.  Local and global issues become so complicated that I wonder if anyone truly understands them for often there are deep historical complexities and discord is the norm.  Yet people, individually and collectively, can cross the line from option to judgment to right vs. wrong. We stop seeing a person, a culture, a nation, a whole, and see only the issue that divides us.

Certainly there are rights and wrongs in the world and things worth fighting for.  Let’s not confuse those things with tribal preferences of vinegar vs. butter.

Marilyn

“To know what you prefer instead of humbly saying Amen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to have kept your soul alive.”  Robert Louis Stevenson

 

 

Little Words, Big Impact

The ‘buzzworthy’ headlines this week about the new words added to the Oxford dictionary (didn’t they just make you ‘squee?’) reflecting changes in the global culture and use of language got me thinking (don’t we all deserve a little ‘me time?’) about some of the earliest words we learn and how they are more important and their impact much longer lasting than ‘cake pop.’

“Up!” demands a child practicing a new word and understanding its meaning.  She’s learned that upstretched arms accompanying that plea will result in being lifted off the floor and returned to someone’s loving arms.  “Up!” said the pioneers when they encountered the Rocky Mountains and scientists repeated, looking to the sky.  Our world became smaller as we settled the continent and flew into the centuries of aeronautics and space travel.  Investors want numbers to trend upwards and each baseball season, players want their own and their team’s stats to rise.  “Up!” is where believers looked and watched as their resurrected Jesus ascended into heaven with a promise to return and not to leave them alone in the meantime.

“Down!” cries a child at the beginning of a pout and with lots of squirming.  It is an early

word that means the beginning of freedom and independence, ultimately signifying ‘let me go.’  Curious then that ‘down’ is what oppressors mean when they withhold rights.  It is a word a trainer uses in teaching a puppy proper behavior and how we describe a broken computer.  ‘Down’ is the place people look when they walk because their self-esteem is low and ‘in the dumps’ is how we feel when the blues settle in for a visit.  Dieters hope the scale cooperates, consumers want lower prices, and bicyclists appreciate the easier ride on the downside of the hill.

“In” tells us what to wear, where to be during a storm, and what crowd we’d like to hang with. “Out” may excite a dog but scare or hurt someone who feels excluded or different, yet “out” is where they go to make an announcement about that difference.  “Stop” can keep us safe and “Go” send us in new directions.

There are myriads of one syllable words from our earliest learning stage that helped mold us and frame our view of the world.  Take some time this week to reflect on those simple small words and the huge impact they’ve had on your life.  If you’ve a favorite, I would hope you would “Share!”

Marilyn