Reflections that are Subject2Change

I spent about four hours today rigorously cleaning my house.

I swept, dusted, vacuumed, and even mopped. I delved into crevices that I haven’t cleaned for a half dozen years. Under our desk and behind the bookcase that holds our cookbooks were both moments of revelation. I discovered that dust bunnies don’t only breed, they hide until the vacuum is put away…

So what does this have do with our growing Youtube site, Subject2Change – Sustainability?

My cleaning frenzy was triggered by need, the “spring ahead” frustrations, and some avoidance. Avoidance not because I don’t want to delve into editing our wonderful conversation with Reif Larsen, founder of The Future of Small Cities Institute and the imminent Sustainable Futures Conference, but because I wanted a little time to rest in the joy of the conversation we had two weeks ago with Jade Warrick, artist, placemaker, advocate, and educator.

You see, every single week brings revelations.

Not only in the conversations, but in the work I am doing to edit those conversations into shareable YouTube posts. I learn more each week about timing, and putting in titles, and what makes a good story arc. This week I also learned to separate audio and trim that out differently, because Jade’s mic was about half a second off the video image. I was initially frustrated, but once I learned how to make that particular audio edit, I was then easily able to overlay the audio of our discussion onto images of Jade’s engaging, fun, and informing art. A challenge became an opportunity.

So I say “resist perfection”.

You see, it is is process. I know I will want to go back to the start, and tweak videos Lauren and I posted months ago, but I will resist. I will resist because time is precious, but also because the evolution, the cyclic learning and improving, is all part of our message that should be illustrated by our videos. If we want to improve our conversation with Diane, or Jim, or any of our earliest contributors (and great thanks to each of them) we will invite them for another conversation, because I bet not only will my video editing be improving, but their stories of sustainability, impact, and what matters now will be changing over time as well.

We are each Subject2Change, after all. And if we are not, then we are missing one of the most powerful messages of sustainability. It is a process, and we are enriched by embracing that process, even when it is messy, or teaches us something we don’t particularly want to learn at that moment.

  • Check out Subject2Change-sustainability on YouTube, and our first 17 (wow) conversations that have resulted in at least 40 posted videos of a variety of lengths.
  • Share with us your great stories and connections to wonderful people doing the everyday work, so we can all connect in broader circles of influence and learn how to engage even more people into these efforts. I am at greenerjsa@gmail.com, and Lauren is as luren@rehabitat-cny.com. 
  • Know that it is okay to avoid engagement when you need to, and that we are here when you want to learn a bit more about what you can do, and what others are already doing.
  • It’s a process, and we welcome you into it, whatever role you are ready for.

Our first 3-4 months of conversations are all listed below.

Every single one has taught us something about sustainability. We started with a reflection, Lauren and I, about what we hope to gain from this endeavor. We will certainly revisit this conversation, and reflect, after a few more months.  Who knows what changes are in store?

  • Lauren and Jodi – What do we expect?
  • Jodi – Change Agent
  • Lauren – Designer and Business Owner
  • Diane – Interior Designer and Educator
  • Jim – Structural Engineer
  • Katelyn – Financial Adviser
  • Rick – Architect and ZNE Office Owner
  • TJ – Improv Actor and Communicator
  • George and David – Canals past and future
  • Kelly – Health and Connections
  • Mark – Craft Business
  • Melissa – Leadership Coach
  • Bart – Architect and Land Lover
  • Kenyon – Education Access
  • Judith – Plastics
  • Todd – Makers
  • Jade – Art and Community
  • Reif – Small Cities (pending)
2 Others like this post, how about you? (no login required)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

+ 9 = 11

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.