28 July 2010

A deep breath.

This morning my phone rang and it was my mom.  This was no surprise, it seems she is the only one left in these days of text that calls me and I'd much rather talk than text.  "It's in there," she says.  My heart dropped for a second because I knew she was talking about my letter to the editor.  Oh boy, there is no turning back now.  I feel like I just got done saying my 'I Dos' or something.  There is definitely no turning back now. A significant number of eyes have seen it, a significant number of minds have read it and this could be the beginning of a significant number of opinions forming. I'd have to say I got nervous after I hung up the phone.  I guess I was always a little bit nervous about this journey, but now I have this so called accountability.  I have accountability of success and, well, failure too. The word "failure" came into my mind for the first time since I started this whole thing and I didn't like it.  I guess I never thought about not accomplishing my goals until that moment I knew my words had been published under the Letters column.  The past few days I have been handing out fliers with my logo and blogspot address, while telling people about my excitement, but that didn't really mean they were actually going to read it.  And now my thoughts are in neatly printed in a column of black and white on page 5 of the Cottonwood County Citizen for anyone to see.  It is a scary thing to have people read my deepest emotions and somewhat whimsical dreams.

I have had a good number of people give their support and kind words of encouragement, and now I'm waiting for the ultimate support.  I can count using only one hand the amount of people who genuinely want to help see the face of Windom change--you know who you are and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!).  I'm checking my blog, my email, my facebook a little more than usual these days to see if for some odd reason this plethora of people come to the sidelines to cheer me on, and even better, actually join my team.  Oh my, the coolest thing is happening as I type these words.  The church bells of the Lutheran Church of Our Savior across the street from my house just rang 4 times.  How cool to be sitting in my dining room, hearing church bells just at the moment these thoughts are being put into print.  Maybe that was God himself giving me his encouragement just at the moment I needed it most.  I've always been a believer that everything happens for a reason.  It might never be a slap-in-the-face kind of reason, but a reason never the less, if you really want to find one.

So this is my course of action as of right now:
**I will be down on the square this Monday (August 2nd) night at the annual "Nite to Unite" to enjoy, spread the word, and gather an interest in forming a city beautification group.
**I've talked to the Chamber of Commerce about my blog and excitement for restoring Windom.  I'll be talking with the Visitors Bureau at their monthly meeting in August and talking with the Chamber at their monthly meeting in August as well.  The Chamber director is also letting me write a thing or two about my blog and idea to include in the Chamber newsletter. 
**The Cottonwood County Fair is coming soon as well, so I'm gathering thoughts and ideas about how to spread the word there as well. 
**I also became a member of the Cottonwood County Historical Society and encourage many to do the same.  It is a great facility and needs our support!

Finding Windom.

Happy times,

2 comments:

  1. Good work, keep it up! Continue with your blog and mission! It'd be great if we could compete with the neighboring towns!

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  2. Kudos to you Mari for Seeing a Need ~ Craving a Change ~ and possessing the Guts & Gumption to "GO FOR IT"! Many Hands will make Less Work, so here's my little contribution to the Cause....My son Jack and I try and walk each day, we are now carrying a bag with us on our travels allowing us to pick up the trash, debris, and recyclables we find along with the way. Let's Beautify & Revive the Town we Love so Dearly. =) Great Job Mari ~ You Rock! ;)

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