Candle or Mirror
Weekly update 11/15 to 11/21 #43
Wear your damn mask. There I said it, are you happy? Honestly, I am not, but before I explain why I will share what this unusual week was like serving as Mayor.
One of the few things I got to attend in person this week was a meeting with an expert in the world of Pickleball to review the site for the new courts. He has been involved in tens of thousands of court designs over his life. He started in the world of tennis, and over the last several years has evolved into helping communities like ours with pickleball design. Now as we go forward we aren’t just relying on what has been read on the internet on the sport, but from first hand knowledge from someone who has lived it.
This week I also had a chance to help mark graves at the city cemetery. This wasn’t a hard task, but it did take several hours of up and down on my not-so-young knees. Glad to be able to help Seymour Park and Recreation take care of this task.
After being quarantined this week due to a close contact, I had to switch to a more digital approach to everything. One of those digital meetings was related to the financial future of Seymour. In case you are wondering, the future looks bright as we continue to meet spending goals by staying on budget. We have these meetings on a regular basis in person. We normally have a few minutes before or after to catch up on how our families are or the latest hot topic on someone’s mind that day. While these things don’t really get us farther along on finances, they are the human part to working together. Oftentimes when you sit down to a digital meeting, you login with a minute to spare and don’t take a breath and catch up with one another. Even in our hectic lives I hope you will remember to catch up and check on one another.
Back to finishing the thought that I started with above. I pride myself on having a very diverse news feed on social media. I have mask people. I have anti-mask people. I have extremists on both sides along with many like myself that fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. Masks in Indiana have been mandated since July. I don’t really believe anything said or typed at this point will suddenly make someone change their mind on them. While being quarantined this week, I have had to rely on my team to keep things running smooth. Getting through this pandemic is much the same in that it takes a team. It takes teammates that are willing to do their part. Wash your hands regularly, social distance, avoid large crowds, and if you can wear your mask. Now before you start your checklist of reasons that you disagree with that last sentence I hope you will realize that all four of these items help, but are not individual magic bullet solutions. As I type this many friends and family members pop into my head on how they will argue their point of view. This is great if any one piece of the puzzle was the one piece that stops this. Many are so focused on arguing the mask portion that they forget the others. Next time you type “Wear the damn mask” or “If masks work why are the numbers going up?” remember this quote from American novelist Edith Wharton, "There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." As I am not the light I will instead make sure as the mirror I reflect the light as positively as possible.