Enough with the despair.

Act locally. There’s a lot to do, and no one can stop us from doing it.

I can – and do – thank Lu for this post. When I had written something even more dark than usual, she lamented it. We talked about it at breakfast, and she offered that I should write something positive about our current circumstance. We came up with this.

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

No matter what happens nationally and internationally, we still can work to improve the communities where we live. We have neighbors in need and groups that can transform our energy into good works.

If a problem speaks to you, there is almost certainly someone trying to solve it. Often specific organizations address specific causes – homelessness, hunger, literacy, domestic violence, re-entry into society after prison.

For example, Carlisle’s Rotary Club has a Rotary Veterans Initiative that provides job training and helps veteran entrepreneurs get new businesses off the ground.

Sometimes government agencies can use a hand, too. Carlisle’s community schools enlist volunteers who read to elementary students, mentor older students, and provide advice on solving thorny problems, among other things. School board members are volunteers, too.

Every contribution means something.

The Bookery at Bosler Memorial Library is a good example. Volunteers staff it, and the community supports it by donating interesting things – not just books – that The Bookery sells for a very reasonable price. I go there looking for jigsaw puzzles that I finish and then re-gift to The Bookery to sell again for another $2 or $3. The small donations and purchases that come from the community combine to provide more than $100,000 a year to the library’s budget.

If you want to honor a friend, Bosler will name a day for that book-lover for a $75 donation. Lu and I name our birthdays for each other.

Don’t get mad. Get busy.

When things in the larger world go wrong next year, make something go right where you live.

Who knows? Maybe inspiring people to take part in local events and solving local problems will inspire more of us to become interested in larger issues at the state and national levels. Maybe more of us will – as I wrote in an earlier post – sign up, speak up and show up.

Have a delicious Thanksgiving!