Wordsmith Challenge 2

If you could run the country for a day, what’s one change you’d like to make.

One day. Twenty four hours. In the middle of a partisan feud fueled by ego and righteousness. In the middle of a pandemic, fueling fear and anxiety. In the middle of an epoch shift that pushes away from individualism and leans into collectivism. That is a helluva time to enter leadership…for a day.

In this one day I get one change to make…systems work isn’t by magic. When the dominos fall, all we see is the result, but we do not see the hours it takes to set them up. The numerous times in which the table was bumped and they all fell. The restarts, the apologies, the anger, the resolve. We don’t see all the work, we just get to be an audience, wowed by the wonder of it. How did they do that? ingenuity, adjustments, tears, frustration, practice, and patience. How did they do that? Commitment to it. To the magic, to the result.

I would want to set up the first domino, and that starts with the people. I would bring in a host of therapy animals and trained coaches/community health workers to listen. To listen to how these staffers have devoted themselves to serving people through a pandemic. To listen to what it is that brought them to this government role, to serve the country, to serve the people.

Then, after the people of whom those staffers serve joined our conversation, we would start looking at the inequities this pandemic has unearthed and risen to the forefront of our broken system. In the human service industry there is a mantra: “Not about us, without us.” and it seems that is a modern way of saying “of the people, by the people, for the people.” And isn’t that the role of elected officials? To represent the voice of all their constituents, not just those who voted for them. But I digress. My point, is together we would co-create a defined standard of living that is a basic right of all humans, dismantle a system built by and for white culture, and work toward a future in which every human has the ability and autonomy to reach their full potential.

One day doesn’t allow for much, unless I am given Hermione’s time turner, but this feels like a good place to start. Invest in those who are doing the work of the policies, and invest in the co-creation of something new and more appropriate for where we are now…and we are all equally human, now we need a country that represents and honors that.