April 27th, 2016
Why are you doing this, this way?
As I approach my three-month anniversary (yep, I’m the newbie!) with Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region, I find myself taking stock often.
Taking stock- what does that mean? It means I’m often asking myself how I feel, what do I think of this and that, or how does this fit into a goal much bigger than what I see right now.
Through my first couple of weeks, our Executive Director was challenging me often to share my questions, to outwardly ask about the things the corporate world often asks us to hide. She was asking me to take stock.
“Why are we doing this?”
But more importantly, “why are we doing this, this way?”
Alike the marketing world that I’m coming from, doing something just for the sake of doing isn’t nearly as important as the intention. Why did we choose that picture instead of this picture, or this word instead of that? What did we want the viewer to take away from this piece of collateral?
The journey we take creates an intimate approach to what affects us and what doesn’t. When you a watch video on Facebook, like this video of two monkeys being paid inequitably for their behaviour, how does it make you feel? Was it a cute video of monkeys eating bananas (didn’t affect you), or was it a video that identifies a systemic problem in society, and the outrage we should be feel towards equal work for unequal pay (affected you)?
Working at Extend-A-Family Waterloo Region is much the same. Superficially, I could look at my work as helping a community grow and prosper. But it’s much more than that. By sharing sometimes controversial, racy topics, our organization is asking folks to feel and make change. We’re asking you to watch what could be just a cute video, but to go a step (or two) deeper. We want you to engage in the discussion we have every day, and even perhaps share it with friends. Our hope is that if we can talk about it, we can change it.
What you see on our social media accounts (check ‘em out if you haven’t liked or followed us already) are conversations, debates, and moments that have stopped us, and asked us to take stock.
While I’m still new here, my eyes are much like yours. There is much to learn, to feel, and to discuss. Share your thoughts and discuss what we post, because I want to hear from you. We can all learn and take stock from each other.
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About Annie Knight: Hey there! I’m the new kid around these parts, and hoping to make a lasting impact with our community. Passion is the key to anything you might do, so find what you’re passionate about and give it your all. Cheeseball at heart, if I’m not on the baseball diamond, you’ll find me with camera in hand or with nieces and nephews in tow. Ever want to grab a coffee and dream about the world around us, connect with me.