Monday, December 28, 2009

Announcement: January 5th "Homeland Improvement Day"

   On this January 5th, celebrate the first of our nation's newest holiday, “Homeland Improvement Day.” Hone in on one issue that concerns, frightens, or just plain drives you berserk about the United States and the way we operate, function, relate, create, consume, or destroy. It can be political, societal, structural, environmental, educational, or any other “-al.”

Commit yourself to taking a step, big or small, toward the change you desire!

Think of planting a tree.

If you have already planted, commit to deepening the roots or expanding the breadth of the branches, or plant another. The more trees, the more ground we will cover, and the sooner the roots and branches will touch and tangle with each other.

Chat about it here; share with others, ask questions, network, consult, give and get advice, hold virtual hands... that kind of thing. Interlace the branches. Spread the roots.

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The Story

On July 4, 2009, while driving between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., two sisters took turns shouting out praises for the good ole' US of A. Uplifting adorations quickly turned into a “yes, but...” session after the younger (and more idealistic) sister's mind kept wandering into Utopian visions spawned by travels through romantic lands and wishes that things could be just a little more this or a lot more that.

The elder (and wiser) sister froze the criticisms mid-track and decidedly declared, "Today, let's be positive. In six months, we will focus on these problems, choose one, and commit to taking one step toward effecting the change we want to see." Eureka! From the belly of our nation's capital, in the year of the inauguration of “Yes We Can,” it is an idea borne from a need to change our thinking, to channel complaints into action, to walk the talk, and to do it with intention and completion.

Somehow, the elder (and zanier) kept saying January 5th instead of January 4th, and so it was realized that January 5th it must be. At the foot of the Washington Monument, waiting for darkness to explode into wildly colored booms and bangs, family collaborated to coin "Homeland Improvement Day,” a new holiday celebrating a familiar and sage mission.

(It's a play on "Homeland Security" and "Home Improvement, 'harh harh,' Tim Allen style.)

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