A
Tribe of Local Santas
It began
with an image of a mother and her two children, one prominently displayed by
Christmas Come True (2015), sitting outside a local business, baby stroller
parked, and holding three cardboard signs that read, “Homeless, God Bless,
Homeless, Please Help, and God Bless”. It has grown to into a movement that,
according to Observer Staff (2015), has helped more than “96 families, with 295
children” benefit from and enjoy a “Christmas dinner, new clothing, gifts, and
Christmas stockings filled with personal hygiene items”. Seth Godin, in his
presentation before TED2009 (2009), defines tribes as those who lead and
connect people and ideas. Nadine King, Christmas Come True’s tribal leader, saw
“a piece of the status quo” (TED2009, 2009) in Flagler County, wherein the “average
income for over 5,600 Flagler County residents” fell below $21,000 and the
annual poverty rate of $23,050, and decided to make a change by leading
(Christmas Come True, 2015). What if she had adopted excuses rather than “finding
true believers” in order to start and expand her movement (TED2009, 2009)?
Watkins’
(2011) presentation looks at “50 Reason Not to Change!”. The concept of change
is imagined as a process wherein a door of imagination, once unlocked, opens to
a “land of both shadows and substance of things and ideas you just crossed over”
only to reach “The Twilight Zone” (Watkins, 2011). Excuses such as: “too much
trouble”, “it can’t be done”, it’s impossible” , and “it’s not my job” are but
a few King could have easily adopted and moved on with her life while simply
observing the plethora of cardboard signs held by the homeless that span the
populous of Flagler County (Watkins, 2011). We’ve all had those moments. An
immediate “I can’t” comes to mind. I learned early, from my grandmother, an old
Southern saying, “can’t never could do anything except stick in the mud and
holler for help”. I used to ponder its meaning; but, now, I understand and have
so for years. The late Jiddu Krishnamurti queries what keeps us, as humans,
from change (as cited in Watkins, 2011). Citing that which will happen if we
fail to change, becoming nationalistic, tribal, insular, isolated, without
relationships, and constant warring; Krishnamurti observes it is either our
superficiality, our immediate need to have our satisfactions met, or a simple
lack of caring that prevents us from change (Watkins, 2011). Yet, he concludes that
“life is one global unity movement” (as cited in Watkins, 2011); and, this
explains Godin’s tribal theory (TED2009, 2009).
As Godin
observes, making change by leading means the leader cannot abide by the status
quo (TED2009, 2009). King states because she had seen “so many families suffer”,
she decided to upset the status quo of simply nodding and walking by families
holding cardboard signs by connecting retailers and services in order to lead a
movement that has reached more than “484 families (with 1373 children)” in a
short span of just seven years (Christmas Come True, 2015). She didn’t need the
entire community to bring about change. She accomplishes her achievements
through volunteers of “true believers” who are “not forced” ; but, “want to
connect” with others in order to address the needs of families in her community
(TED2009, 2009). Like King, the word “No” has become less and less a part of my
own vocabulary. "Why" has taken its place, particularly when change is resisted. Why is it too much trouble? Why can't it be done? Why is it impossible? Why is it not my job? Asking why accomplishes so much more than saying "No". Overcoming any negative begins by replacing the negative with a positive. No we
shouldn’t, becomes Yes, we can. When this attitude is adopted rather than
resisted, we find we haven’t crossed into the Twilight Zone; rather we have a
road that allows us to challenge, create a culture, connect, and commit to a
movement that brings something as simple as Christmas Come True into the lives
of many.
References
Christmas Come True. (2015). Our
Christmas Giving Project. Retrieved from
Observer Staff. (2015, Oct. 28).
Flagler residents and businesses help Christmas Come
True
shine During Make a Difference Day. Palm
Coast Observer. Retrieved
TED2009. (2009, Feb.). Seth
Godin: The tribes we lead. [Video file]. Retrieved from
Watkins, D. (2011, Aug. 24). 50
Reasons Not to Change!. [Video file]. Retrieved from
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