Root Issues - Make the connection

“People only see what they

are prepared to see.”

–   Ralph Waldo Emerson

(A shout-out to my friend, Rick Ruiz, who sends me a quote a day, like the one above.  They truly have been inspirational as I write the Gold Award Blog!)

We’re asking our girls to really get outside their comfort zone as they pursue the Gold Award.  I’ve heard from several, that it’s hard to get beyond the service project mentality of collecting things, since it’s something they’ve been doing since Daisies!  The girls are usually comfortable making the asks, creating collection boxes, picking up donations, visiting the non-profit and putting on a party.  A great service project! 

But where they are often less comfortable, is striking out in a new direction to make the project so much more!  And we, as advisors, really need to help give them the opportunity to see what is not familiar.  To potentially look at something mundane and open their minds to other possibilities.

I think that’s what Emerson was talking about:  how to look at something new, something uncomfortable, and not just compartmentalize it in a familiar way.  Rather, be surprised!  See the new idea or need, and take the next, perhaps unfamiliar and difficult, next steps to investigate it. 

This could be something as routine as seeing a homeless person panhandling on the street corner.  We’re prepared to see that.  But what aren’t we prepared to see?  The quality of his/her clothes?  The child sleeping in the back pack next to him?  The 3-legged dog?  The youngish non-graying hair with the heavily lined and browned face?  The multi generational family all panhandling together?

What other root issues could be addressed here?  Go beyond joblessness to the myriad of root causes at play here.  Help the girl see what she is not prepared to see.