“Two Out of Three Ain’t BAD [Inc.]“
So, many of you may have noticed that our one week sojourn at home has turned into a three week hiatus (due to a lack in updates and posts). I want to qualm anyone’s fears or suspicions that BAD, Inc. has discontinued its mission. In fact, we have been working these past few weeks to make sure that our mission is as solid as we hold it to be, and I believe we have discovered that it is.
Over the course of these three weeks, we have gotten some important paperwork completed (thank you Mickie Rinehart), networked with a few people who are supportive and connected, determined where our next few travels will take us, re-painted and double-checked the van, and worked on some personal issues that needed to be unearthed. It is these that I would like to take a moment to reflect on.
BAD, Inc. is a legitimate nonprofit organization and, as directors, we believe wholeheartedly in our mission, which is “to promote the people and initiatives of the extensive nonprofit sector and the concept of working for a purpose rather than profitability” (as stated in our newly-drafted bylaws!). All three of us are fully dedicated to this mission, and that dedication is enough to keep us moving and grooving. Let’s hold onto that as an overarchingly important given.
At the same time, we are three passionate, strong-headed friends and siblings in our early-twenties who have been and will be living together in very close quarters. Our one-week stay was prolonged not only by necessary organizational development, but also by some badly needed personal and communal reflection.
Is this something that we want to do and feel confidant that we are able to continue doing? YES.
Will we be able to get back into that van and maintain respect and honesty with one another? WHO KNOWS?
In fact, one of us almost reached the point of saying that he or she should not continue along in order to maintain the authenticity of BAD, Inc. There was some confusion as to whether or not this individual was able to be a productive member given his or her personal uncertainties. However, after some honest, feel-it-in-your-bones conversation, I (and I believe I can speak for the three of us) have come to the conclusion that it would be utterly impossible for any two of us to continue BAD’s mission. We are all three so deeply embedded into the fabric of Being And Doing that for two of us to continue without the third would be an absurdity. Being And Doing is three words, three people, one organization, with one purpose: to amplify Good energy and Good people.
We have been forced to mature very quickly, and we are all at different stages of development. It took some intense pushing back and forth before being able to settle into respectful and sustainable roles. I touched on Empedocles’s concept of Love and Strife in my post about Zamforia Industries, and the concept is just as applicable to the dynamics of BAD. Love and Strife are two forces of nature that occur concurrently and constantly, and they need to maintain a balance for equilibrium. They push and pull before realizing that they simply have to deal with each other, otherwise chaos is the name of the game; and chaos is, by definition, crazy.
So, all questions of dedication and ability are out of the way. We have come to terms with the fact that we cannot read one another’s minds, and that we might not always be on the same page when it comes to our respective personal motivations; but the one thing we have determined is that the whole is more than the sum of its parts, and we need all the parts for the whole to function properly.
The "whole" working smoothly (no way are we done)
The whole of Being And Doing is set to hit the road again, hopefully with newfound respect and vision. We will be leaving for the Windy City on Sunday to work with a shelter for victims of domestic abuse, and then it is up into the wilds of Michigan to be of service at a national forest. Thank you for your patience and your support, stay tuned as we continue to develop our ability to express our mission on our website and hopefully help create a family of nonprofits across the country.
p.s. I would like to take this post-script to remind you that we have been working on our organization’s development the entire time we have been home. There is no such thing as wasted time as long as it is being wasted on something you care deeply about.
0 Comments to ““Two Out of Three Ain’t BAD [Inc.]“”
No Comments. Send your comment.
Leave a Reply