Stuck on Mediocre
Matthew Kelly, the author of many books on the Catholic faith, coined the term “be the best version of yourself.” Those six words are the epitome of the individual – don’t be someone else, be yourself and do it with grand splendor. Fort Wayne take those words to heart! “Be(come) the best version of yourself.”
Fort Wayne with its bounty of historic homes, great parks and friendly people, has become stuck in the mud. Yes, we have accepted a mediocre lifestyle. Just travel down a street in the Summit City, and you will see at least two or three gas stations. No, we don’t all drives SUVs. But we have accepted the mediocre lifestyle of low-paying, low-tech/low-creative jobs, which has led to a gluttony of low-level services. Simply, we have too many gas stations, big box stores and fast-food restaurants.
And our gas-pump filled streets, lead to the glories of the newer baseball stadium or the interstate, they rarely lead us to places of true innovation. Yes, we have places where people can innovate a few things but not too many. Let’s be honest, Fort Wayne was the CITY, the city of innovation. The gas pump, television and calculator were invented, right here in the city. Yet, we have lost the luster to think outside the box. I remember asking people to come to an evening event, and critically think about what could be improved about downtown. To my disappointment, a few people came. The fact is WE are NOT too busy, come on, I see people posting to facebook and twitter in the evenings! The fact is WE in Fort Wayne are LAZY! Come on, instead of arguing about the mayor’s salary and naming of the City’s new building, we need – WE MUST – start arguing about WHO works the LONGEST hours (17 hours days are very fulfilling) and WHO is CHANGING Fort Wayne with grass roots, not government, efforts.
Maybe it is all that ISTEP testing in our public schools these days that has made city residents lose the ability to reason and think rationally, and think outside the box! Which must realize that the schools’ focus on the tests is causing our children to lose out on important lessons on creativity – art and music. And while the STEM effort is great, we need to be cautious. Science, technology, engineer and math are really great to focus on, however if we don’t produce our children with lessons in literature, arts and foreign langauges. Ponder this! China is poised to become the next greater player, even larger than the U.S., in the economy, yet no high school in Fort Wayne is teaching Manadrin. The fact is if we invent something great in Fort Wayne, because of the language barrier, there will is a great chance in not selling it to the Chinese. The well respected Zhao Young, implies that “American companies lose an estimated $2 billion a year due to inadequate cross-cultural guidance for their employees in multicultural situations. U.S.-based multinational corporations employed 21.8 million workers in the United States in 2003, accounting for one-fifth of total U.S. non-government employment.” If those 40 and younger are NOT well-cultured we will lose out on multiple contracts around the world. This is beyond going to George’s for Taco, but learning the languages spoken here and around the world, understanding the religions of the world and the cultural affects, so an individual NOT like ourselves is offended. Due to Fort Wayne, it is very easy to immerse yourself in several communities from the Burmese to the Guatemalan to the Japanese. It is imperative for each person, if we are to be a global competitor to understand the role of race, religion and ethnicity on capitalism. Citizens we MUST go beyond “Ming La ba, na kaing, soy mu, y tu? We must immerse ourselves into the world cultures, so we can become a global force.
As we just concluded the primary races, we realize have the same old same people and same circles of people and families who are running for government, and the same story more government or less government, but we are not seeing individuals step up and do something bold. We need fearless leaders, not politicians! For those individuals of great faith, there is a question “Would you die for your cause?” Think about it. Would you put your life on the line for city of Fort Wayne – to make it great? WE NEED BOLD LEADERSHIP - people who are boldly passionate, willing to sacrifice their lives for their fellow community members. We need individuals to make bold grassroot efforts and will not be afraid to come at odds to get something done. We need the bold leadership that has existed in the lives of Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Jr. and other legendary figures.
As I write this, I think about the places I love to frequent. One of those places is a great coffeehouse on South Wayne, The Friendly Fox, that I e to visit frequently. The small strip filled with old buildings, set in the historic South Wayne neighborhood, would the perfect spot for an artist gallery, an old fashion dollar store or a clothing boutique. There a number of young vibrant families in the neighborhood, who would love to be in walking distance to a shop, where they could get basic household goods or a business where they could obtain the latest fashion goods in their backyards.
In terms with our love for food, we need to develop leadership in the area of agriculture. One can literally leave their downtown office and go to a farm and milk a cow in thirty minutes, or less! With that type of agricultural impact, there needs to be devotion paid to the growing small specialty food market, especially in the area of ethnic foods (70% of the meat eaten, each and everyday, worldwide is goat.), which will give rise to jobs – farm and nonfarm.
Lastly, as a fearless leader – who is willing to go against the grain – we need to make sure our brightest people do not leave. Right now, as I am looking at job opportunities, it’s slim pickings in Fort Wayne. And as individual, who has bills to pay, I will move outside of Fort Wayne and even, Indiana to have the strongest changes of the best career, so I may become the best-person-I-can-be. Fort Wayne it will be your challenge to be your best version of yourself, so you can help me become a better person, a better leader, a better servant. Let’s all get past the mediocrity. – jdean
1 Comment
This is an amazing article! So challenging and so true! I remember the South Wayne neighborhood, because just a few doors from the friendly Fox was the public library. I liked spending time there to learn new things – to be exposed to more access to the topics of interest to me.