It is mid-January and the year started with the spectacular level of uncertainty that has come to characterize these times. Shutdowns with the Omicron variant and the resulting apprenticeship program delays. A roof leak in the space we are moving into. A major snowstorm that impedes travel – trips to the post office. Then a major ice storm. Every single business service we rely on short of staff, important papers lost in the mail. When I think about forward movement I imagine myself leaning entirely into the wind of a blizzard of Covid, worker shortages, supply delays and an actual winter blizzard that takes a mighty ice fist and smashes your careful planning and grins at your meagre paper calendar. In a way it is a reminder that nothing magical happened to right the world when the calendar changed from December 2021 to January 2022 in spite of those parts of us that are so craving a world that feels more normal and dependable.
But I think there is actually a very real setting of the tempo that is occurring which is worth taking note of. Here I am speaking not of constant delays but of the demand that we go with the flow if we want to make any progress at all. That we wake up each day with the flexibility of spirit to move where we can and pause and redirect when we can’t.
In weeks such as these I come back to the thought that we cannot stand still and do nothing until the world returns to normal. That is just not going to happen. We are the change we’ve been waiting for. And so we put one foot in front of the other in the blizzards of these times and we make steady progress or we rest to try again tomorrow. We are compassionate with ourselves, we are compassionate with each other, especially the worker who answers the phone to field our challenges about lost packages or bank cards or whatever. I am honest with the Founder’s Circle members who are so generously supporting our work on the blouse – it isn’t going to be a rapid process – but we are so incredibly grateful for the time to make it awesome. With each small success we are building hope and optimism about making changes to better our community and our world in spite of all the obstacles. We expanded our circle of support from the sewers and the local organizations supporting our work and you reading this letter to women from around the country who are participating in the Founder’s Circle.
In spite of all the delays we have begun our virtual measurement sessions – video consultations with our Founders to accurately guide them through the measurements, create a connection with our clients and begin the process of making them a beautiful, custom-fit Boss Blouse. We are doing this folks and we are cheering you on as you carefully shepherd your dreams through the blizzard.
Go, fight, win.
Reid