The Journey to this Point

In October my son, who had been learning at home for 3 years, returned to school. All of a sudden I had some time and freedom to more actively pursue my career. I work as a business consultant doing mostly bookkeeping for small businesses. I was hoping to move into a different direction where I could support and develop a sustainable community.

My first idea was to put together a sustainable business directory for the Okanagan. I set to work on that path, but very quickly I ran into some obstacles. I got stuck on the questions of what is a sustainable business and who would decide whether a business qualified to be in the directory. I realized that one person's idea of sustainable or 'green' can be quite different from another person's. I ended up going around and around in circles wrestling with how to be fair to businesses while also maintaining the integrity of the directory.

A month or so after that, a friend approached me and told me about a business network that was doing great work in Bellingham, WA. After looking into Sustainable Connections in Washington I got really excited. They were not only producing a green business directory, but they were also a membership organization that was putting on events and running campaigns to promote the local economy. What was even better was that they had documented some of their projects and were selling a complete package to help other regions set up similar organizations.

This seemed like such a great plan, and yet even that didn't come together as I imagined it would. I was conflicted between wanting (and let's face it, needing) paid employment but also feeling strongly about creating the network for the good of the community. I didn't really see a way of doing both right from the start.

So, this project has been percolating in the back of my mind for months as I have been building up my consulting business. I love the Okanagan and I have such a strong desire to see it grow and prosper as a friendly, healthy and sustainable community. I would love to see it develop a truly unique culture with strong 'green' values. I also love being able to pay my bills and I am thankful for the accounting work that I do. This leaves me with only a small amount of time to devote to this tug that I feel in my heart to do something for the community.

I have been thinking about what I could do to at least make a start on this project. It occurred to me a few days ago that I could start this blog and that perhaps it will grow and others will feel called to join in and help this idea to take root.

So here it is - my first post. I welcome you to leave comments, make suggestions. Leave a comment if you would like to contribute an article or if you would like your organization to have a link on this site.