Pulling Weeds in Faribault

Everyone I talk with lately wants to talk about pulling weeds.  I started to notice this trend when my daily conversations with my best friend started with a discussion about weed pulling, for the tenth day in a row.  It does not end there, I have had conversations with people at the grocery store and the hardware store about, you guessed it, pulling weeds. I called my sister yesterday and we talked about needing to pull weeds.  What is going on with this weed obsession?  After thinking about it for a bit, I realized this is not about weed pulling at all, but about something that you can do that allows you to identify progress.  You pull 50 weeds and turn around, and your garden or your landscaping looks great, which makes you feel satisfied that you accomplished something.  You can see progress.  In these uncertain times, we desperately need to do something tangible that allows us to visualize progress.

Taking this weed-pulling analogy into community life, let’s imagine some things we can do in our community that, like pulling weeds, are easy to do and can show some real progress.  I have made a top three list, but you can think of many more “weeds to pull” if you think about it for a minute.  My top three things to do to make real progress in making Rice County a better place to live are:

1. Talk directly with a total stranger.  Making small talk with others is one way that we can be participants in a civil society.  It is also a way to break down social barriers and connect.  We can communicate caring and concern just by talking with others.  One of the major public health problems recently identified by the World Health Organization is the epidemic of loneliness.  It is a real and serious thing.  All we need to do to help combat loneliness is to talk with others when we are out and about in the community.
2. Support the community by showing up.  The local newspaper is chock-full of local events ranging from concerts in the park to bird watching at the Nature Center.  Pick something and show up and have some fun.  Community organizations spend hours organizing events for the purpose of building a better community, and the least we can do is show up for some of it.  You don’t need to go to every single event but pick something and then when you are there-talk with someone.
3. Contribute to good causes.  This one is near and dear to my heart because I am involved in a charitable non-profit that needs contributions to continue our mission.  Ruth’s House is not the only good cause in our community.  Pick something you care about and donate to it.  It could be a service club or your church, or one of many foundations and mission-driven charities.  Even a small donation, the cost of a cup of coffee matters, and you will be doing something that helps others and makes our community kinder and safer, and better for yourself and others.

I think that if everyone picked some things to do that are easy to identify and help to make real
progress for our community, we won’t have to talk endlessly about pulling weeds, but instead we
can talk about what a wonderful community we live in and how we are involved in making it
better.

Susan Stout
Ruth’s House/Sarah’s House Outreach Coordinator