If you haven't figured out from all my annoying social media posts, for the last month and a half-ish, I've been involved with this cleanup project of the lower Provo River. Let's talk a little bit about that.
So, my dad and I went kayaking on Father's Day weekend. As we traveled along the GORGEOUS river-way, we saw these big pockets of trash floating on top of the river and through the water we could see some larger stuff, like tires and lawn chairs, beneath the surface. I couldn't believe it. It was sad and frustrating to see this area being trashed. I started to get really jazzed about doing something to remedy this but once we left the river my motivation dwindled. I figured I'd just let it go. Someone else could take care of it.
Well, at the time my dad was working for the local newspaper. Unannounced to me, he wrote and published an article about our little trip and my idea to get this part of the river cleaned up. After the article was published, he told me that there were quite a few people interested in getting involved. That was pretty exciting and I decided that I really was going to do this project. By the next week, we had met with Provo's mayor and were working with some local realtors to get this project going.
I didn't do this project because I wanted attention. I definitely didn't want the attention. And I didn't do it because it looks good on a resume, though you better bet it'll be on there. I saw an area that could be used for so much more than it was. When my dad and I were kayaking that section of river, I had visions of grandeur for this little area--and I still do. But the thought that this area wasn't what it could be because of the poor choices of some and the neglect of others, that broke my heart.
Honestly, I felt I wasn't adequate enough to do anything about this and because of that feeling, I almost didn't do anything about it. By myself, I really couldn't have made a difference. But when I had the city's mayor and a team of realtors on my side--people with actual pull in the community--and they helped let others know of the problem and the plan to fix it, all the sudden I could make a difference.
It was a really interesting experience for me to work on and organize this event. I've never done anything like this before and the only thing I could compare it to was an Eagle Scout project. I've watched my brothers work on their own Eagle projects and I have huge amount of respect for them for it. However, as I worked on a project of my own, I gained much more respect for my father. I'll explain.
There were a lot of people who stepped up and helped out with this project. To name a few, Mayor John Curtis of Provo and other city/county officials, Bill Freeze and Taylor Oldroyd with the Utah County Association of Realtors, my family/friends and other community members, were all so super supportive throughout the whole process. While this event wouldn't have been successful without their help, I couldn't have done this, I would not have been able to go through with any of this without the help and support of my dad.
I joke that my dad got me into this mess, but really, he was with me every step of the way. He went to all the important meetings with me, he went down to the river with me to scope out the scene and he helped me figure out what we needed. As we started out with this project, I needed a lot of hand holding and I consulted with him on everything. But he never did anything for me. He let me take charge. He made me schedule all the important meetings, and he would say things like, "You need to contact so-and-so about this" or "Where are we on that?" He really let me run this thing even though he easily could have. I'm so glad he let me learn how to take the lead in this capacity because as the actual event drew closer, I had a much greater capacity to get things together on my own. I don't like being out of my element, that's so scary to me. But the way my dad helped me with this project, I never felt like I wasn't capable of doing this. I will forever be grateful to my dad for the confidence he has had in me.
Like I said, I didn't take on this project so I could be an event-organizing, environmentalist superstar. I just wanted to help this area reach a potential that I feel could really benefit our community. I started out feeling small, inadequate, insignificant, and unimportant. As I've shared my vision with others, I have been shocked to find that I am not the only one who wants to improve this area. Those who share that vision have helped to me to feel SO important. I really feel like I've made a lasting change in this area. Again, by myself, I couldn't have made a difference. I could've gone to pick up some stuff, barely made a dent in what needed to be done, and let my efforts go by unnoticed most likely resulting in a continued problem of a trashy lower Provo River. Instead I was given an opportunity to make people aware of this issue and bring people together to make a change. I hope every person who was involved in any way with the cleanup work done today knows and understands and feels how important their work was. Because it was so important.
You don't have to be the most qualified person to make a difference in this world. You just have to be willing.
What I'm listening to:
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Where We Gonna Go From Here - Mat Kearney
Title - Meghan Trainor
Tearing Up My Heart - N*SYNC
Get It Right - Oh Honey
My roommate snoring
Well, at the time my dad was working for the local newspaper. Unannounced to me, he wrote and published an article about our little trip and my idea to get this part of the river cleaned up. After the article was published, he told me that there were quite a few people interested in getting involved. That was pretty exciting and I decided that I really was going to do this project. By the next week, we had met with Provo's mayor and were working with some local realtors to get this project going.
I didn't do this project because I wanted attention. I definitely didn't want the attention. And I didn't do it because it looks good on a resume, though you better bet it'll be on there. I saw an area that could be used for so much more than it was. When my dad and I were kayaking that section of river, I had visions of grandeur for this little area--and I still do. But the thought that this area wasn't what it could be because of the poor choices of some and the neglect of others, that broke my heart.
There were a lot of people who stepped up and helped out with this project. To name a few, Mayor John Curtis of Provo and other city/county officials, Bill Freeze and Taylor Oldroyd with the Utah County Association of Realtors, my family/friends and other community members, were all so super supportive throughout the whole process. While this event wouldn't have been successful without their help, I couldn't have done this, I would not have been able to go through with any of this without the help and support of my dad.
Like I said, I didn't take on this project so I could be an event-organizing, environmentalist superstar. I just wanted to help this area reach a potential that I feel could really benefit our community. I started out feeling small, inadequate, insignificant, and unimportant. As I've shared my vision with others, I have been shocked to find that I am not the only one who wants to improve this area. Those who share that vision have helped to me to feel SO important. I really feel like I've made a lasting change in this area. Again, by myself, I couldn't have made a difference. I could've gone to pick up some stuff, barely made a dent in what needed to be done, and let my efforts go by unnoticed most likely resulting in a continued problem of a trashy lower Provo River. Instead I was given an opportunity to make people aware of this issue and bring people together to make a change. I hope every person who was involved in any way with the cleanup work done today knows and understands and feels how important their work was. Because it was so important.
You don't have to be the most qualified person to make a difference in this world. You just have to be willing.
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Where We Gonna Go From Here - Mat Kearney
Title - Meghan Trainor
Tearing Up My Heart - N*SYNC
Get It Right - Oh Honey
My roommate snoring
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