Right now, all the beauty's tangled up with Occupy Wall Street and the local implementations, which I've just been lurking on. Thanks to DK I got to follow this from the beginning, and am very inspired by the success of this movement, and in particular the emphasis on consensus-based action that is focussed on building allies. I'm too focussed on my specific projects to be able to participate meaningfully in OWS, but Carry On, you Sweet Angels!
So for those of us sleeping in parks tonight, and those of us thinking of those of us who are sleeping in parks tonight, let's talk beauty. Let's talk about your last Most Beautiful Moment. I walked past a three-year old today, backlit by a close-to-setting sun, very happily swinging a stick she'd found, that I was well-tempted to frame up and photograph, but I had no camera, and was on my way to another moment of beauty. I'll tell you mine if you'll tell me yours...
I work with a very grassroots non-profit, focussed on environmental education and restoration, that does fantastic work with minimal resources. I have put a lot of my time and energy into this organisation, because I fully believe in and support the mission. Much of that time and energy has not included financial compensation, but a bit part of my commitment is to building this organisation up to the point where we're receiving adequate funding to support our work.
We spent a very intense week putting together a grant proposal that I honestly didn't expect us to get - it was an ambitious and creative grant, that I wasn't confident met the expectations of the funders. It was a grant that I wanted to make happen, so I figured even if it didn't come through, we would have put together an adequate outline.
Also, I hate grantwriting, hate working out all the details and logistics and budgets and compliance and so on. I have a BA-Lit degree, which has in my 15 years since graduation, never explicitly served a necessary function in any of my jobs, but did of course give me all the analytic/critical skills to build a strong narrative into our grant proposal. We submitted the grant 30 minutes before the deadline, which was pretty damn impressive, compared to my last-minute university track record.
Point being, WE GOT THE GRANT! This is a really big step for us, and will let us take our programs to the next level, and effect some serious change (on a local/community level). I just got back from an event at the Capitol, and it's SO EXCITING that our work is being recognized and supported at this level. We're so used to working on our own, dealing with local challenges and trying to pull off ambitious commitments with minimal resources and support, that actually getting full funding and support for one of our initiatives is still pretty mind-blowing.
So how about you, what's your recent moment of beauty?