Get Up
You don't need a ... college degree ... certificate ... years of training ... or a list of key reasons to start ...
Get up is how it starts ... Not reading a book about the best way to get up ...
Rise however you rise ... one motion will lead to the next movement ...
Begin from the street you live on ... the neighbors you already know ...
Every situation is small enough to touch and large enough to matter ...
We need to appreciate the ground under our feet well enough to move forward ... one step at a time ...
Don't fall into the trap of having meetings about budgets that will take too long to approve ... That type of professional language keeps regular people out of the picture ... Your voice carrying the problem before you doesn't need a committee ...
It's important to mention this isn't about tearing down institutions ... Many of them do very good work ... and are full of people who care deeply ... But the waiting game can be a trap ... Existing politely while a disaster might destroy something ... Thinking that more qualified people will soon arrive to take care of any damage already done ...
Transform instead of fixing and improving something ... Fixing assumes the structure is sound ... Improving assumes the direction is right ... Transformation asks the question: Should we instead create something else entirely? ... What if the way we've been doing this all along isn't the only way? ... What if the experts missed something that the wise grandmother on the corner knows? ...
For our neighbors ... For the children who will inherit what we leave behind ... For the Mississippi River that is our North Star compass of guidance and hope ...
The work is waiting for us to begin now.
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January 12, 2026
Staying Alive
Author: Oyparaploo
Methodology: Wonderful Garbage
Style: Noir Chanson
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