The summer session of our state congress is coming to an end and town hall meetings are just around the corner. I, personally, can’t wait. You guys never really hear me talk about politics here on the blog and entwine them with Insanitek, but that’s because both my beliefs and the company’s mission go beyond keyboard activism and into the world to solve actual problems.

It’s not glorious activism, just taking care of mundane business related to everyday life of the community. You know, like how to get money to fix the roads we drive on, listening to my neighbours and taking notes, and speaking with my representatives in a way that doesn’t demand things. I even encourage my neighbours to speak with the representatives themselves about things.

I go in with no agenda and ask how I or Insanitek can be of service.

And having no agenda makes a huge difference. This was a difference I first noticed from where I served in the military at (Africa, Middle East) and when I first started to become more civic-minded here in America. In Africa and the Middle East they were concerned largely with making sure things were operational for day-to-day life. A lot of people asked each other how they could help and left the politicians out of it.

In America I heard some of this early on, but more and more it became people thinking they needed to be “warriors” of some sort for someone who didn’t ask for it. They needed to feel like they were doing something special, something bigger. It didn’t matter if it wasn’t the thing that people wanted, it was the thing that the warrior thought that everyone else needed. That’s a pretty self-centred approach.

Despite the raging indignation, living still happens.

People still need to eat, they need to be able to work, take care of their kids, and do other normal “life” things. We can’t let ourselves get bogged down with the rage taking place at the rallies and protests because that doesn’t help build our communities and make the world better.

Building each other and our community up is where our focus and energy needs to be at. If we focus on something outside what matters, we aren’t building what matters.

So, what matters?

What matters here are the basics. I want each of our students to have a clean, healthy, safe, productive environment to live and work in. I want them to have opportunities to help themselves while proving to themselves that they can do whatever they put their minds to ─ even if they are starting from rock bottom like I did.

This is more than enough to focus on. I look around my surroundings both at home and work and see trash on the ground. I see animal faeces everywhere from the geese. And then I see kids playing in and amongst it. Earlier this summer I saw a toddler try to eat goose poop. Their parents did nothing, but laugh. They laughed until the kid got seriously ill and they had to take him to the hospital. The experience educated them, but it shouldn’t have to be a kid’s experience that teaches parents that eating shit is unhealthy.

Lead by example and teach.

I pick up trash as often as I can. When people ask, I explain to them about bugs and diseases. I look them straight in the eyes and say, “I don’t want to be ill, so I’m cleaning it up from around my place.” Then, when they look at their patio, they realise they have a choice: live with it and the chances of getting ill or pick things up.

It’s a process that gets tiresome, but it’s powerful. Leading by example while encouraging others to take charge of their own lives and surroundings helps build a better community that we can all be proud of.

Complaints have dropped significantly while ownership has risen.

When someone complains about something around me, they know they can hear the reply, “So what are you going to do about it?” We all know we can’t rely on other people all the time to make things right. We have to be able to rely on ourselves and our communities to make things better.

Small ripples start to build out. A small effort becomes a larger effort. And, as we become more accustomed to our new standard, we can start building businesses that serve each other. This can change our community, make it stronger, and make it a better place to live. It’s not about politicians, town halls, being angry, and stomping our entitled feet. It’s bigger than statues. It’s about expecting better of ourselves and taking matters into our own hands. It’s about learning history and the lessons it holds, then applying it to our own lives. It’s genuinely giving a damn about one another and our homes enough to make things work efficiently.

This is what we teach at Insanitek by example, patient education, and encouraging each person to take ownership of their tiny fraction of the world.