Day 15

S Jay Ave, Rush City, MN

I had such a great time tonight! This blog is not only getting me off my butt and outside hiking, it is strengthening my relationships with people. This is the perfect excuse to get out and have amazing one on one conversations with friends and colleagues alike.  

After work today I walked around town with Nicole Sly, who is a very active community member and business owner (Perreault Chiropractic). Turns out, Nicole and I have a TON in common. We talked and talked and talked about the community for almost two hours and we had to set another day to talk even more about it! We are both so passionate about Rush City and work hard at making it a better place to live than it already is. 

Nicole sits on the Economic Development Authority for the City so we work closely together on a lot of projects. One of the projects that she has volunteered a ton of time for is the Thriving Communities Initiative that has been taking place, and we co-chair the resulting Shop Local Campaign together. 

Economic Development is quite the challenge these days but one of the reasons that I know Rush City will continue to thrive is because it is made up of community members like Nicole who give their heart and soul to their business/work and put even more of their time into volunteering. In my opinion there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer. 

It is so easy to get caught up in negativity, to post useless comments on Facebook, to demonstrate ignorance and to belittle the work of others. The harder path, which takes more strength and character, is staying positive, speaking kindly about and to your neighbors, and showing up for your community in constructive ways- instead of standing on the sidelines pointing fingers and passing judgement. I have been privileged to meet and work alongside many community champions like Nicole, who take those positive strides towards building their community. 

To Nicole and all of the other community champions- thank you for daring greatly. 

With gratitude, 

Jamie Lynn