We live in a great, small resort town. This town is my home, my community and I adore it. I love the summer when things come to life. I love all the visitors, tourists. I love seeing our town overrun by people. I love how long it takes to get through such a small block in town. I love the traffic, the things to do. I love the restaurants, I love the excitement. I love where I live.
Towards the end of summer, early fall, you could say that the town starts to "quiet down". But for our town, all that means is that the locals come out in full force and it is still busy as hell and I love that too. As the tourists are leaving, the people that live here are still taking every ounce of summer living and loving their town.
In the winter, there is a quiet and white blanket that is thrown over our town. We all huddle into our homes, hibernate and brave the cold by finding outdoor activities we can do. The second there is a warm day, the town explodes all over again.
As with all things that you love and with this love, comes work that needs to be done. I have never been one to stick my head in the ground and pretend something does not exist, but it wasn't until recently that I realized how much work there is to do here. The lack of diversity has always been apparent, the fact that my children will not see the real world represented has always bothered me, but the reasons why there is so much lack of diversity is awful. Hearing from those that live here and the struggles they have been through, seeing others fight equity and inclusion has been heartbreaking, and unfortunately, the work is only beginning.
With the resort feel comes money, a lot of it. With money, there comes power. With a lack of diversity, there comes a lack of empathy. With a lack of empathy, there is a lack of caring and it is painful. It is painful to know and hear and see that we are so far behind where we need to be.
When you know better, you must do better.
The fall season in my resort town is here. I can see a change. The nights are a bit cooler, the mornings are just plain cold, sweatshirts are needed, I even have a heavier blanket when I sleep. Seasons are changing. And it is time for us all to take a closer look at what we love and change what we know needs to change. When you know better, you just do better.
I love you enough to work on you and work for you.
