Qurator2018 Membership - Request for Inclusion

The always fabulous @goldendawne is offering the incredible opportunity of qurator membership. Here I go, throwing my hat into the ring with a request for inclusion. @goldendawne did ask for us to "speak from the heart" - my heart is super serious and full of over-analyzing, so this might not be as light as others!

I feel qualified for this, as it exemplifies the ideas behind servant leadership. This might be a new term for some! I admit that it's new for me in the past couple of years. The “servant leadership” phrase was developed by Robert Greenleaf back in 1970. He says:

"The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. ... Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? ... A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible."

ain't nothin' more hardcore than ladies with tools

During nine months of 2015 into 2016, I went through a training that was based on the idea of servant leadership. I tell you what - I went in kicking and screaming, and came out a believer. Never having children, this is the closest I will ever get to childbirth. Once a month, we (as a group of 30) attended a full day of immersion learning in multiple areas of the county, experiencing our economy, politics, arts, the local Native communities, law enforcement, and more. In a group of five, we held weekly meetings and created a project that we had to develop, fund-raise for, tracked KPIs (key performance indicators) and then present to an audience of over 100. It was amazing! I helped birth a three-piece community leadership project that gave back to hundreds of needy school children in our area. This was definitely my first "baby." The best news is - the project still has impact as new students come in!

In 2017, something happened again ... and I incubated a local political campaign & helped a friend to birth his dream of service to the community. Servant leadership once more. How could we best tell his story? What's a comfortable way for him to meet voters? Could this be a good idea for the website - for social media - for printed material? Tonight, I have the joy of seeing him sworn into his elected position. We did it!!

Now in 2018, I have a new opportunity! I can feel the STEEM movement inside of me - inside of so many of us - growing and expanding. I feel the questions that are developing: what can be done to nourish this? To help promote the best content? To give back to this community that loves sharing so much?

2018 is going to be a kickin' awesome year!

By being a member of qurator I can give back to a support system that has already given so much. My visibility, status and reputation will grow in relation to the community. I will grow as a person. Our homestead will grow - and flourish. There will be less waste, more vegetables, lots of dirt under my fingernails (that are never short enough!!), and possibly a little more coffee on the weekends. Flowers will bloom, harvests will be preserved, and no doubt mistakes will be made. That's where the community comes in again - if we can learn, or others can be educated, from mistakes ... then it's not so bad after all.

Ok, phew, that was pretty serious - let's lighten it up a bit.
According to my baby book, my first three words were "dada, mama, tractor" - in that order. My first complete sentence was "Go see cows!" and some of my earliest memories are helping my Granma get fresh green beans from her garden ready for a meal. I'd like to think that she's still whispering secrets in my ear when I'm trying to figure out what to do next.

my dad's tractor is cooler than your dad's tractor