HERD ABOUT IT?

by Ana Grarian

I expect that this is a rather typical day in the life of an activist…….

6AM Get up, feed the cat, start the coffee, walk the dog
7AM Watch last nights episode of Rachel Maddow
8AM Wash dishes, start laundry
9AM Breakfast

10AM Fold and put away laundry

11AM Catch up on email, Facebook, read news articles
12 NOON Walk dog, check mail, get fresh coffee
1PM Rush to get blog written
2PM Get dressed for work

8PM Dinner
9PM Walk and feed dog
10PM Check email, Facebook and check blog for comments.
Read more articles, books, news reports
11PM Try to get some sleep

I have the luxury of being a semi-retired activist employed in a lovely progressive bookstore. My job puts me in contact with many sources of information for my cause(s). I find myself jotting down notes all afternoon at work in regards to this or that aspect of farming, the environment, hydrofracking, or rural social justice issues. I no longer have the responsibility of caring for small children on a 24/7 basis. In short-I am lucky when finding time to work for my causes – and yet – I’m always running short of time.

Compare this to the average person who is on the other side of the issue. The companies who are endagering the water, air, soil and community life of our small towns and rural areas, have “people” to take care of things. People whose job it is to find ways around regulations. These people aren’t trying to do this in their free time – it’s their job! And often they are so well paid to do this job, they hire someone else to do those household/family chores. Heck – they even have “people” to find the articles they need to read and to post their blogs.

Now of course there are professional activists. There are non-profis with funding enough to pay their employees. I heard somewhere that a “small” non-profit is $5 million. HAH!

We’d be happy to get our postage paid for,

but to do that I’d need to find the time to write grant applications.