Backdrop to Action

For about a year now I have been interested in this idea to walk every street in Lansing, MI. The idea arose from a news segment I heard. Two young professionals were vying for the same position with a Michigan company. The main gentleman went to a normal interview and thought he might have a chance at the position, but somehow got wind that the other interviewee might have a better shot. In a world of ingenuity and high unemployment, this young man decided to up the ante. He decided he would ride his bike from his home town to the head office of this business and hand deliver a “thank you for meeting with me” letter. I don’t know if he got this job but the idea was beyond the scope of typical resume/interview/land a job. It was creative; it was active; it was media worthy. Lately I’ve been wanting to become more involved in activities that are moving forward. Specifically moving Lansing forward. I’ve attended the Addy’s three times with my husband and the company he did programming work for. I volunteered for TedX Lansing. I attended all three Ignite Lansing. I’ve done the Be a Tourist in Your Own Town 3 times. And even did the Studio Crawl twice. I like the idea of being involved with as many #LoveLansing events possible. Some would have thought that when the Oldsmobile plants closed down that Lansing would head down the drain like Flint did. Yet something else happened instead. A tidal wave of artists, programmers, designers, photographers, and small business owners has washed over Lansing. The entrepreneurial crowd began to grow. The advancements in technology has catapulted Lansing into the IT era. All of these “new” talents has propelled Lansing forward. It isn’t without fault but the energy that washes over the mid Michigan area covers over many of these inequities, providing a blank canvas for new creation, flowing ideas, ingenuity, and progress.
On the ground level I will be able to walk past many of these endeavors that are making Lansing great, find some areas that might be lacking and really be able to take in this great city that I was born and raised in. I want to learn from the adventure. I want to see places I never knew existed. I want to visit businesses I have never been to. I want to meet people I never would have met. I hope that this is the beginning of this adventure. That I don’t chicken out or decide I don’t have time. I really want to do this. I don’t know how long it will take or the routes I will travel. My hope is to start at the capitol; the epicenter of the city. From there I will spiral out like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. I expect to encounter some of the same characters: good witch, Munchkins, bad witch and even the wizard. As long as I don’t run into too many flying monkeys I think it will be a success.