Getting involved - Finding my place in the community

Tuesday marked my very first Brazos Progressives meeting. It's a group I've wanted to become involved in for years. I've followed their calendar, attended the festivals, and more recently, I was added to the mailing list. But with my health always teetering in the balance, I never felt like I had the energy to fully invest myself in community activities. 

Now, however, as my body is healing, I've been enjoying luxuries that I didn't have before (aka doing anything after noon). Stronger, and with far less pain, I was eager to take the first baby steps into what I hoped was a wealth of opportunity, taking my passion for SGF and local foods into the community arena.

So, back to Tuesday's meeting. We congregated in the Village Cafe, our new local-organic restaurant in downtown Bryan, listened to a presentation by one of the members, and openly discussed issues, upcoming events, and opportunities. I'm normally pretty shy in groups, but I spoke up on a number of occasions, feeling comfortable and accepted by the group. 

Towards the end of the meeting, I was introduced and had the opportunity to talk about this blog as well as my local diet experiment. It turns out quite a few people were interested in what I was doing. As the meeting wrapped up, I had several people immediately approach me with links to other programs around the state, as well as an offer to speak at Texas A&M in April, and an offer to be a special guest on our local community radio station (KEOS 89.1). Wow! Yes to both!

As some of you know, last night was my radio debut. To say I was nervous would be the understatement of the year, but hubby/moral support in tow, we ventured out into the snowy evening last night towards the radio station. The one-hour show, Biased Transmission, was hosted by three individuals (Mike, Martin, and Ann), who immediately made me feel right at home. Once the show was underway, I relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the time on air.

We talked about the blog, what it means to eat locally, the benefits, the challenges, and just about everything in between. I'm hoping to have a few listeners pop up at Saturday's farmers market since we ended the show with a promise of my being at the market with a big tray of homemade cookies. Hey, what ever brings people out, right?

I have to say, this was one of the most exciting moments of my life, and what I hope to be only the beginning of sharing my love of all things simple-green-frugal in this community. I'm kicking myself that I don't have photos, but it looks like I might be able to post the audio of the program on the blog, so stay tuned.

What's so beautiful about all this is that, at 35, I've finally found something that I can put my whole heart into, something I am truly passionate about, and that my passion is something others both want to hear about and share with me. Surely, this is just the first step on another beautiful adventure.