The VIEW From Above 12

Earlier in this blog series there was mention of a discussion the Administrative Board (AB) had at its May meeting, a discussion that left those members with HOPE for the future. Since expressing that sentiment, HOPE has popped into my mind repeatedly. Unwittingly, that powerful four-letter word was chosen as the 2019 DKG holiday card sentiment. I have often wondered. Was it a premonition that manifested itself in that choice? So, as I close out this series of conversations with you, HOPE is on my mind.

As the AB prepares for its last meeting of the biennium, reviewing tasks accomplished and those remaining to be completed will lead to meaningful reflection. Rather than confronting the usual list of agenda items, there will be the “tying up of loose ends” and discussion centered on biennial reports from groups throughout the organization. But among those loose ends and reports will be a constant thread that joins each biennium and maintains continuity throughout the years. You might think it revolves around our Mission, our Vision Statement, or our Purposes. And, indeed they form the foundation on which DKG stands and moves forward. Yet, it will be HOPE for what comes, based on what has been done before, that truly provides the continuity linking this particular two-year segment to the past and the future.

Pandora of Greek mythological fame initially unleashed a torrent of evil and uncertainty into the universe when she first unlocked her “forbidden to open box” (We now know that COVID-19 was in that box!). But upon hearing a faint sound from within, she plucked up courage and opened the box again. By doing so Pandora allowed HOPE to escape into the world. In that instance she became the symbol of how strong women can overcome adversity and promote HOPE globally. It’s a role we still embrace in all facets of our lives. It motivates our work, our play, our being.

Never more than today is this true! HOPE does spring eternal! Without it COVID-19 would consume us in body and soul. We all visualize life when this “new normal” becomes obsolete. For each of us there is an area in our mind’s eye that transports us to a place where we are happy, free to hug loved ones, seated close enough to someone to get a strong whiff of perfume, or see that shade of lipstick she has applied. It’s a time when the only masks one wears is associated with a cultural event, a Mardi Gras parade, or a Halloween gathering. HOPE fuels those “mind” views and boosts our spirits in the process.

HOPE, as I gaze out from the apartment above our Headquarters building, is the visualization of a new, towering façade that will change the Austin skyline radically and lead DKG toward a more cost-effective operation. It’s the reality of members collaborating and interacting with one another across the physical borders that COVID-19 has opened via technology – a reality already noted this month through an excellent series of virtual meetings for state organization presidents led by members of the 2018-2020 Leadership Development Committee. HOPE is also about paying forward what I’ve learned these two years when I return to my “new normal” life – sharing that knowledge with my Alpha Alpha VA SO Chapter colleagues, supporting the new international officers and related personnel on the 2020-22 AB, and visualizing how wonderful it will be to gather with DKG members at events that are NOT virtual, but face to face! HOPE keeps me smiling, albeit behind a mask today! But soon that smile will be out for all the world to see. I know it! I have HOPE, and for me that’s all the power needed to make it happen!

Comments (cathyd@dkg.org)