CREATE a Core Board
I am often accused of doing too much and not knowing my limitations. As the president of several organizations and a serial entrepreneur, there is a need to integrate my service. Through partnership with internet radio, press, podcast, affiliate, and a creative advertising network of Colorado journalists, authors, recording artists, musicians, and studios — in the communities we serve, through parks and recreation, education, arts/media, transportation, and entrepreneurship — there are more compliments of interest than there are conflicts. Integration is the kissing cousin to integrity. In putting together four boards, the names of the same people appear in the nominations, skill sets, stewardship, and schedules. These are people I do life with and who are at the CORE of who I am, what I do, where I serve, and when we work together. There was a question of "why I do what I do," and then the question becomes "What do you do?" — and that is where the "How" comes in.
The Resettling of Home, Work, and Community
Work-life balance is overrated. If you ask any family farmer or rancher who wakes up early in the farmhouse to do his or her chores, they will tell you that the family, home, and work balance is about being "outstanding in your field." The family farm is the ultimate mixed-use, home-based business — home and farm economics, a community food source throughout the history of this earth. I live and work on Main Street in a small town. Every day, when I was learning and working on my degree in Ministry, Leadership, and Communications, my campus was at home, through my work, and in the community I serve and continue to serve. Anyone who is a teacher, preacher, or public servant learns this and lives it. As I have developed and continue learning — as a gentleman farmer and entrepreneur meeting the needs of home, work, and community while serving surrounding communities — I have found that there is a yearning for a Resettling of America. What a gift for the 250th birthday of our country: a soul-searching opportunity that starts with an unsettling of America, a homecoming, and a reconciliation to seed, plant, grow, and nurture the resettling that is long overdue.
The CREATE Daily Mindset
In planning this year of Resettling America, we must tear down the institutions that have stolen people, land, and things, and hidden the treasures of loving our Creator and loving people. The smoke and mirrors of transient life have resulted in homelessness. The myth that we are a Christian nation is hypocritical when we understand that we have stolen the land and have stolen and mistreated people through a system of slavery — a reality we must reckon with and make amends for. Consumerism, greed, and selfishness are anti-home, anti-work, and anti-community. The three things that make us marketable and useful are our schedule, skills, and stewardship, applied to build outward, upward, and onward.
CREATE Education
The Resettling of America is a worthy goal to come home to. If you would like to find out more about how to become part of the CORE — to Create Original Resources in Economics, Environment, and Entrepreneurship — email richardbeattie809@gmail.com. COR is building internet radio, podcasts, and a CREATE Daily Column through the Colorado Chapter of the Leadon Family Foundation, Valley Parks and Recreation, Richard Arnold Beattie, Inc., and Beattie Communications Studios.
