CREATE One Thing Everyone Needs

Everyone needs recreation as much as we need water! In 1953, a New England grandfather saw a need for his grandson to play ball. He went back to his shop and molded a plastic ball, put holes in it, made a long plastic thin bat, and invented a national pastime surrounding our national pastime — Wiffle Ball. Everyone needs recreation.

FlingGolf Anywhere

New England also produced a new take on golf. In college, a few guys who played lacrosse for their school were looking for something to do during the offseason. They took up golf. They shanked, they hooked, and they got so frustrated that they were ready to put the golf ball inside the cup netting of their lacrosse sticks and fling the ball. They managed to get back to their dorm and design a hard plastic cup, and tested it out. They invented a game that delighted some and horrified others, like Kevin O'Leary on Shark Tank, who called FlingGolf "Pooh Pooh on a stick." People play it beside golfers, or take the Fling Stick out when their game has gone south, leave their bag in the clubhouse, and play a round of FlingGolf — faster, without a cart, and with better scores. Skyler Boles in Chico, California is working with us to take FlingGolf anywhere with Bucket Golf. Building our own courses inside and out.

Connective Tissue

In our smoke-filled skies in Dryland Colorado, we are looking for ways to adapt courses from Kentucky Bluegrass to Buffalo grass and indigenous trees, changing the way outdoor games look and feel. This summer I have studied what drought is doing and am applying solutions on what we can do through responsible entrepreneurship to support our family, friends, and neighbors. Through Community Conversations in areas of economics and ecology, recreation, education, arts, and media, it is our responsibility to "put the mask on first" before helping others. As the Chairperson for Valley Parks and Recreation in Denver, we have a direct connection with the School District, 4-H, Landing Well, and Public Health. In a story on NPR last week, a piece about mental health and climate change caught my ear. The sad fact that heat affects people who are depressed and angry figures into the rash of fires that have been started by humans, bears this out. Like in mass shootings, a mentally disturbed person will hurt others prior to hurting themselves.

Community-Recreation-Education-Arts-Travel-Entrepreneurship

Integrity is how we are all connected.

1. Community happens peripherally. It is time to look around and notice, and reach out proactively. We can't be all things to all people, but we can be the one thing all people need!

2. Parks and Recreation — With sports gambling and spectator sports, when there are winners and losers that affect our psyche, our economics, and our environment, it is time to invest in our own well-being at home, through our work, and in community. Get involved, keep moving, and work together with All Generations for All Seasons and All Times. Stay Active! Another Thing All People Need!

3. Education and Continuing Education — Partnering with 4-H, Parks and Recreation, Public Schools, Home Schools, Community Centers, and Business Incubators. Another Thing All People Need!

4. Arts and Media — Make something, create daily, find what you are made to do and do it. Not everyone will love it — but make the one thing everyone needs!

5. Travel and Transportation — Some ride bikes, others run the course, still others take the bus, and others drive a pickup truck. You can't be all modes of transportation to all people, but you can enjoy the ride with friends, neighbors, and family.

6. Entrepreneurship — Some start farms, some work in retail, some teach, and some start, sustain, and structure something that solves a challenge, a service, or a product. It can't be all things to all people, all of the time — but it can be the one thing we all need!

Join the discussion — be a voice. You won't be the end-all, but you can be the one thing that we all need. Lennon and McCartney said it — "All You Need Is Love!" Be part of the CORE! Community Organizations for Responsible Entrepreneurship. From wherever you are, email richardbeattie809@gmail.com.