The people I most admire are those committed to giving their time and energy as much as possible to their families, friends, non-humans, and communities. Ordinary people can do ordinary things. I am privileged to give my time to people and causes that matter to me. Many family members, friends, and acquaintances also embody service living.
“Service living honors that part of each of us that is connected to the larger community of life. It is lifelong action that contributes to the health and well-being of all living things.” This statement opens a book (Service Living: Building Community through Public Parks and Recreation) that I co-authored in 2008 with my dear colleagues Doug Wellman, Dan Dustin, and Roger Moore. I am most proud of this book because it embodies how people can be responsible citizens in a participatory democracy.
Every individual can make a difference as part of a greater community. In the book, we tell the stories of four ordinary people who made extraordinary contributions to public parks and recreation: Frederick Law Olmstead, Jane Addams, Benton MacKaye, and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.
The lives of the four people we describe were everyday citizens just like you and me who experienced life’s ups and downs and suffered through self-doubt, insecurity, and anxiety. Our conclusion in the book is that democracy is a verb. Anyone can make a positive difference in this world as these four individuals did.
We coined the term “service living” hoping that it would become part of common language. Unfortunately, it has not been widely adopted. We believe, however, that the idea informs a desire for lifelong service to others. Sitting on the sidelines and watching life pass by can hardly be called living. Retreating into the comfort and safety of our private lives may be necessary sometimes but it does not mean forsaking public service. This service living defines life worth living.
People’s everyday service to home, family, community, and the planet is paramount in both ordinary and extraordinary ways. I appreciate people who live(d) their lives in service living such as (to mention only a few) my mother, my cousin Mary, my sister Lyn, my deceased volunteer colleague Don Seedle, my friends in Estes Park including Deb, Gail, and Pat, and Jane Goodall whom I hope to hear speak next week. Their paths are (were) paved with service living.