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Welcome back to The Bend!
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The Bend follows a simple rhythm each week. The Eddy Line opens with a one-line thought or
observation, something short enough to remember but worth thinking
about. What the Current Pulled Toward dives a
little deeper into where the previous week’s energy went, whether that’s
a project, a partnership, or a personal lesson learned. Signal Fire highlights a person, place, or initiative
that deserves some attention. And One Thought Worth
Sitting With closes things out with a brief reflection or quote
that will hopefully help guide you through whatever you may be dealing
with.
It’s part journal, part field note, and hopefully
something that makes you pause for a moment before diving back into the
current.
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“Adaptation is simply expanding what you’re capable
of.”
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What the Current Pulled Toward
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This week the current pulled toward
adaptation.
Over the
course of my career, I’ve spent a lot of time as a specialist. Parks and
recreation has been my lane for more than two decades and it still is in
many ways. Through Oxbow, I’ve still got skin in the game. That hasn’t
changed. What has changed, though, is the
scope.
Stepping into work that touches
multiple departments - finance, public works, administration, planning -
has forced me to shift from being a specialist to being a generalist.
And I’ll be honest, that transition comes with some discomfort. When
you’ve spent years building a lot of depth in one area, stepping into
broader, less familiar territory can make you feel like you’re starting
over in some ways. But that’s also where the
growth is.
Being a generalist,
however, doesn’t mean you have to leave your specialty behind. It means
you’re learning how it connects to everything else. You start to see how
decisions ripple across an organization. You understand tradeoffs
differently. You ask better questions. You become more
adaptable.
And the truth is, one path
isn’t any better than the other. Some people are wired to go deep.
Others are drawn to go wide. Both are valuable and both are definitely
needed.
But even if your goal is to
stay squarely in parks and recreation, there’s real value in
understanding the broader system. Take some time to learn municipal
budgeting. Learn capital planning. Learn how the folks in public works
and planning think. Learn how your jurisdiction’s administration weighs
priorities. You can do all these things not because you need to leave
your lane but rather because it makes you better in it.
Our field is one of the most versatile professions out
there. It touches health, economics, environment, community development,
and so many more. There are few better tributes to a profession like
that than choosing to be versatile yourself.
Adaptation is about becoming more
of what you’re capable of.
- Mike.
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Based in eastern Kentucky, the
Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center (ACLC) focuses on
justice, safety, and economic transition in Appalachian communities,
with a strong emphasis on coalfield regions. Their work spans everything
from protecting miners’ health and safety to advocating for
environmental accountability and supporting communities navigating
economic change.
What stands out about
ACLC is their ability to operate at the intersection of policy, people,
and place. They’re helping shape long-term outcomes for communities that
have historically been overlooked.
I
had the opportunity last week to present alongside Brendan Muckian-Bates
from ACLC at the Appalachian Studies Association Conference. The
conversation centered on our ongoing effort to explore the feasibility
of a regional resiliency network in Appalachia, one that helps
communities better prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural
disasters.
As you can imagine, that
kind of work requires adaptability at every level: legal,
organizational, and community-based. It’s work that showcases how
resilience requires more than just bouncing back. It’s about building
systems that can evolve and thrive.
To learn more about ACLC, click
here.
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One Thought Worth Sitting With
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This week’s theme: Adaptation.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survive,
nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to
change.“
-Charles Darwin
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Follow Oxbow on Social Media
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