LIFE’S UNDERTAKINGS COMMUNITY IS Since the beginning of the New Year I’ve had trouble reading and writing because I am in a perpetual state of eye-rolling.
online format. Roger, like all entrepreneurs and small business owners, had to shift again when the pandemic hit.
Vaccine delays coupled with political blame games. Eye roll.
Why? To feed our families while fulfilling a life purpose and calling; these are the driving forces fuelling the dreamers and doers who build small business.
Kids to-go-or-not-to-go-to school. Eye roll. Rumours about Mayor John Tory spending a weekend at his $10-million Florida mansion. Really? Eye roll. As we march toward our one-year anniversary living life this way – locked down and shut down mentally, emotionally and physically – it’s tempting to lose hope that life will rebound better and brighter. Our pandemic losses range from the indescribable, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt your loved one died alone, to the trauma and indignity of poverty whether new because of job loss or long-time and escalating toward homelessness. As a species we rarely, if ever, try to measure what we stand to gain from life’s cruel sucker punches. Of course, we can easily focus on the loss of local jobs, neighbourhood vibrancy, culture, flexibility, convenience and spontaneity. The impact of loss is especially real for me, my colleagues and the devastated families we serve because grief is acute suffering like no other; dying and death are all about loss. Or is it? I believe it’s still too early to talk about the “gifts of the pandemic.” The families and individuals I watch transform and transcend their grief – in time, not overnight or by “staying busy” – are people who count all they’ve gained from loving the person who has died. A painful loss shape-shifts into a gift of gain, whether it’s life lessons, gratitude for joyful memories or the freedom of forgiveness, for themselves and/or the deceased. As we are forced to watch our community and way of life change, might life feel better if we remain open to what good is emerging? An example that’s close to home? Our esteemed publisher, Roger Tumminieri. Here’s a lovely man who years ago dedicated himself (and his young family) to the rollercoaster wild ride of community magazine publishing. A successful magazine that grew and shifted to an
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The stakes are high for us. When a local business is shuttered, a bright radiant dream is smothered and extinguished, and local culture lurches one step closer toward gentrification. Could Roger have ever imagined that by “losing” his original business model and income, he would gain new opportunities and inspiration? I sincerely doubt Roger looked into a crystal ball and saw himself renting a giant truck this winter, plastering giant stickers all over the vehicle and driving around spreading his homemade “I love Etobicoke-Lakeshore (EL)” message. A grassroots promotion of local culture and community is a gain – for all of us. Community is immunity against fear, apathy and disconnection. Roger, who is blushing right now, is doing his part to “love local” and “support local.” He’s assuming all the risks and we are reaping the rewards whether it’s showcasing local biz or increasing community pride. How are the rest of us doing? Like most people, I am not a big fan of “virtue signalling” – publicly preaching opinions intended to reflect well on personal character – so I’ll admit I often fail miserably as I make choices about what to buy and whom to buy it from. In simplest terms, and what’s rarely discussed, is the sophisticated consumer intention and creativity that’s demanded when we want to “shop local” and “love local.” The nefarious nature of big-box shopping has always been its convenience and uniformity. Thanks to the 12-month attack on small business and local culture (i.e., closed until further notice), uncreative thinking and shopping are becoming increasingly common. Who has time to critically think through the lens of “How can I vote with my dollars?” or “How can I help my neighbourhood today?” or “What local business has what I’m looking for?” or “How can I stop buying from the Death Star called Amazon?” Until we actually stop protesting the gentrification of our neighbourhoods and communities while claiming we have no power or no choice, policies will continue to favour – and bail out – big business over small; that inequality is as old as the
ETOBICOKE LAKESHORE PRESS
