A Fitful Start

Springtime in Michigan is a time to re-learn the meaning of setbacks and disappointments; to re-learn how to cope with unmet expectations.  Today is the 3rd full day of Spring and I cancelled my afternoon office owing to freezing rain, power outages from last night's ice and snow storm, and fears over weather forecast to deteriorate over the course of the rest of the day.  Deteriorate!  That seems impossible. What happened to spring?!

At the same time, people in Michigan are reeling over the news that our state is the one, and only, state which reports a loss of population in the 2010 Census.  Our major cities are losing double digit population and our unemployment ranks first in the US of A.  Our new governor promises to employ efficient business policies in order to lean the ranks of city, county and state government/employees, tax pensions, streamline business taxes in an effort to grow business and employment, and eliminate wasteful spending.

I don't know what will work for Michigan any more than I know how one gets the weather to cooperate with the calendar.  I do think we should all understand this:  When Michigan weather transitions from winter to spring it does so it fits and starts.  We should probably also recognize that when we attempt to transition a government and economy from industrial prosperity to whatever's next it will also be a process of fits and starts. There will be snapshots of good things to come and there will be many unsettling returns to old ways.  Much like the early transition from winter to spring, the current political change provides just a few peeks of what and where we might be headed while frequently hauling into full view portraits of where we've been.  Unlike the weather, the socioeconomic and political change that is coming to Michigan is, for many, something they do not want to see.  But like the weather, change is coming indeed.

What we can hope for is the patience needed to remain forward looking while change proceeds in its irregular pace and path.  We can hope to remain committed to living an involved life. We can commit ourselves to working toward a new future for Michigan.  The season is changing.  We're off to a rough start. We can hope and look for good weather ahead: socially, politically, economically and climatically.  It is up to each of us to recognize the inevitability of change, to recognize things will not be as we think they used to be, and to participate in preparing for a new season in the Great Lakes State. Michigan, like spring, is filled with opportunity, potential, and the promise of a season of growth and renewal.