Are You Engaged?

Are you engaged? We're not talking about diamond rings here, we're talking about civic engagement.

What is that?

This excerpt from "Civic Responsibility and Higher Education," edited by Thomas Ehrlich, sums it up:

Civic engagement means working to make a difference in the civic life of our communities and developing the combination of knowledge, skills, values and motivation to make that difference. It means promoting the quality of life in a community, through both political and non-political processes.

I know a lot of my readers are already doing this by serving on boards and commissions; coaching and mentoring youth; being active in block associations, historic district associations and neighborhood organizations; monitoring governmental agencies and speaking out on issues; and serving in elective office.

Those with one or more jobs and family responsibilities may not have as much discretionary time as others, but it is something to look into. Even attending a school board meeting, getting a friend to register to vote or alerting your City Council representative to a problem counts as being engaged in your city's life.

Start anywhere. The city website posts a lot of events and Plaintalker also posts reminders of meetings. So check out those schedules, find a date on your calendar when you can attend, get out a marker and put a ring on it! 

--Bernice