Experimental Innovation
At the Momentum Center, we believe change and growth start with conversation that leads to action. It isn't enough to think about what might be, we have to engage the future in a wrestling match to see which of our ideas have the strength to survive and which need to be overhauled before the next go round. We embrace the idea of risk. It might work out great! It might crash and burn. But until we try, we will never know.
And the risk is worth it because it's just too uncomfortable to live in the current conditions. This nonprofit was started specifically to address human concerns. To find disconnects between the way things are and the way we wish they were and to bring other people into the conversation to find creative paths toward improvement.
The challenge is to stay uncomfortable. To keep noticing injustice and inequality. In his TEDx Talk, Sterling Hawkins explains that discomfort is necessary for innovation - our core characteristic for the month of July. And the rest of the summer is filled with innovative actions that we hope work out well!
The first is the opening of The Vous Cafe! We will have a First Meal Fundraiser on July 11 with a tasting menu from The Vous and wine pairings from Chris Weaver Stevenson and JDubs. 50 tickets are available for $200 each with all profits helping the Building Momentum Capital Campaign, where we are a mere $106,000 away from our $2 million goal! The restaurant will open to the general public on July 12, and will operate 7am to 2pm Tuesday through Saturday.
The next challenging innovation is our first Cultural Immersion Experience: Day Tripping. We will be leaving from Grand Haven on July 31 to spend the day exploring the Cass County Underground Railroad Society, monuments and museums in Battle Creek, and lunch at Soul Food before heading back to Grand Haven. Experience the discomfort of a bus ride exploring difficult aspects of our country's history in the company of others who are hopeful that the more we know about our past, the better the future we will create together.
The next challenging innovation is a Community Conversation on Common Values to take place August 1. Working with Justin Roebuck, County Clerk, and Dede Johnston from Hope College, we will explore the way we have divided over politics and seek to find our common footholds. Dr. Rob Davidson and Former Prosecutor Ron Frantz will help anchor our conversation in "traditional" Democratic and Republican values. The event will take place at American Dunes Golf Club. It will be free, but registration is required. We are hopeful that we will have a good mix of self-identified Republicans, Democrats, and Independents for this important exercise in rehumanizing each other.
Growth is always possible, but it is not always embraced. It's often easier to float down the river of life being carried by the current. But when we are challenged - either because we seek to challenge the status quo or because life thrusts the uncomfortable at us, we have the opportunity to accomplish what we would never have even thought to try before. And if it doesn't work, we can always try something else!
Namaste,
Barbara Lee VanHorssen
Experi-Mentor
barbara@momentumcentergh.org
