A Letter from 417 Magazine's President & Associate Publisher on The Road to Recovery for 417-Land

One of my favorite Brene Brown quotes is “It’s okay to be brave and afraid at the same time.” As our local city and county leaders worked through what our recovery phase needed to look like in Greene County, they had to be both brave and afraid. Brave in making hard decisions and afraid for the possible repercussions of those decisions when facing a virus that is still lurking and is still highly contagious. Brave in slowly opening the economy and afraid of what happens if people don’t tread lightly.

So for us as 417-landers, it’s okay to be brave and afraid. It’s okay to be thankful for the collaborative decision making our leaders have taken on and afraid of the outcomes for the illness or the impact on our business or personal lives.

It’s okay to be happy that you can go back to your favorite restaurant but scratching your head that you can’t go to your favorite yoga class.

It’s okay that I desperately want to hug my grandma but also understand that her assisted living facility needs to do everything they can to protect a very vulnerable population. I feel awful for her and I’m thankful she’s healthy at the same time.

It’s okay that I really want to finally see my Lucy perform in Matilda the Musical at Springfield Little Theatre and also understand that there is too much risk in sending my kid into rehearsals and then packing a theatre with hundreds of our closest friends to see it.

It’s okay to be thankful that you have a job to go back to and feel guilty for your friend who still has to keep their business closed.

It’s okay to be relieved that you have a job to go back to and scared to be around people again.

It’s okay to be nervous of what it will look like if we all rush back into 417-land at once and also want to rush back out into 417-land and do all the things.

It’s also okay to be nervous of what it will look like if we all rush back into 417-land at once and decide to mandate an extended stay home order for your family.

It’s all okay.

It’s okay to support our city and county leaders who had to make really hard decisions and still not really like all the decisions. 

It’s okay to be supportive and disappointed. 

Which brings me to my other favorite Brene Brown quote, “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” Can you even imagine having to make the decisions they have to make as they try to balance the competing demands of economics and the health of our population? Trying to decipher what is signal versus noise?

So let’s keep doing the things we’ve been doing to support each other and our businesses and let’s be smart and measured about how we re-enter so that we can continue to slowly reopen. 

Let’s take care of those who are still facing the same challenges for another month. And let’s be thankful for those making the hard decisions. 

It’s all going to be okay.

Let’s continue to be #417strong.

These stakeholders support and say thank you to our local leaders: