How did we get here?
It's a question I have asked many times. Because understanding how we got here, gives us a roadmap to navigate our way out or our way forward.
I've often wondered how the state of society has often been overlooked and avoided by the vast majority of the world. For me, the correlation is clear between the social issues we face and the state of humanity in general. Somewhere along the way, however, we have neglected to tend to the needs of our neighbour.
I remember reading an article in the early 2000s about new research that had just come out about the connection between a child's ability to learn at school and their environment at home. If they are experiencing extreme stress, abuse or neglect in their family, they are less likely to succeed in their education. There is so much evidence of this now, yet the cycle still perpetuates as the world continues to become numb to these issues. Why?
How we really got here
Money. There is no money where there is no product or monetizable service and the sad truth is, that the issues that are experienced by so many people around the world, are not going to bring a return on investment. We can't go out there and work to solve a social issue with marginalized people who have found themselves in a state of financial insecurity and expect to get paid. Well at least that's what most people think.
Where your treasure is, your heart is also- Jesus
The greatest advice when it comes to giving, is that it is connected to your heart. If people are moved by social issues, they will give to where they feel connected. The grassroots, social entrepreneurs, who just get out there and fill the gap, whether or not they have the money, are the ones who are so compelled by the connection that they not only give their money, but they also give their lives for the cause.
Champion a cause, find your identity.
So many of us wrap our identity and worth around our work and what we do and how much we earn, more than any other part of our lives. Evidence of this will come with your next social interaction with a stranger. What's normally the first thing you ask after "what's your name?"? Is it not the proverbial "so what do you DO?"
The problem with that is that when crisis hits, like a global IT Network outage, or 2020’s Covid lockdowns or when your loved one gets diagnosed with a terminal disease that forces you to stop working, you’ll start to question your value and your worth.
Like everything in life, we have a choice about where we place our identity. As a grandmother of a 7 month old, I'm daily reminded that as little babies, who were totally dependent on our parents, we were the truest versions of ourselves and okay to just be. But when we grow and start to see the value society places on us for our material gain, it’s easy to fall into the trap of accumulating wealth and making the mighty dollar our goal and our "god".
B4A Collective is an opportunity for us to restore our identity.
While offering you the chance to give and be generous, we want to give you back the power to find your identity in who you are and not what you do.
B4A’s second meaning is a play on words “before.. a” as in before the beginning. Who were you meant to be- this is appropriate for the communities we work with - who were you meant to be before the adverse circumstances you had to bear that brought you to this place of poverty, mental illness, homelessness, domestic abuse, or violence?
On the flip side of the coin, who were you meant to be before greed and gain became your main focus? Who were you meant to be before you felt like you had to protect everything you had in order to feel safe and secure?
We want to help you be the best version of yourself. If you want to find out more, reach out by subscribing, leaving a comment or joining our collective.