“Don’t Get Bitter, Get Better”

Dear Friends of the Hub

The Hub has used a few taglines since our incarnation: “Thirty Spokes Share One Hub” was the first. Another is “Community is Every One of Us.” Lately we’ve used “Greater Than the Sum of Our Arts.” You get the idea –The Hub is a group effort.

The Hub is in operation by the grace of many people, and support comes in the form of volunteers, donors, family and friends, and the people who simply take time to tell us that our presence is appreciated. It is truly amazing what can be achieved when people get together to nurture a common vision.  I’m reminded of this every time a new person walks into The Hub and makes a connection with the space or initiates a project.

Having said that, there have been a few occasions when we’ve encountered folks who clearly don’t get what The Hub is all about; the kinds of people who ask us what we do all day as if our heavy programming schedule manifests out of thin air, or furniture and walls move and paint themselves.

And when there are so many who genuinely care, it’s confusing to encounter people who simply lack consideration for others, and instead hold to a myopic viewpoint seemingly borne of pure self-interest. It’s not that people should feel guilty about getting something from a space like The Hub, but building community is about balance and reciprocity too.

When members of a community devalue something they could cherish, feelings of anger and resentment start to arise. Why bother? Who’s benefiting from our efforts?

We become tainted by others’ ingratitude.

Yet in spite of feelings of discouragement from time to time, it’s comforting to know that these negative encounters are the exception, not the rule. We attract far more friends than enemies and more love than destruction. We have more to be thankful for, and more people to thank than we know.

My father used to say: don’t get bitter; get better. It became a cliché in our family, but I realise that I still need to hear it from time to time.

Keep on sending the love,

Margot Bethel
Director
The Hub