Encouraging Senior Sage Leadership

Invitation to Involvement

The invitation often involves something more than just a proposal to participate in civic service. Sometimes newly-arrived invitees are waiting to be informed about what in the community is of real quality, such as recreation, entertainment, good stores, and restaurants. They appreciate someone suggesting that they attend a play or go to a musical event together, so the first invitation doesn’t have to be a community service project. This allows invitees to experience opportunities that are available in the community—and which more often than not are greater than they had anticipated. If they get turned on by the event, then it is possible to take a next step by introducing them to people who planned or put on the event. This may be all the connection that newcomers need to begin their civic engagement. The key is to facilitate the experience for potential senior sage leaders. It is to demonstrate how civic engagement might provide them with meaning and enjoyment. This requires that the person who is being cultivated for civic involvement truly needs to be understood: interests and passions, what feeds the spirit and soul. And then they have to be invited to join in. They just have to be asked!

There is another way in which the issue of non-involvement can be addressed, and that is through community education. There is need to recognize that everyone in the Twin Towns community is somehow involved in its current and future life. The decisions they make about store purchases, the route they take in driving to their doctor’s appointment, the weekly golf games in which they chose to participate—all of these contribute to the dynamics and patterns of community life. In this respect, there is no one who is not “involved.” Everyone directly or indirectly benefits from and contributes to their community. If this connection can be made clear through a formal community education program, then more members of the community are likely to make civic contributions—regardless of health status, income level, or life-style preferences. They will be inclined to step forward because they become more fully aware that they are already part of the fabric of their community.