Community involvement

Last fall, I ran unsuccessfully for local office. (48-51%!) Now I have two opportunities, both related. One is to join the board of a local nonprofit that I volunteered for in the past. The other is to join a town strategic and planning effort. I can only do one at most.

I went to the nonprofit board meeting last night. It seems like a great group of people and I fully support the organization. The board is already pretty large and active. I'm not sure what I would really contribute, other than another person willing to work. They officially meet once a month on a weekday evening, but in practice it seems to be about 2-3 times a month plus additional time for projects individually or in small groups. The board focuses heavily on fundraising.

I think I'm more interested in joining the town committee, but it seems like a bigger time commitment with more scheduled evening meetings. The town committee has the potential to give me some insight and input into town government. It also has the potential to be bureaucratic and pointless. If I'm interested in running for the same office again in two years, then I really should do it. (I'm not sold on that, though. As my campaign manager JW will tell you, I HATED being a candidate, but did it because it was something I cared about and I thought that I could make a real contribution. Then again, being on this committee would definitely help me decide whether I wanted to run again.) The committee work would be over at the end of September.

Either opportunity would be good for me in various ways -- more involvement with the community, meet people, learn stuff. Being on the nonprofit board might indirectly help with work, since I work with nonprofits fairly often. Being on the committee might put me in a position to help the nonprofit, which will be affected by the committee's decisions. My civic-minded husband would like to see me do one, even though he would never push me in any direction. I also started getting to know people in town, and had people in town starting to get to know me, through the campaign. If I don't get involved again, I feel like I'll lose that.

But I'm reluctant to add another commitment to my life. Work is demanding, the kid is demanding, the marriage is mostly on autopilot, and I'm starting my exercise routine again. I know it's not much, but even juggling work, home, and health sometimes feels overwhelming right now. I feel like adding something would tip the balance from overwhelming to impossible.

I have until the end of the month to decide.