Wayne Moses Burke

(You can read the Open Forum Foundation post related to this here)

Monday night, I accepted that my future rested solely on the willingness of others to assist me when I published the blog post $3500 by 11/15? on the Open Forum Foundation website. At the time, the idea of raising $3500 in a little less than a week seemed almost impossible. I expected that each donation would be akin to pulling teeth. I expected that I would get an average donation of about $100. I expected that I would be able to scramble around and call a lot of people and rekindle connections that I wish were more solid. And I expected that somehow through some miracle, I would be able to scrape by and pay rent and get enough money to make it another month.

I wished that I had more time to build the connections in the way that I would like – in a sustainable fashion where each person that I connect with has a myriad of options for getting engaged with the Open Forum Foundation, and where they only do so if they truly believe in the mission and our ability to accomplish it. I don’t want money just because people like me. I want people to get involved and engaged in the things that they’re passionate about, and if my mission is theirs, then let us go forward together and do great things! If not, I wish them the best and am happy to help when and where it’s appropriate.

But I didn’t have that luxury, I just needed $3500 and quick. So I put it out there. I called some people, I tweeted about it, I … asked for help.

Now I’ve been trying to do something good for the world with all the tools and knowledge that I have available, but I have overlooked and misunderstood the most important asset that I have at my disposal: the community of friends, associates, and comrades that I have met and gathered around me. I continually realize that I know so little and have so much to learn.

So in 3 days and only 6 donations, we reached $3500. How do I rectify this with my expectations? My expectations were wrong. People care. People HAVE been looking for an opportunity to help me, and I haven’t been giving it to them.

It is difficult for me to wrap my head around the type of faith that these 6 people have shown in me and in what we are doing at the Open Forum Foundation. I didn’t grow up relying on other people, I was raised to be independent and capable and responsible. I was raised to take care of myself, and this has served me incredibly well.

But not for what I’m doing now. Where there is no monetary return on investment and no self-sustaining funding model, you cannot do it alone. The work that I am doing can only be done if there are people out there who believe in what I’m doing, as well as in me and my ability to do it sufficiently that they are willing to donate part of what they earn to make sure it happens.

I couldn’t conceive of that prior to the last days. Let me rephrase – I could conceive of it. I could understand in an abstract, intellectual way. But not in an experiential manner. Not like now.

Now, it’s tangible. Now I get it. And now, I know that people are watching, expectantly, with trust and confidence in my ability to do something worthwhile. In the ability of the Open Forum Foundation to accomplish the goals that we have set for it.

It changes things. It changes my perspective on Open4m (as I discussed in the other post) but it also changes my perspective on the world around me. Truly, we are all interconnected and we all must rely on each other for life, for experience, for hope, for improvement – both personal and societal. It may seem a bit trite, but it’s true that if we all work together, we can make the world be whatever we want it to be.

The secret to that is getting everyone moving in the same direction. Failing that (as is the most likely result), how about we just settle for giving everyone the opportunity to pursue their own path? I think that in and of itself is sufficiently game-changing for this lifetime.

So let me say to anyone and everyone who reads this: I love you. I thank you. I think the world of you. And most importantly, I will do everything I can with my skills and abilities to give you the freedom that you deserve, both for the betterment of yourself and for the betterment of all humanity.

Sincerely,
Wayne