Snail Treasures
by Alan Kirk
I joined the CDS way back in 1974 when I was in graduate school. It was my first professional organization. I have recently been reflecting on what I treasure most about CDS. I can easily make a list of several things:
• We have dedicated and talented leadership on our Board and various committees.
• Our business office is top notch.
• Our web site offers lots of resources and connections for our members.
• I have been to some great conferences over the years.
• I am proud of the caliber of articles in our Journal and Vanguard.
What I treasure most, though, in CDS is my snail collection.
It's a story that goes back a ways. When I first joined CDS I was really pumped about getting to be with so many bright and dedicated people in my chosen field. It was so cool to hear the insights of the fathers and mothers of CD in the conference sessions, and to just hang out with them after hours!
Before long I got the message that CDS, like any other organization, didn't run by itself. It took lots of pitching in and helping out. I got to know other young members through focusing on how to maintain and grow the organization, not just through sharing experiences working with communities.
We were the newcomers to the club – asking questions about why things were done that way, bringing different perspectives to getting CDS business done, and sometimes clashing with the elders. We challenged things like the role of CDS in social justice issues, how conferences should be organized, and how decisions got made. At one point somebody referred to us as the “Young Turks” of the organization, and we took some pride in that name. We were intent on doing some movin' and shakin' – both in the business meetings and on the dance floor!
One in our loosely associated group, impatient with the frustratingly slow pace of change in the organization, noticed an amusing similarity of the CDS logo to a snail. How fitting! CDS – Inching Along the Cutting Edge of Change! Thus we Young Turks came up with a symbol that poked some fun at CDS, even while we were dedicating ourselves to positive change in the organization.
The alteration of the CDS logo was a sly gesture of disdain for entrenched, obsolete attitudes and ways of doing things. At one annual conference in the '80’s a large CDS banner on the wall behind the head table at the banquet bore the mark of the Young Turks, unbeknownst to the Board members seated in front of it. Scandalous! (It did not really cause much of a sensation, though, as the people who noticed it were mostly those disrespectful Young Turks.)
The snail thus became a sort of mascot for the Young Turks. People would alter the logo on a name tag or a conference folder. On the first CDS web site, if you paid close attention to the logo, you would see the little snail antennae pop up.
As years passed the Young Turks eventually became some of the leadership of the CDS, working to implement the positive changes we had been seeking. To honor members of our group who have held these leadership positions, we have presented them with snail trophies. We have brought snail gifts for one another to conferences in gestures of solidarity and silliness.
Thus I have a collection of snails sitting on the window sill in my office – a paper weight, a garden ornament, a clock, a tape dispenser, a wind-up toy, a piece of chocolate – all in the shape of a snail. Long live the Young Turks!
We are no longer young in years, though. (We now refer to ourselves as the Silver Turks.) We have become the elders of the organization. We have helped bring CDS along as an organization, and I think we also have gained an appreciation for those elders who came before us. As they were for their time, we have also become seasoned and experienced, and probably entrenched and obsolete in some ways too.
So you see why I treasure my snail collection. It stands for our courage to step up and push for positive change in CDS, even in the face of resistance. It stands for our camaraderie in the struggle. It stands for not taking it all too seriously (including ourselves). And it stands for the deep love and friendship we have come to share through it all. I wonder, what is the next generation of young turks in CDS up to?
Alan Kirk is treasurer of the CDS. |
