What is it about inspiration and motivation?

Think about someone you know who does something that's infused with a strong degree of dedication. It could be the pursuit of fitness, a sport, a volunteer activity, their marriage, their faith...their job, raising their kids, a hobby...

The common denominator is that they don't need to be mandated to do it. It's part of their lifestyle, of who they are. Yes, there are times when they need to push themselves, when it's not really what they want to do, but invariably, they do it, whatever 'it' is.

All things being equal, we don't have to make a point of loving who we love. We don't have to strive to feel attracted to someone. And when something resonates with us on a basic level, when it's very much a 'purpose' to us, we move towards it as an activity.

When we're attuned to this 'purpose', in the main, energies don't have to be corralled to get to the point where we're doing it. (Though executing this purpose may well require tons of energy. Such as enthusiastically and authentically raising our children.)

People ask me what I'm trying to promote with this notion of an increased relationship of engagement on the part of our citizenry towards our Councillors, what the goal is. What I've just illustrated is the first portion of my response.

Because I'm envisioning a time when people 'naturally', and without having to coerce themselves, participate in and contribute towards their own local governance.

Apropos of our recent municipal election, identifiable indicators that we've achieved this would be a voter turnout rate in excess of say, 85%, and a general sense that only 10% of those ballots cast would be the result of anything akin to 'name recognition'. (Meaning, of course, that people would vote after constructing informed, qualified opinions. Not because of hearsay, nor kneejerk reactions, and certainly not from responding to the kind of rabble-rousing that some of our rookie candidates got up to this election.)

Identifiable year-round indicators could include attending ward-specific 'town hall' meetings, less structured get-togethers with Councillors, participation in online ward forums, in focus groups, in developing an ongoing understanding of what the current issues are, what's on City Council's agenda, etc.

But I need to stress that while these elements would be present in a paradigm shift to a society where we take our local governance not only seriously, but personally, in how I envision things, they wouldn't be the ultimate goal. They'd be a by-product. Just as living a more healthy and fit lifestyle may indeed mean you can climb the CN Tower's nearly 2000 steps in under 15 minutes, the goal is not the attainment of this quarter-hour timing, merely a by-product. So getting to where I believe we should be engagement-wise is not something that can be mandated, it can't be legislated. Which is why I'm against mandatory voting. Maybe in a totalitarian state it serves a purpose...but then, all those manditory votes cast are moot, anyway.

I happen to believe that if you have to mandate something, you probably haven't accomplished much in the end. At least not much authentically. To me it's like insisting someone likes you. Or being told that you must feel warm and fuzzy about your home and native land. There's a reason that the concept of something being 'organic' holds such power, food-politics notwithstanding. To my way of thinking, when things happen organically, there's far more integrity to the result. I believe that an increase in civic engagement should be this way. (Having said that, the concept of 'actively caring about local governance' can be fostered, brought along in ways directly and tangentially connected to the government. But only to a certain extent.)

Naturally, what I'm talking about here and what others are talking about regarding addressing the shortcomings and frustrations of 'local politics' are two different discussions entirely...even though the end goals are the same: better results from our elected officials, a sense of confidence and faith in our local government, and a general increase in quality of Life.

Though I haven't yet come up with a '10-part Plan for Attaining The Ultimate Relationship of Engagement in Local Governance', I do know this: trying to fix a flawed system with more rules, regulations and guidelines for our elected officials or the establishment of Council-mandated citizen advisory committees and groups to somehow hold them in check surely isn't the answer.