For the past week I've been getting the Green Party of Ottawa Centre AGM letters printed at home so they can be mailed out before Tuesday.  The preparation of the letter was colaborative - a few people chipped in on writing it.  The plan called for me to print them then hand them off to another volunteer for folding, stuffing and delivery to the post office.  But the unpredictability of my schedule meant I wasn't able to pass the buck along - and instead have been doing the folding/stuffing throughout the week instead.

I had a chat last night with another (very active) local volunteer - she was adamant that all I had to do was ask for help and she'd be over in no time to help finish the task or take it off my hands completely.  As the Green Party grows up the ability for organizers to delegate effectively will become essential - and doing envelopes is precisely the kind of task that can be delegated with ease.  Nonetheless - I declined.  The explanation (er: excuse!) I had yesterday was that the task is almost done (true) and that I was getting caught up on TV shows and movies I've had stockpiled (also true).  Listening to Fresh Air on CBC this morning during breakfast with Olivia made me realize another reason I wanted to finish it.

I don't work with my hands at all anymore.  My fulltime job calls for 7.5 hours a day at a computer programming, reading email and attending conference calls.  The closest I get to working with my hands is writing on a white board.  My next biggest activity is volunteering with the Green Party; again that's mostly computer work handling email and website tasks.  Most of the work for the upcoming AGM is also online - three hours of face time on November 4th requires many more hours at the computer getting ready.

This is all well and good - we're getting a lot done locally this year and I have plans for next year as well.  Which brings me to my point.  In today's fast paced society we can get a lot done but it never ends!  At any moment I might complete a goal: newsletter sent; event video created; letsgetitright.ca launched; etc.  But at that moment it's hard to stop for a moment and appreciate the accomplishment.  Online there is no start and end - only a list of unread emails and a colour coded TODO list of things yet to do.

Let's return to the envelopes: they are still on my desk - mostly done. At some point tonight they will be all done and tucked neatly into a box ready for deliver to the post office.  I'll be able to can pick them up and stare at my completed goal.  A box of envelopes is static - there is nothing left to do.

The AGM itself is never done - on November 4th, 7:30pm I'll be worring about how many people actually show up.  On November 4th at 11pm I'll be writing a blog post on ottawagreens.ca about the AGM.  On or around November 15th I'll be writing a newsletter and will repeat the AGM details then too.

But for all that I'll always have one picture of moment in time when the work was done. [TODO: include box of completed AGM letters here]