Mission Statement

I am reading a book called Trust Agents now and there is a section on setting goals.  Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, the authors, are all for goal-setting.  How will you know where to put your energies if you don’t have a direction? they argue.

I understand this, I do.  And I agree with it.

But I’ve always been of the Zen persuasion when it comes to goals, and that is: Goal is path, path is goal.

In other words, I try not to be so focused on the goal, that I neglect the very life being lived right under my nose. Because really, it’s this person, this interaction, this conversation that constitutes my life.  People and situations, if they are viewed just as a means towards an end, or a goal, become de-humanized or de-realized. And I, by treating them this way, become just a punk.  A creep. A user.

That being said, I still think it helps to have a direction, a destination to steer towards. So I have been thinking of where I would like to see the studio go in the next few years and I have come up with a kind of Mission Statement.

Here is my first stab at it:

I want to create an active community of people who know each other, interact with each other, like each other, and who have some kind of spiritual practice whether it be yoga, or art, or gardening, or social activism or physical fitness. This community will see Main Street Yoga as a gathering center: a place to meet, share, plan, and give and get support for individual and collective efforts to make their own lives and the community healthier, happier, more vibrant, creative and prosperous.

This is my mission for the studio.  This is my goal.

(If you know, and practice at MSY, did I miss anything? Would you like to add anything?)