Stage 4: Game On

Once we commit, the adventure begins. It’s game on,

and we suddenly find ourselves with more than enough energy to pursue our true calling.

When I went hitchhiking, I traveled with over 50 different people, hearing their stories, listening to their struggles, and offering my own ear for comfort. It was incredibly fulfilling to make my way from Ohio to the West Coast for the first time, journeying from Portland down to Los Angeles. At every turn, the resources and opportunities I needed seemed to open up before me.

The same was true for my first projects. As a graduate student, I launched a series of cafés across the Kent State campus, designed to provide self-care materials and model stress management for students living in the dorms. Hundreds of students attended workshops, listened to music, and participated in programs. The administration even gave me a staff of 12 students to help promote the initiative.

When it came time to start my first project supporting families out of poverty, I secured nearly $1 million in pilot funding from 50 different sources across Ohio’s five largest cities. That success was followed by a new job offer and multi-year grant from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, which helped launch Circles and our transformational leadership programming. Years later, I founded The Poverty Solution, which brought all the learning from the past into a successful $25 million grant award to build a Poverty Alleviation System pilot in Tennessee.

Each time I’ve faced the tension of a new calling; I’ve been able to resolve it by talking it through with someone. Once I let go of my resistance, I make a commitment to complete it and the next adventure begins. This is an endless cycle: catching a vision, resisting it, surrendering, and then doing the work.

While there are always bumps in the road, this process is deeply satisfying. It’s how we, as humans, are meant to engage with the world.

"Game On" 

Acrylic painting by Scott C. Miller

To purchase prints, please contact [email protected]

“Threshold” (Associated with Game On)

We always want to fly in the air forever,

on the invisible wings of desire.

But inevitably we must land

and rest so we can keep that fire.

I descended with the sun

and night spread through the world.

 

So, I slept on the very lands

I feared so much to cross.

I cockily rested at an oasis

dripping with palms and flowers.

But quickly I learned that

when you’re in a dreamland

nightmares have power too.

 

I thought I had learned how to handle

the weight of adventure,

but this new villain was different.

There was something quite deeper

and a little-bit creepier

with the creatures that crawl out of us

without being backed by the light.

They poked and prodded, tempted and trotted

Begging me to stay in their lush gardens.

It was so self-assuredly appealing

to stay here and trick myself that I’m healing.

I’ve already come so very far

maybe I should just sit and stare at stars?

But there was that twinkle again!

In the distance a beacon, begging,

and I remembered what I was traveling for!

That hope

that promise

that rainbow!

I ignored all the trappings

and the rancorous rapping

of all the little demons

trying to lead me astray.

Once again, I was faced with that animal

that wanted to do nothing but grovel!

And it is today, right now, that I decide

To never again, in the darkness, hide!