subscribe | advertise | about | contact | home

Turning Dreams into Reality

Every few months it’s my turn to write a welcome note to our readers. In the weeks before I sit down and actually compose it, I look forward to putting aside all the things I have to do as publisher to spend a few hours on the creative process of writing. I like to think I’m a writer and that I have something to say. The prospect of writing the publisher’s note validates this flattering image of myself. But when it actually comes time to write, how I suffer! Talk about pulling teeth…

This month’s agony has led me to thinking about how easy it is to dream of doing things and how hard it is to turn dreams into reality. When Karen West asked me for tips on starting a business for her story in this issue, I returned to that thought. It’s great to have an idea for a business, but translating an idea into a successful enterprise usually takes a phenomenal amount of work. I’m a bit of a harpy on the subject, but I have been amassing a lot experience since starting Seattle Woman in 2004.

Realizing dreams is a theme that weaves its way through other stories in this issue. “Dreaming for a Living” by Lisa Albers looks at Lynne Barker and Lucia Athens, two dynamic women who work in Seattle’s Green Building Program. Their job is to help Seattle realize its green aspirations by steering developers and builders toward sustainable practices. I’ve heard that their enthusiasm and commitment to sustainability is also helping to change the mindset throughout the city’s Department of Planning and Development, and that Diane Sugimura, the department’s director, has jumped on the sustainability bandwagon.

It is this combination of a shift in mindsets and practices that we will need to meet the momentous environmental challenges we now face. Governor Chris Gregoire took a bold step in this direction in March when she announced legislation to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 50 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. But reaching those goals is not just about cutting industrial emissions. It’s going to take changes in how we all live and work.

Our friends the Pages have committed to giving up a second car, escorting one child to school across town by city bus, then continuing by bus to their bookstore on Mercer Island. It was a lot faster and easier to get from Ballard to Mercer Island via the University District by car, but Al Gore got them thinking and they’ve made a commitment to do their part to reduce pollution.

The Durning family of Seattle gave up owning a car for a year, using a creative mix of buses, taxis, flex cars and carpooling to get the five members of their busy family to activities throughout the city. Alan Durning, executive director of Sightline Institute, a think tank devoted to promoting sustainable living, chronicled his family’s carless year on the organization’s Web site (www.sightline.org). In our home, we are taking a serious look at how to move from thinking green to being green. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s something we all need to work on.

Marianne Scholl
Co-founder and Publisher

©April 2007 Caliope Publishing Company