This month’s Leadership Johnson County program day was on quality of life/creating a giving society.
The day started with an interesting presentation by the director of the Johnson County Community Foundation. Learning how they operate and about their philosophy and how they got started and the various programs they help fund was very interesting. The idea of setting up community foundations to serve this need seems like a very wonderful project that the Lilly Endowment started twenty years ago.
Today’s meeting was at Camp Atterbury. I have driven around it, heard stories about it, and everything in between. Today I actually went INSIDE the gate! Gasp! I knew that this was a training center where soldiers went to before and after their deployments overseas. That’s about all I knew, however. Today I learned that this facility trains thousands of troops every day and has thousands of staff people who report to work each day to make it all happen. It really does seem like its own little city. I also learned that they took over Muscatatuck state hospital campus south of Edinburgh several years ago to convert to additional training facilities. We had our sessions inside the nicest conference room I have ever been to. It was incredible. The screen, the projectors, the large screen TVs, the beautiful tables, the sound system–everything was beautiful.
While we were on base we were taken on a tour. It was very interactive and fun. I was able to get up close and personal with very large modified guns in a simulation room (I had never touched a gun before). We also were buckled into a roll over simulator where we–rolled over, and over, and over. It was not glamorous.
In talking about the quality of life issue I was reminded just how blessed I am. The amount I am able to take for granted because I live a privileged life makes me hope that I am always able to put that into perspective and give in whatever ways in order to pay it forward. That is my wish.
