I am in the midst of a tremendously busy time in my life. Not only am I working at Local Matters this summer through this Fellowship, I am also finishing up my master’s degree at Ohio State (freedom comes on July 13th… providing I pass my thesis defense!), as well as taking a yoga teacher training through Balanced Yoga. This mix of responsibilities is consuming every one of my waking hours, but the diversity of the lessons I am learning keeps things interesting.

The reason I share this is because during my first week here at Local Matters, I’ve found myself drawing upon a concept that I learned at yoga teacher training. The concept is “adhikara,” which translates to “qualification.” The project that I’ve been plugged in to at Local Matters is to aid with the opening of a community food cooperative in the Near East Side of Columbus. I’m in charge of producing a document that will act as a blueprint for other cities around the nation that may want to open a food co-op in a low-income neighborhood. When I heard that this was my job, I was incredibly excited, but also terrified; I know very little about business models, about the history of the Near East Side, etc. etc. etc. In other words, I didn’t feel qualified to complete the job I was given. My lack of knowledge made it very easy for me to panic – until I remembered adhikara.

At this point in my life, I haven’t learned the exact lessons needed to know everything about cooperative business models or the economic history of Columbus neighborhoods. Therefore, at this moment in time, I’m not qualified to produce the document that Local Matters wants. However, I am qualified to act and get myself to a place where I am qualified. I’m equipped with the tools to learn – I have passionate and intelligent co-workers, access to an enormous library at Ohio State (and there’s always wikipedia, too!), and ten weeks of time to do thorough research and dive into the subject matter that will help me fulfill the tasks I’ve been given. Adhikara has helped me realize that I’m not an expert in the subject areas that this project deals with yet, but I am competent in other subject areas (such as research, writing, interviewing, and critical thinking) that will help me gain the knowledge I need.

Hopefully by the end of these ten weeks, I will be able to add a couple new skills to my tool belt. In order for that to happen, I will need to diligently hone those skills. That being said, I’m signing off now to continue my research and get a little bit closer to having the qualifications I need!