Let's Be the Clarks

If my teammate Lil Greg were here right now, he would say, "Darcy, you tweakin." And friends, he'd be right about that. I am indeed tweaking. I've gone through a lot of emotions this past week. From the fun celebration moments, to the Debbie Downer ones where I've cried or sat listlessly watching on at half of the functions we've attended. I need to snap out of it and be more like Clark. Let me explain.

On my drive back from a trip to South Dakota during Round 3, I stopped at at a Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Mandan, ND and happened to purchase a book on tape about the expedition. I listened to it twice on my drive, and even gave it to my unit leader for him to experience. I was enthralled by this 5-hour account of Lewis and Clark's travels through the Louisiana Territory, which included many of the same areas I have visited over the year. I'm not going to nerd out too much here, but the take-away from this blog post is that Lewis and Clark, despite having largely the same experience during their 2.5 years traveling the country, took different courses post-expedition. Meriwether Lewis, who was originally chosen by Jefferson to lead the journey, was made governor of the Louisiana Territory. But the job was a poor fit for him. He more or less became a depressed drunk, engaged in questionable politics, and ended up committing suicide only a few years after the Corps of Discovery's triumphant return.

William Clark's deal was a bit different. Now, he was no angel, mind you, as is evidenced by his bringing a slave, York, along on the journey at a pay rate of $0. And according to Wikipedia, he was terrible at grammar and spelling. But he had the savvy enough to get his crap together upon returning home. He took a job as Superintendent of Indian Affairs, got hitched and had a slew of babies. Then he lived to be 69, which I'm pretty sure was considered a ripe old age 200 years ago. As we leave campus and head home tomorrow morning, I'd like to make a suggestion to myself and fellow team leaders: Let's Be the Clarks. Whether it's continuing the AmeriCorps journey in another program because your expedition's not quite over, jumping into a Peace Corps stint, starting a new job in the public sector, moving home to your family, or getting prego with your special significant other a la Clark. Whatever success means to you. Yes, this was a great year of our lives, but it won't be the best. Not if we have anything to say about it. I'd like to close off this thought with some words of wisdom from another wise William.

Big Willy once said, “If you are not making someone else’s life better, then you are wasting your time. Your life will become better by making other people’s lives better.” Big Willy would be proud to see what we've accomplished for others this year. Keep up the good work, and remember to care for yourselves in the same way you've cared for your team, TL friends, and project beneficiaries this year. Let's be the Clarks.