Voice of Co-Creation - Sara Rampersaud

A few weeks ago, a couple of us brainstormed how to summarize Simply Living’s spirit and achievements in three short minutes. We realized many more than three minutes are needed to tell you why we feel drawn to Simply Living, and why we commit our precious time, energy and resources to this wonderful organization. So instead of telling you why I think you should consider joining us, I’m going to tell you why I joined and why I stay deeply involved.

A couple years ago, Marilyn Welker approached me about facilitating Agent of Change – a six week course to empower people to transform their desire for a more sustainable future into concrete action. I agreed – and the experience is completely shifting my perspective of myself and my community. Over the past two years, I’ve seen everyday people, people who never thought of themselves as leaders or visionaries, shape the places they live, work and play – for the better.

I thought that world changers were limited to the people who make it onto the cover of Time magazine – I’ve learned that leadership of all shapes and sizes lives in each of us.

What we need is an incubator, a place where we can grow our dreams into ideas and our ideas into reality. Simply Living is that incubator – giving space for new ideas, passions and energy to anyone who wants it.

Everything I’ve seen and experienced through Simply Living inspires me to ask, “What else is possible??” Now I dare to step into the unknown, because I know I have a community of supporters with me each step of the way.

This is why I am committed to Simply Living: it is the means to a future that I want to hand down to my children. As an organization, Simply Living is difficult for me to define easily or categorize because it is a living, breathing entity – constantly shifting to genuinely reflect the people who wish to be a part of it. Where else can you go to find that?

I hope for you opportunity to experience the amazement, excitement and fulfillment that comes with the knowing that you can and do make a difference. I hope you leave here today embracing the power of one. The power of one person to inspire one group. The power of one group to influence one neighborhood, one neighborhood to ignite one town, one town to lead a movement…and that you will experience the ripple effect that change brings – reaching far beyond any ‘one’ of us.

At its core, this is the spirit of Simply Living.