“If your values are good enough to walk, aren’t they good enough to talk? And, if you wouldn’t want to be caught talking them, why the heck would you walk them?”

I’ve been participating in the Argus-Courier’s “Petaluma’s Blogtown,USA” for a few months and have found myself wandering all over the map trying to find the niche that fits my area of community needs and concerns. The trouble is I don’t fit into one box. In a community like Petaluma, there are so many separate areas of interest, and in many ways they are interrelated and connected. Quite often it is difficult to talk about education without mentioning ICT (Information & Computer Technology.) How can you discuss our town’s past history without thinking about the present? What about environmental issues and their impact upon Petaluma’s growth and economic development? As the King of Siam once said, “It’s a puzzlement.”

As you learned by reading Hammerhead #1, this category of blogs seeks to find quotes that “hit the nail on the head.” The above quote from the blog of “Dr. Free-Ride, Ph.D.” caught my eye because I’ve been struggling with how to balance my “walking the walk,” with “talking the talk.” I thought if I cut back on posting daily blogs, there would be more time for initiating pilot projects and putting my money where my mouth has been. It hasn’t worked! I’m a lousy manager of time. It’s impossible for me to separate the two.

For example, one of my community interest areas is Emergency Preparedness. Over the past few months, we have been involved in a collaborative project designed to help local neighborhoods be prepared for a disaster. Several of my blogs have been posted under various category headings talking about these initiatives. As the quote implies – you have to do both – talk and walk – both at the same time. (It’s like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time. It’s easier said than done.)

OK, what’s the bottom line for this blogger? How will he resolve this dilemma (or his addiction) of preaching vs. acting? Are they necessarily separate? Don’t they belong together – like the “Sage on the stage?” Bottom line; we’ll try and do both, but in a balanced way so that message and the messenger are in sync. We will continue to post under the headings, Our Cyberplace, Our Community, Our Web of Life, Then & Now, Bill’s Blog, Education, GLOB, Hammerhead, Remembering Bill Soberanes and the catch-all – Miscellaneous.

Whew! I’m glad we got that figured out. Thank you, “Dr. Free-Ride!” Stay tuned for more talking at odd times of the day or night and walking the walk. Please don’t forget to add your thoughts and comments to any of these blogs because as you have heard au nausea, “The greatest resource of any community is the collective wisdom, intellect and creativity of its citizens.”