Four Ways to Make Hard Work and Service More Fun

By John Griffith and featuring California Conservation Corps member, Zach DeJoe

Many people believe that while hard work and service have great intrinsic value, they don’t leave much room for fun. I disagree. Fun includes things like joyful purpose, awe-ha moments, magnificent mood magnifiers, and choreographed acts of celebration. In fact, these elements of fun are actually essential to a successful Great Outdoors Day of Service.  Here is how to put them into practice to keep your participants’ morale and productivity at an optimum level.

• Joyful Purpose: Understand and share your project’s story.

Individuals are more receptive to experiencing fun at work if they feel that the project they are engaged in is meaningful. So in addition to making sure that everyone understands the safety considerations (because getting injured isn’t fun), be sure to tell your project’s story. For example, as a crew supervisor in the California Conservation Corps (CCC), I frequently take young adults to the beach where we spend all day removing invasive European beach grass from sand dunes. If I left the explanation of our project as, “we’re here to pull grass,” the work would quickly be perceived as a “boring waste of time” and “sucks.” Smiles would become rarer and sighs would become more common. Instead, I point out (or show a picture of) a small, endangered bird called a snowy plover, and describe how predators are taking advantage of the cover that the invasive grass provides to ambush and gobble up snowy plover chicks. Suddenly grass-pulling has a meaningful and motivating purpose. Once the crew understands that they are helping to save an endangered species (and cute baby endangered species, at that!) the “grass pulling” takes on a joyful purpose and everyone becomes more receptive to fun—and more productive. You may not have something as cool as a fluffy baby plover chick to illuminate your project’s joyful purpose, but always take the time to make sure that you and all the other participants understand why you are doing the project and who and/or what is positively impacted by the outcome of your collective effort.

• Awe-ha Moments: Taking time to explore worksite discoveries.

Awe-ha moments are seldom planned and should never be ignored. These instances are stumbled upon while working and are able to invoke a sense of belonging to something vaster than routine life. When experienced as a group, awe-ha moments provide a bonding opportunity that can lead to excitement and therefore more fun. They can bring disparate members together and make it easier for the group to coalesce into a team. In fact, Dacher Ketner, a University of California professor who researches the feeling of awe says that, “brief experiences of awe redefine the self in terms of the collective and orient our actions toward interest of others”.

Lucky for us, awe-ha moments are awaiting discovery all over a project site! We just have to be committed to exploring their mysteries. We have to choose to be present when they present themselves. Awe-ha moments are the baby hummingbirds peeking over the rim of the nest that was discovered in a bush while weeding the community garden, the yellow-spotted black salamander found while moving the log off the trail, the strange creature washed ashore and gently poked during the beach cleanup, and the bright red flower resisting the pavement by blooming through a crack in the parking lot of the school that you’re renovating. Most awe-ha moments are from the natural world, and frequently experienced in the middle of the city.  Taking time to share in the wonder of these discoveries will increase both the levels of fun and productivity of your participants.

• Magnificent Mood Magnifiers: Bring snacks, drinks, and music. By Zach DeJoe

Hello, this is Zach DeJoe, a corps member on John Griffith’s crew. I’m jumping in on his article to give the Millennial perspective on how to have fun with Magnificent Mood Magnifiers (MMM’s). MMM’s are little interjections into your Great Outdoors Day of Service that have the ability to change the flavor and rhythm of your time together. Let’s start with flavor. While in the CCC, corps members are responsible for bringing their own food to work, but volunteers may have arrived to your Day of Service assuming that food was going to be provided. Or, there may be volunteers coming from areas where quality food isn’t readily accessible—food deserts are common in some areas of our nation. By making sure your Day of Service project includes healthy snacks such as fruit, nuts, yogurt, and of course, water for hydration, participants may avoid occurrences of fatigue, reduce episodes of low blood sugar, or worse. It is much easier to have fun when you’re energized with food and fully hydrated. And anyone snacking on what you bring will consider you to be pretty cool.

Over the course of the day, you might want a little something more than snacks to lift your spirits. Listening to music just may be the best pick-me-up tool at our disposal. When asked what could make service work more enjoyable, our CCC crew unanimously—and all at once—proclaimed the gift of music as the answer. Not only has music been scientifically shown to boost physical performance and increase endurance, it has also been proven to reduce stress, elevate mood, and reduce anxiety. And these are just some of the beneficial effects music can have on both our bodies and minds. When deciding on what sort of music to play during a day of service, it is important to choose something that won’t offend your fellow volunteers or the community, probably something more mainstream. Basically what you want is something upbeat and positive that is suitable for your crew. Working with a bunch of 20-somethings may require something very different from working with a crew that may be a bit more long in the tooth. Balancing your Pharell with your Conway Twitty may be a difficult task, but it’s worth the effort when having more fun is the goal.

Choreographed Acts of Celebration: Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Lunch breaks are not just for eating anymore. They are also for dancing. Dancing can add way, way, way more fun to your Great Outdoors Day of Service. A choreographed dance that is easy to learn is guaranteed to raise morale. In 2014, I was invited to present at the National Geographic Bioblitz Event in Golden Gate National Parks. Since there were no specific details about what my presentation was supposed to include, I created a dance, taught it to some CCC youth, and we performed it onstage at the event. Since then I have received Bioblitz Dance video responses from all over the world. Recently, over three days’ worth of lunch breaks, I taught the dance to my current crew during a week that we were restoring the coastal dunes AKA “grass pulling.” Like I mentioned earlier, grass pulling can be perceived as monotonous after a couple days, and while the cute baby plover chick story helps, some projects just need a couple dance moves. And the lunchtime-dance breaks definitely did their job. During the practices, I saw every corps member smile. I heard every corps member laugh. And the fun from those lunch-time practices spilled into the working hours. Everyone agreed that it made the project a lot more fun. This has been my experience every time that I’ve taught a group of people the Bioblitz Dance. They laugh and smile through the practice sessions and feel more connected to one another by the time their moves are in sync. I invite you to do the Bioblitz Dance during your Day of Service. Visit my Youtube channel to learn from the tutorial videos and watch dozens of other Bioblitz Dance video responses from all over the world. https://www.youtube.com/user/TotemMagicGoingMAD

In addition to joyful purpose, awe-ha moments, magnificent mood magnifiers, and choreographed acts of celebration, there are a range of things that you can do to add fun to your Great Outdoors Day of Service. From starting with an icebreaker activity, to playing an inclusive game, to some friendly work competition, to a closing circle where the participants express gratitude for one another and the collective mission, your fun potential is realized by your willingness to be creative.

Be very mindful that regardless of how hard the work is or what kind of project you are doing on your Day of Service, fun arises naturally from a group with a high morale. A quick search on the Internet will reveal numerous studies proving that high workplace morale also leads to more production and less accidents. Morale is highest in a group where participants feel respected, welcomed, and included. So start the fun happening just by giving everyone a welcoming, “hello.”  And then move forward with some joyful purpose, awe-ha moments, magnificent mood magnifiers, and choreographed acts of celebration. By applying these techniques everyone will realize and appreciate that making the world a better place doesn’t just require a bunch of hard work, it is also provides opportunities to have a lot of fun.

There is so much pain, anger, and mourning on my social media news-feeds. There are some reactive sentiments that should have been thought through way better before they were posted to Facebook. Because of them, many folks will be conducting damage control with their friends, family, constituents, and co-workers in the coming months. But there is as much expression of empathy and compassion. There are genuinely helpful words and article and video shares. There are reminders of the ancient wisdoms that our ancestors passed down to us. Last night I went to bed with all this on my mind. And I woke up thinking about how it must be to not feel equally protected under the law based on my race or culture.

I consider myself an empathetic person, but it is difficult for me to imagine not feeling confident to do what I presently do or go all the places that I go. I’ve never feared the police because of my race or anything else. In fact, I was raised by a cop. I’ve never felt immediately threatened or unwelcomed by the confederate flags waving in front of houses in various places along the route to my favorite national park in the way Glenn Nelson from Trail Posse has described. They are only harmless icons that disappoint me. I’ve never had to wonder if someone who hates me because of how I look lives there.

The places that made me feel uncomfortable have always been easy to avoid because 99.995% of the country welcomes me based on how I look. I’ve always felt like the system supported me. Yet, so many of my friends, family, and loved ones do not know this feeling. I want everyone to feel as safe as I do. I want everyone to feel like they can access all the same opportunities that I can. I want everyone to love the experiment that the United States is as much as I do.

The data from all the reputable sources show that many American communities do not feel, and are not experiencing, equal protection under the law, especially young black men. This is a problem that we should ALL care about. Speaking up, discussing, and taking action to resolve this inequality is the right thing to do. It is our duty as Americans to demand peace and justice for all of our citizens. It most certainly matters. Do not cheapen or simplify this essential effort by referring to it as political correctness. Resolving this disparity is to live in the universal truth of loving your neighbor as yourself. Turning this wisdom into a way of being is crucial for humanity’s long-term survival and should be applied in earnest this week when you read and watch the news and discuss it with those around you. We will continue moving toward equality and prosperity if we have “Love thy Neighbor” in the front of all our responses regarding the unfolding social justice/racial inequality situations.

I know some cannot relate to the “love thy neighbor” motivation for equality, and to you I recommend exploring the other peaceful resolutions because resolving the inequality issue is essential for everyone’s prosperity.

Thanks, Cathy Wolz Barr for sharing this video of Maya Angelou with me. It has really helped me keep perspective. Maya reminds us that among the clouds there are rainbows. “Be a blessing to somebody.” Please watch and share her words.

Hello, for those of you who don’t already know, I am a crew supervisor for a state youth workforce development program called the California Conservation Corps. Many of my future blogs will be about the work that I do and the youth who I do it with. And a few of them may even be from those young adults. This post is an article written by one of those corps members: Karlee Jewell.

Karlee was one of two corps members who was selected to go with me to National Geographic’s BioBlitz Event to perform the BioBlitz Dance onstage at an event commemorating the centennial anniversary of the USA’s National Park Service. That’s us pictured above with the US Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell. Karlee is next to the Secretary, and corps member Sierra Preston is wearing the red hat.  Karlee’s commitment to the outdoors is not just about celebrating the outdoors with dances–although she is certainly down to the BioBlitz Dance whenever. In this article, she introduces you to some action that you can easily take to help wildlife.  –John Griffith

No Place For Birds:

And How You Can Fix That

by Karlee Jewell

Imagine that it’s a Tuesday, you’re done with work, and on your way home you stop at your local market to pick up dinner for you and your family. It’s not until you walk inside that you realize something is unusual. On sale in the meat department is poisonous salamander. This surprises you, and a quick look at the next option proves to increase your confusion: why on earth are toxic frog legs for sale? My family and I can’t eat that. Flustered, you leave the meat department and head to the produce section, you remembered seeing some lush greens on your way in, so you decide to make a salad this evening. You walk up to those same greens and read the sign above them: Poison Hemlock and Poison Oak Salad Mix. You’re baffled. You take a step back to survey the scene. With salt and pesticide laden grass blades in the chip aisle and canned sand dollar shells in the canned goods aisle, you realize the entire grocery store is filled with inedible items. And there’s nothing to drink for sale at all! Not even a water faucet in the bathroom. How can this be? From the outside, this grocery store looked like every other.

With growing hunger and frustration you leave and make your way down the block to another market. To your dismay, this store offers nearly all of the same options as the previous one. Hungry, tired, and confused you check the stores across town and in the next town only to realize there is no food around that you and your family can eat. This is the grim reality that many native bird, insect, and mammal species are faced with when they migrate through suburban America. Our yards offer little in the way of nutrition for a migrating or parenting animal.

Due to lack of adequate water sources, few places to hide, and our rampant planting of non-native ornamental plants, many insects, birds, and mammals are left without habitat. The ornamental plants most popular in American yards are usually from Asia and are advertised as “pest-free” when they should actually be called “butterfly-free.” Our native butterflies did not evolve with these ornamentals. This means, in a majority of cases, they do not lay eggs on them because their baby caterpillars cannot munch on the leaves.  Aside from their native larval host plants, butterflies also need nectar sources in order to thrive.

Most bird parents feed their nestlings caterpillars and other insects; so you could just as aptly call those “pest-free” plants, “bird-free” plants. Our backyards are the pit stops and grocery stores for wildlife. When so many of them fail to provide adequate food and water, wildlife finds themselves in the same imaginary grocery store described above. My supervisor, coworker, and I created this skit to help you see what birds may be experiencing.

As a member of the California Conservation Corps (CCC), I am reminded daily that we’re all capable of making positive impacts. Be it participating in restoration projects, wildlife conservation, using reusable bags, planting a native garden, or responding to natural disaster emergencies, we all make choices to conserve and support our communities and protect our planet. But you don’t have to join one of the many corps programs in the United States to help the environment. What if I told you that we all have the opportunity to make a difference right here in our own backyards? In fact, you don’t even need a backyard. A patio, a planter box, or any small space available outside is enough to save insects and animals.

America’s oldest and largest conservation organization, The National Wildlife Federation (NWF), has created a tool which enables all of us to take actions to do just that. By partnering with NWF, we all have the opportunity to create a Certified Wildlife Habitat. In order to certify your yard, balcony, schoolyard and/or place of work, you just need to make sure that the four habitat requirements exist in that space: food, water, cover, and places for wildlife to raise their young.

Now before you look away thinking this is an unachievable feat, bear with me. It’s easier than it sounds. Often times a native plant can provide three of the four habitat components all on its own: food, cover, and places to raise young.  Nectar, pollen, leaves, sap, seeds, fruits, and berries are examples of food that native plants can provide. Water sources include birdbaths, natural features like a frog pond or stream, a shallow dish, or even a muddy puddle for butterflies. Aside from native plants, cover and places to raise young can also be: thickets, roosting boxes, rock or stick piles, and unraked yards.

By creating Certified Wildlife Habitat, we will be able to experience, understand, and connect with the natural world we live in. Think of one of your closest friends, did you start out as besties right off the bat? Most likely not. You probably spent time with one another, grew closer through shared experiences, began to understand each other, and built bonds. Picturing life without them now invokes thoughts of sadness and loss. This is the same connection we hope to foster through creating a Certified Wildlife Habitat. You will start to care about the wildlife you watch and share space with because you will begin to better understand them.

The scenario of the grocery store with inedible food is an example of what happens when we plant “pest-free” plants in our gardens. Fortunately, we can easily solve this problem. Take for instance the beautiful monarch butterfly; it depends on flowering nectar plants for food and milkweed as its larval host plant. Due to current cultural practices, both are in decline throughout its migration range, and as a result, the monarchs’ population has suffered greatly. But we can help them! We can plant milkweed, their larval host plant in our outdoor spaces. By creating wildlife habitat we can take steps to mitigate some of the challenges that monarchs, and other wildlife, are facing.

Chances are that if you plant natives then you are planting a larval host plant for some butterfly species—the native plant they evolved to lay their eggs on.  Not sure which native plants grow in your area? No problem, The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center has an online collection of native plants by state.

Imagine all the wildlife that would benefit if every member program of the 21^st Century Corps took advantage of the opportunity to become a Certified Wildlife Habitat through NWF.  We’ve already started. As seen in When Mountain Lions Are Neighbors, a book written by Beth Pratt-Bergstrom, director of NWF CA, the CCC residential centers of Ukiah and Fortuna have certified their campuses. The process included corps members building a relationship with their wild roomies by planting drought tolerant native plants that serve as larval hosts for native butterflies and colorful nectar sources for native bees and other pollinators. And that was just the beginning. Now, members of the 21^st Century Corps, NWF, conservationists, wildlife lovers, and nature nuts alike must continue to engage others, speak with our actions, and raise awareness for the betterment of all our community members—furry, fuzzy, and feathery alike.