We had the good fortune of connecting with Deb Steele and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Deb, how has your perspective on work-life balance evolved over time?
I am elected to my Township as the Fiscal Officer, in Clinton Township. This position is normally part time and very close to home as I am a resident of Clinton Township. In the fall of 2019, we moved into a slightly larger house, still in the township to take care of my then 80-year-old Dad, who has dementia. A few months later, the whole world attempted to slow the spread of Covid by quarantining. I learned that my wife and I are well suited to a quiet quarantine lifestyle. I also cannot take vacations easily because I need one of my sisters, who lives out of state, to come stay at our home to care for Dad. Instead, I have enjoyed day trips, canoeing and bringing great food for these few-hour adventures. I also started an online master’s program through Ohio University that will wrap up in a few months around sustainability, resilience, and security issues. The lines have blurred for me about when I am working, what is considered working, and what my plan is for when my Dad no longer lives with me, as I do not have a full-time day job. I am glad we as a society want to take better care of our mental health and are thinking about how we “show up” in various spaces. I hope we can grow our connections to better achieve a more balanced life. When we have to move for a better job, work too much to see our family or truly play, we have lost the point of living.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m 45 and used to be a Union, Environmental, and Community Organizer. For the past 5 years, I’ve not worked full-time to take care of my now 85-year-old dad, who has dementia and lives with us. I am thankful I can attend grad school online to continue to grow my brain while caring for my dad. I have learned to let those in my network help when needed. There is no way I could keep up without others’ support, and I enjoy helping others as well, so interdependence should be celebrated more. I am elected to my local Township in a “tiny” but very connected type of grassroots government.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We would go to Mad River in Urbana, Ohio; this is a spring fed stream and the water is usually crystal clear. We would pull over to swim in the deeper parts and enjoy a fantastic picnic of usually hummus and other goodies. Returning at night to our home, where I want to show off our perfect pets. Columbus Ohio has many good restaurants, including Lavash, Preston’s Burgers, Harvest Pizza, and Seitan’s Realm for those of the vegan persuasion. A day trip down to Old Man’s Cave in SE Ohio offers another spectacular nature experience. While near Athens, Ohio, one should always eat at Casa Nueva.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Susan Moore Lappe who is most known for writing Diet for a Small Planet, in 2010 she published “Getting a grip 2 : clarity, creativity and courage for the world we really want.” This book helped me clarify the winning ingredients for making meaningful connections in my organizing work and as a human wanting to make our world a better place. In a nutshell, the lens through which we view the world, a vision of not enough or the vision that there is plenty but a poor distribution system that has resulted in our disconnections, makes all the difference. We are not wired to be selfish, closed-off people, but the modern world is causing that for many. When folks are at the decision-making table, they are more connected to the outcomes. We trust our lives every day with strangers when we drive down the road, so we can take the risk of trusting each other to help build a better community.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/littleorangeoctopus/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deb-steele-027aba16/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1P4uZIrnXpEZ-0n9XDfWDg

Image Credits
I took all these photos

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