Day 25: Joyce Dowling

October 25, 2009 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“I also believed in justice and compassion in relationships, and so that carried over into that work and working to improve the world and the environment of which we’re all a part are principles that have helped me in the work that I do as well.”

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Toni Reece: Before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Joyce Dowling: I’m Joyce Dowling, and I’m a community activist, Unitarian Universalist activist, a website developer, and a substitute teacher for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Toni: Oh my goodness, that’s a lot of things that you do, Joyce.

Joyce: In the past I’ve had other titles as well.  I like a varied life, and I kind of go with the flow as to how I’m inspired.

Toni: Well, that leads us into the very first question, Joyce, which is with all of the hats that you wear and all the things that you do, who do you think you inspire and how do you do that?

Joyce: Well, I think I inspire other Unitarian Universalists because I work very closely with them.  I inspire some other community activists in the county.  I believe in thinking globally and acting locally, so I’m involved in community organizations.  And so I think when I work with people that I inspire them by modeling action and that I’m inspired.  I think my inspiration helps to inspire other people.

Toni: So, Joyce, when you say that by modeling action, can you give an example of how you do that that might inspire others to do the same or to take initiative in other areas?

Joyce: Well, when I first became, I would say, inspired … because previously I had a low self-esteem and thought, “Oh, the only people I could affect were people very close to me like my family.”  And I could be a good mother, but I was working as a home child care provider also, taking care of children — which I absolutely love to do — and people would call me on the phone begging me to care for their babies because they heard I was a good child care provider and they had trouble finding good child care providers.

So I realized there was a problem, and then I realized that I had some ability to affect change in that area and I worked with a family child care organization and it took a while.  When I first became a member of that organization, they were more like a club and not doing the kind of action work that I was interested in doing with them.  Eventually after months of my prodding them along to do action … I mean it was the best for us all, it was best for our children which we all cared about.  I really believed in it and eventually they did too, and we got a lot of work done.  So that’s one way.  By my working, I help inspire other people to work.

Toni: So that is your modeling action that you spoke about as far as what you do to inspire others, plus what I heard you say is that, you know, you started out years ago with a bit of low self-esteem and you were naturally doing something, taking care of children, recognized the problem and then where it became big for you was the realization that you could affect change.  And was it that realization that boosted the self-esteem that led to the possibilities and then led to the community activism?

Joyce: Yes, I’d say that really helped, but I also was raised as a Unitarian.  And I think that helped me too, because our seven principles include the belief in worth and dignity of each person, so I believed I had worth and dignity and that helped my self-esteem tremendously, but I carried that belief with me.  I just didn’t know how to use it.  And then I also believed in justice and compassion in relationships, and so that carried over into that work and working to improve the world and the environment of which we’re all a part are principles that have helped me in the work that I do as well.

Toni: When you are doing this type of work, what do you do that you believe can help others explore their own potential with the community work that you do?  You also said you work with deaf children?

Joyce: Well, I was a family child care provider for 12 years, but then I became a religious educator for several years, and then went into internet work — so it was a kind of switch — but I still was doing that work with the same communities.  And I reached out to my geographic community and got more involved in my local geographic community, so … how can I get back to …

Toni: That’s okay; the work that you’ve done then … it sounds as though you’ve taken many, many paths and you went into internet work, and you also said in the beginning of the interview that you work with children still.  And I’m wondering what you do — you may not even realize it — but what do you find yourself doing that you might help others explore their own potential?  Let’s say that you’re dealing with a child that has low self-esteem or you’re in the community work that you’re doing.  You realize that the potential of that cause that you’re working on … how would you explore that potential?  How do you go about that?

Joyce: Well, it’s much easier to see and work with children.  When I was a family child care provider, the first deaf child who came into my daycare was almost 3 years old, and he had absolutely no interest in books.  He was very physical, but I know that deaf children have a hard time learning to read on grade level, so I thought it was important to start at a young age to teach reading so that he could eventually meet grade level, which did happen.  By the age of 6, he was reading on grade level, and the way that I approached that was I saw what he was interested in.  He was interested in trucks and cars and, you know, things that moved.  And so I borrowed books from the library about trucks and cars, and so I went to what interested him to motivate him to become interested in books.  I think that works a little bit on the adult level; it’s a little bit harder sometimes to see where an adult’s interest are, and you also have to look at their strengths and skills to help them find the area in which they’d be most helpful in or most inspired by.

Toni: So basically, with the child you spoke about as an example,  you saw a need and you realized … again had the realization that it needed to change.  So you went and used any resource that you can find, i.e. the library to find the books that this child was interested in to help him read at a grade level.   Again, it repeated itself as far as the realization of what’s possible and impacting change.  I think that’s fascinating.  And when you seek inspiration yourself, Joyce, where do you go?  What do you do, and what do you need to be inspired?

Joyce: Well, remembering all these things that we’ve talked about — that I have had successes, I’ve had wonderful relationships, I’ve affected change — that helps inspire me to continue because I know that it’s possible.  I’ve always been inspired by nature and, as I said, my Unitarian Universalist principles and by other people.  And the internet these days is such an inspiration because you can connect to so many different people, and there are so many different ways of using the tool and the tool keeps changing, and it’s exciting, so that’s very inspirational to me.

Toni: So the tool that you reach for to help you inspire as well — not the only tool — is the internet because of all the information and all the possibilities that exist within the information highway, so to speak, on the internet.  And what you need for inspiration as well is to remember what’s possible and remember the work that you’ve done.  What about when you are exploring your own potential, Joyce?  How do you do that?  What tools might you reach for to continue to explore your own potential?

Joyce: I often look to other people’s feedback, because sometimes I can’t see what I’m doing best and what I can continue to excel in.  I have a meeting with somebody tomorrow who’s helping me to write a grant proposal for a nonprofit organization that I’m trying to form, and a couple of years ago someone else had sent me a link to a grant possibility because they saw that it is something that I am doing, but I have no funds to work with, and developing this nonprofit organization would be a help to my work.  So other people help me to find resources and show me what my potential might be.

Toni: So you reach out to look for not only guidance but what’s out there, what’s possible from other people’s perspective in order to keep you going, to do the work that you do.

Joyce: That’s right.

Toni: It’s been very interesting understanding just this snapshot of your particular journey at being a community activist and the work that you’re doing, how you started, who you inspire and how, and just, I think for me, might take away with your interview is that the realization that things are possible and then action to create that change is what you’ve been doing and what you seek.  And so from that perspective, I see that the people who will listen and read your interview will benefit and learn from you, and I appreciate that, and thank you so very much  for taking part in this project.

Joyce: Well thank you, too.  I think the project sounds magnificent.

Toni: Thank you, Joyce, and I look forward to talking to you soon.

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For more information about Joyce Dowling:  www.joycedowling.com

Thumbnail art for Joyce’s interview by Maia Selene Dowling.

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