#journeytopublish #littlebylittle

I’m pulled from today’s #journeytopublish post by an aside. Asides are not uncommon in my life. An expression one of my yoga instructors uses often, but also teaches and lives by is: Little by little. It is a less than glorious statement conjuring images of baby steps instead of leaps and bounds. But to her credit I do not get injured on her watch and I do improve. Within her little by little framework she points out the smallest tweaks in musculature and positioning, after she has spent time isolating a particular area and making us cognizant of a muscle or motion most of us were unaware of moments before. I tend to be a big picture individual and I like to get from here to there, fast. Oddly, I also possess a skill for details and I’m surprising good at locating, fielding, and sequencing them for optimal use. 

If my mind has its druthers, it usually doesn’t want to put the time and energy into this slower process. Yet, skipping steps along the way may prove detrimental to my, and everyone’s, overall success – whether a vital step is missed, or a muscle hasn’t built up enough strength, or proper consideration has not been given to possible unintended consequences.

Which somehow (stream of consciousness-ly) brings me to Obama’s health care program. Whether one agrees or disagrees with the underlying premise, the truth is, this was not done little by little and the ramifications, at least in the short term, are anything but. The change over is unclear to even the brightest minds and the website had to be taken down because it wasn’t functioning in a manner helpful to anyone; be they individual, business or navigator. I have had personal experience with, and way too many hours spent on, a non responsive website and people trying to help me that could not verify, with every pertinent piece of identifying information about me, my existence. “You are unverifiable,” I was told. Give me a break. Why am I paying taxes if no one knows I exist? That was on my 5th attempt at getting information about the new health care exchange plans, and after spending the equivalent of a few days work getting nowhere, I was frustrated. Yesterday I decided to visit one of the navigator incubator sites at a doctor’s office near a hospital in a town 15 minutes from my home. I’m sorry to report the results were no better. I got there early and asked the receptionist where to wait. She told me they stopped taking people 3 hours ago…”But it wasn’t even supposed to start for another half hour,” I said. “Sorry, it’s been crazy,” was her response. “Try another one in Suffolk.” 

The system is flawed in execution, if not concept. The US government took on a massive project without a well thought out plan for implementation. And because of the hurry to push the legislation through, my guess is the starting date will have to be pushed back anyway. Perhaps they needed a conversation with my yoga instructor. My point being that while the concept of little by little may not be grand, it is doable. A plan where critical thinking skills and more attention to detail are prominent, could produce results of less pain, injury, hurt or mistake. If my yoga teacher could use her native Japanese tongue to speak to the purveyors of health care, I’d send her to Washington.