There is a saying in one of the women ’ s development courses that I go on : “ You cannot become yourself by yourself ”. I know that is very true for me . When I decided to come out as transgender and finally be myself , I envisioned a fairly isolated and detached life .
The outcome was far from that . The support I got from my Rotary colleagues was truly awe-inspiring and amazing . It brought tears to my eyes , and those of my wife . We were blown away . They really went out of the way to support us and make us feel that we belonged .
That kind of support helped me be the person I am today . Their support gave me more confidence and courage to truly be myself . Truly , I did not become myself by myself .
However admirable that support was ( and it was vital to Joan and me ), it is the dying kick of an organisation . Rotary is dying , as are all the civil society organisations . That kind of support will no longer be there . That kind of support was built by working together to solve real problems . Working with somebody ( especially in a charitable / voluntary situation ) gives you the measure of that person .
Nowadays , people have busy schedules , people do not want to join organisations , people do not want to commit ... radical individualism is the dominant culture .
Yet , people want to connect . They spend an inordinate amount of time on Facebook connecting . I should know . I have 250 friends on Facebook . The thing is that many Facebook friends you only know by name ; you do not know their measure , their trustworthiness , their real value to you . When I came out , I had loads of support messages from people on Facebook who I barely knew . But the ones that made any difference to me were from those I had met and had spent time working with and getting to know . Those were the ones whose support really mattered .
The support I got from my Rotary colleagues was truly awe-inspiring and amazing .”
Monica Mulholland , President-elect ,
Rotary Club of Queenstown
So , in coming to the presidency of Rotary next year in Queenstown , I come with more questions than answers . In a Facebook age , how do we structure things where we can build that kind of support ? How do we structure things in a modern Facebook society to supply the things the modern generation really wants ... trustworthiness and authenticity in relationships ?
We can only do it by experimenting , and experimenting while the organisation that we know dies around us . The new Rotary , if we ever get there , will be very different from the old one . I won ’ t solve the problem in my year . It will be ongoing for many years yet ; but , with your support , and the support of others in the Rotary family , I will give it my best shot .
Service above Self is our motto ... it is up to all of us to give the example by living up to it .
As Muhamm ad Ali said : “ Service to others is the rent we pay for our room on the planet !”
Monica also made an appearance on Newshub recently . You can read the news piece on her here , and see Rotary International ’ s tweet here .
FUNDRAISER INTO SHAPE