Idealist.org: How a “non-job” became the next 5 years.
by Toby Briggs idealist
I couldn’t understand why this “non-job” tugged at me. It conflicted with the great plans I already had to adventure with my mom in June. Plus, I was supposed to be looking for J-O-B-S. Why would I change that? The answer pulled me into the read-and-run politics of California water.
I was living in the Bay Area, relieved to back there, but also anxious to change jobs. After running a playground for 400 kids during the day, I would make myself go sit in the attic room I rented to search for other work. My career up to this point had been largely in wild spaces with lively kids on educational adventures. Now it was in a bustling city on asphalt—though I still had the “lively kids” part. I yearned to have more action for change in my education work. When a post on Idealist.org appeared that combined teaching about the natural world, advocacy, and learning to whitewater raft guide, I was entranced—until I read it wasn’t a job, rather a chance to pay $500 to volunteer. Nope. I closed the window. But over the next weeks, I would surreptitiously peak to see if it was still there…it was. Ugh. I felt both exhilarated and upset. It wasn’t a job!
But it kept nudging and tugging at me. A week later, I cycled with friends from Davis to visit the Earth Day Festival in Sacramento. Wandering around, I bumped into an FOR table there. For never having heard of the organization before the post, here it was. What weird synchronicity! The FOR volunteer’s exuberant and friendly encouragement pushed me to apply 2 weeks before the training would start. I still was hesitant.
When I finally surrendered to the voice in my head, I called my mom to reschedule. I couldn’t put into words why this felt important, but it felt like the next era of my life and career. The encouragement from another kind FOR volunteer pushed me to ‘yes.’ I dug the $500 out of deep savings, drove my ’91 Honda Civic Wagon to Camp Lotus—a campground along the South Fork American River—to start a 9-day whitewater rafting school to learn about guiding and river advocacy.
What I learned at training, changed how I approach my life. As a new guide, I was still deciphering what the currents were saying, trying to move my boat to the best line, calling commands that gave too much momentum or started too late. Maybe my call was great, but the crew’s move was uncoordinated. Either way, I was responsible. All the while, a seasoned guide was telling me what to do, frequently in terms I couldn’t decipher fast enough. In the cacophony of the moment: I was learning to trust my calls, making adjustments, letting go of failed attempts, trying new ways, and calling success “a safe and happy crew that arrived at take-out”—even if that meant hitting rocks, occasionally stalling out in eddies. I knew I did my best and better was possible.
That visceral choice to train in Summer 2014 led to a job with FOR the following year. Learning from the river was a great training to becoming advocate at FOR. I learned how to ride the current rapids of water politics and have paddled in different positions in the boat at FOR. Five years later, I have had many firsts as an advocate: coordinating lobby days, meeting with legislators, collecting signatures for sign-on letters, and writing action alerts. With our team, I built events like Paddle to the Capital and programs like the River Advocacy Training School. Last summer, I plunged into facilitating multiple groups to submit comments to Governor Newsom’s Climate Resilient Portfolio. Advocacy can be impactful, but is it rarely perfect and never a straight line. It takes courage, a plan, and the ability to respond to changing conditions. Training in whitewater rafting taught me that.
This all started with a post on Idealist.org that I could not ignore. I answered the quiet, insistent voice I heard. Lean in to hear yours. We need others who care. How water in California will continue to flow remains even more uncertain as climate change asks us to navigate new rapids.
RATS who attended the 2019 California River Awards.