Seth Godin so wisely stated in his book, “The Bootstrappers Bible”….

 “In the ocean, the first animals to die are the big fish. That’s because they need to eat a lot to be happy. The small guys, the plankton, can make do with crumbs. Same is true with you. Disney can’t be happy with a movie that earns less than $40 million at the box office. Compare this to the entrepreneur in Vermont (or on The Grid) who made a kids’ video in 1990 called Road Construction Ahead. He was delighted when he made more than $100,000.

 Think about the orders of magnitude at work here: $40 million at the box office is 400 times $100,000. Just imagine all the room there is for a small business that operates under the radar of the giant.”

This really puts into perspective for me the value of shopping locally and voting with my dollar.  The success of small, locally owned businesses directly affect the quality of life here in the central city. And so it seems I am much more valuable to the sustainability of small business than I am even significant to the Goliath Corporation.

Think about it. Does your dollar have more impact at Starbucks or at Butch-N-Nellie's? What really adds more to the quality of life on The Grid, buying a box of See’s Candy or taking a bike ride with someone you love to Ginger Elizabeth?

To be honest, it is a bit of a shift for me. But as I seek to live more authentically to what I value and intentionally through my behavior, it is a conversation I must engage.

-Grid Gorilla, out.