Carrotmob is happening this Sunday! Consequently all of us on the team are busy getting the word out, coordinating with the Materials for the Arts (who will be accepting donations), and planning the energy audit of the hardware store by NYSERDA.

People seem to like the doing-it-ourselves ethic of Carrotmobbing, and we’re expecting a big crowd, though there’s really no way of telling how many people will show up. Half of me finds this exciting—we could end up with a line around the block!—and the other half is a little scared that there will be 10 of us standing around looking at each other. But either way Tarzian Hardware will get some funds to use to improve their facility and some guidance on how to spend it.

For my part, it’s been a great experience planning the event. I’ve learned a lot about how to work with people to get things done, how important it is to have a plan, and how willing we need to be to throw the plan out the window as things change. It’s been nice gettting to know the members of our team and some new people in my neighborhood, too, and in the community of folks who are also working on sustainabilty issues in New York.

One thing that has jumped out at me is the need to put my fears and desires aside in the interests of getting things done. I might be tired, it might be gross outside, and I might be scared no one’s going to show up, but none of that matters in the context of making sure this event happens. The commitment I made at the beginning of the process to take responsibility for it has really carried me through some times when I’d much rather have spent the evening sitting on the couch instead of making flyers and phone calls.

Eddie Vedder once said something at a concert about how sometimes when he writes songs, it’s because he needs to sing them a bunch of times and so he can understand them—almost like a prayer. I often feel the same way about The Sunny Way—I write on this site what I most need to hear. Lately, as the Carrotmobbing has gotten more and more intense, the line that’s been coming back to me is this one, posted along with a Buckminster Fuller video a few weeks ago: “Commitment plus faith minus ego equals progress.”

I can’t say I’ve gotten this all the way into my head yet, but reminding myself of this simple equation has helped a lot when I’ve started to feel overwhelmed. On Sunday, we’ll see what kind of impact our commitment and faith can have!