By Selina Pedi-Smith
You’ve been there. We all have. You start something new, excited and full of hope, and for a little while, it’s going great. The effort is paying off, the vision is taking shape, and you can practically see the finish line. And then—bam. Maybe it’s the community garden you poured your heart into, only to wake up and find it overrun by an army of caterpillars that turned your thriving plants into sad, skeletal remains. Or maybe it’s the public artwork you’ve been working on for weeks, only to have an unexpected rainstorm turn your careful brushstrokes into a blurred, dripping mess. These moments are frustrating, discouraging, and generally make you want to throw something. (Preferably not a phone like people do on TV - those things are expensive!) But they’re also a completely normal, unavoidable part of progress. And more importantly—they’re the moments that separate dreaming about change from actually making it happen.
Last week, we talked about how visibility fuels momentum—how seeing progress makes people believe more is possible. But what happens when things don’t go as planned? The same psychology applies. When people see others facing setbacks—and pushing through them—it normalizes the reality that progress isn’t always a smooth, linear journey. And that’s critical, because too often, we only see the highlight reel.
The Instagram Effect: We love before-and-after pictures, but they rarely show the chaotic during. We see the flourishing garden, not the weeks spent battling pests. We admire the stunning mural, not the rain-soaked artist standing in a puddle, wondering how to salvage their work.
The Overnight Success Myth: When communities thrive, it’s easy to assume it just happened. We don’t see the late nights, the unexpected expenses, or the moments when people nearly gave up before figuring out a way forward.
The Perfection Problem: When all we see is the polished final product, setbacks can feel like personal failures. But when people see others struggle, adapt, and keep going, it rewires how we think about challenges—not as signs to stop, but as part of the process.
Let’s go back to that garden. It was thriving—until the caterpillars arrived. Leaves stripped, stems bare, months of work seemingly destroyed overnight. It would be easy to call it a failure. But then, something shifts. The gardeners research natural pest control. They introduce ladybugs, plant companion herbs, and create an ecosystem that protects future crops. By the end of the season, not only do they have a healthier garden, but they’ve also built resilience into the soil—one that will support stronger harvests in the years to come. And as it turns out, that late-season tomato crop? It ends up being the best they’ve ever had. So good, in fact, that someone takes those tomatoes and turns them into a homemade sauce that wins first prize at the county fair. Or the mural. The artist stands in the rain, watching the colors drip and swirl, all those careful details washing away. But instead of scrapping it, they adapt. They lean into the movement of the water, blending new colors into the design, turning the accident into something even more beautiful—something that looks alive, organic, like it was always meant to be part of the piece. The result? The once-overlooked alleyway becomes a local landmark, with people stopping to take photos, businesses nearby seeing more foot traffic, and the artist getting commissioned for even bigger projects. That’s what resilience is. It’s not about avoiding problems. It’s about learning how to move through them, around them, or sometimes, straight over them—and seeing what unexpected rewards come out on the other side.
At Pellere, we’re committed to showing the real process of revitalization—the good, the bad, and the what now? That’s why visibility matters, not just for the victories, but for the struggles, too. The Pellere in Motion series is capturing these moments in real-time, showing not just what’s changing, but how it happens—including when things don’t go as planned. Because when people see resilience in action, they start to believe they can be part of it, too.
Next week, we’re bringing in different perspectives on what change looks like—through the eyes of the people living it. What does progress feel like from the inside? What keeps people going when things get tough? And how do we turn setbacks into something even more powerful? Because, yeah, sometimes life gives you a giant pile of lemons. And sometimes, if you’ve surrounded yourself with growth-minded people, you find a few extra hands willing to help squeeze them into something better than you ever expected.
Rachel Brosnahan is the Community Engagement Coordinator for River Roots Redevelopment. She can be reached by email at rachel@riverrootsredevelopment.org
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