When my wife Jill and I were new to the island, along with our rambunctious toddler, we tried — not always successfully — to steer clear of the ferry vending machines. The tantalizing snacks might have looked like abundance, but we didn’t really need them.

Do you ever feel that you have a wealth of choices but none will provide what you really need? That the most important options are not before you? I think of this as the difference between empty abundance and true abundance, a distinction that has shaped both my own life here and the role our new Vashon-Maury Community Council (V-MCC) can play in shaping our shared future.

Empty abundance is a plethora of things, experiences, or contacts that have little real satisfaction or depth. We might eat loads of highly processed, calorie-rich f

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