Community

"Giving simply means, I'm healed enough to help"

Yesterday I got home from one of my most moving expeditions to date. 

Awhile back my friend Lisa and I signed onto being Alternative Break advisers on campus. Alt. Break is a program for students to go and serve in diverse communities during their summer, winter, and spring breaks. The students get no credit for their hard work, and have to fundraise for the cost of the trip.

Spring Break 2012: 8 girls, 2 advisers, Missoula, MT.  We were set, until the snow came. The passes from Oregon to Montana were looking brutal, and due to the fact that Lisa and I were in charge of safely transporting the girls from A-to-B (in a 12 passenger van) and back, we decided as a team to cancel Montana (less than a week from when we were supposed to depart) and instead, quickly find service opportunities within the homeless community in nearby (and snow-free), Seattle, WA.

During our week of service we had the opportunity to work with 4 great community organizations, some we worked with for only a day, and others that we spent multiple days with, such as Operation Sack Lunch where we split our time between their Compass Center shelter and their outdoor meal site. (I have listed the links and mission statements of all four organizations below, if you would like to read up the organizations.), but what I really wanted to write about tonight was:

What I learned during my service within the Seattle homeless community:

-You can work hard your whole life and suddenly have everything taken away from you. Homelessness can happen to anyone, not just those who are battling drug/alcohol abuse. Because of this, spend your life living. Your 20's will rocket past you, your 30's will come too soon, your 40's start the cycle of aging, etc.. Do what makes you happy, and be grateful (while still remaining humble) for all you have.

-Most shelter clients feel the need to fake elation when volunteers come to do service in order to avoid pity. When it comes to picking a partner to share your lunch with, bypass the charismatic jester of the shelter and go find the real people, and respect them enough to show then your real self as well.

-As a volunteer, the greatest gift you can give is a smile. Sure the warm food and warm words are great and all, but all day these community members are looked down upon, so take the time to see them as your community members and be genuine.

-Listen to their advice. Just because they don't have a place to live, does not mean they have not lived.

-The number one thing that nearly all of my lunch partners told me was to "get educated."

-Often most homeless men and women have jobs, and some even have multiple, it.just.isn't.enough.

-Some of the girls on the trip would get worked up because some of the shelter clients would tell them "lies" about their days before homelessness--Let them lie. This is the story that they want you to hear. Don't question this, allow yourself to ride along on the story. Never take this story away from them.

-We are all on this journey together.

I will never forget the lunch conversations and meals that I shared, with Leon, Martin, and Carl, and they'll never know the impact of their words and honesty.

I will never forget the tone of the hundreds of "thanks" that I heard all week. I have worked in the non-profit world for nearly 5 years, and never have I heard such genuine "thank you's".

I will never forget the pride in their faces as they spoke about home. 

The essence of being a volunteer is to make a positive impact, but the power of service is in the positive impact that is given to us by those we've served.

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Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS)

Mission: "To provide support services to Seattle area homeless youth and young adults. Our committed efforts are targeted at providing stepping stones to transition youths from the streets to self-sufficiency and productive roles in community." 

To learn more about PSKS, click here. 

Operation Sack Lunch
Mission: "To provide dignity, care and compassion through action with the example that each person can make a difference. To educate and advocate acceptance and understanding of each others differences. To ultimately bring about the realization that we are all a part of this world and with extended effort put an end to homelessness, hunger and hatred"

To learn more about Operation Sack Lunch, click here.

 

Operation Night Watch
Mission: " Operation Night Watch is an interdenominational ministry serving the poor and homeless by providing food and shelter to 150-170 men and women every night. We also operate 24 units of low-income housing for seniors, and have been reaching out to those on the streets since the 1960's."

To learn more about Op. Night Watch, click here.

First Church Men's Shelter: Blaine Center
Mission: "Blending compassion and caring with effective programs and unique services, the people and programs at each of Compass Housing Alliance's locations promote dignity, self esteem, and respect for self and others. One-on-one case management identifies the issues that led to street life and helps each person set his own goals. The Men's Inn Program at the Blaine Center provides overnight shelter for sixty men, including case management, shelter, meals, and storage."

To learn more about the Blaine Center, click here.

Date a girl who reads

Happy Friday! 

Photo Courtesy of Piccsy

As a "girl who reads" I approve this message:

"...If you find a girl who reads, keep her close. When you find her up at 2AM clutching a book to her chest and weeping, make her a cup of tea and hold her. You may lose her for a couple of hours but she will always come back to you. She'll talk as if the characters in the book are real, because for a while, they always are.

You will propose on a hot air balloon. Or during a rock concert. Or very casually next time she's sick. Over Skype.

You will smile so hard you will wonder why you heart hasn't burst and bled out all over your chest yet. You will write the story of your lives, have kids with strange names and even stranger tastes. She will introduce your children to the Cat in the Hat and Aslan, maybe in the same day. You will walk the winters of your old age together and she will recite Keats under her breath while you shake the snow off your boots.

Date a girl who reads because you deserve it. You deserve a girl who can give you the most colorful life imaginable. If you can only give her monotony, and stale hours and half-baked proposals, then you're better off alone. If you want the world and the worlds beyond it, date a girl who reads.

Or better yet, date a girl who writes."

~From Rosemarie Urquico's "A Girl You Should Date" (read the whole thing here)

Daze of Spring

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” 

-Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

Fact: I love spring.

Spring is a season of growth, patience, goals, and dreaming. It is a season of reflection and re-energizing. It is a season of beauty.

I think it's safe to say that everyone loves the summer, but I believe that few can appreciate the true beauty of spring. Spring is a mental escape for me. It's an opportunity to gear up and set goals for the summer weeks just around the corner.

While I do play year-round, winter is naturally a slower time adventure-wise for me. Hiking muddy trails below dark gray skies, eventually wears you thin. Camping below these same skies can actually exaggerate the turmoil of my days and heart. Convincing friends to get out with me during this foul season proves to be tough, but through the years I have found that the winter hiking season is a time to fly solo, focus on me, and reflect on my needs--For better or worse.

Photo: Piccsy

Even sitting here typing this post, the skies outside my office window are an overcast gray, and rain falls with intention, yet, something is different. A new season is upon us, a new promise that the days are getting longer, and the skies will soon brighten. This is a promise that keeps me up at night, excitedly planning out routes, details, and studying maps, locking up weekends. I watch as my calendar fills up with road trips and backpacking dates. My vacation time accrues, and my travel savings account grows (slowly, but hey-it'll get there.), as the skies brighten, I too brighten.


The excitement of Spring goes beyond planning fun excursions with friends and getting out of the state for long road trips, sunroof open, shades on, packs in the back--It carries over into our jobs, our love life, and our relationships with others. Spring is a time to love. A time to trust. A time to go out on a limb.

Photo: Piccsy

I love spring because it's a time to be daring. Your dreams become more bold, your excitement levels are high, your heart more open. Creativity beams.

I will ask you all to take care of your creative Self this Spring. Journal, make lists, blog, create, whatever you need to do to become a part of this season of growth. Accept the flirtation, be honest, be you.

This season is beautiful, you are beautiful.

Bingo.

"We have lived our lives by the assumption that what was good for us would be good for the world. We have been wrong. We must change our lives so that it will be possible to live by the contrary assumption, that what is good for the world will be good for us. And that requires that we make the effort to know the world and learn what is good for it."

-Wendell Berry

Process

I have started and deleted many posts in the past few weeks; never quite feeling proud of the outcome or the direction of my posts. My inability to center my thoughts, and in turn allow my mind to eloquently paint my emotions through flowing sentences seemed impossible and at times daunting. So in the end, I always deleted the attempt and walked away. Communication takes grace as well as time; it is a process.

The biggest thing I have needed to communicate lately is that Jared has moved out. My home is mine again. This was a difficult thing for me to write about because I didn't want to write slanderous, or ill words about him, yet I didn't want the world to think that I was jumping for joy either. This has been a long few weeks, but every day I wake up feeling stronger and stronger, repairing my environment and rebuilding my Self.

After he was moved out, I stood and stared blankly at my house that we had made a home. Oddly enough, I felt emotionless. No wave of sadness, elation, or loneliness. I just started adjusting. I started basic by rearranging rooms in the house, naturally starting with my spare bedroom that was once his. I moved my bikes as well as my snow skis back onto their respective wall mounts that had been installed last May, before Jared moved in. (If you missed that episode about what went into those things getting hung up, you can read about it here), I then neatly arranged my packs, climbing gear, tents, etc. into beautifully organized shelving units. A perfect reminder that I was graced with a love for the outdoors that I could always find peace in.

It was then time to clean. This became...obsessive. Obsessively therapeutic. I discovered that cleaning a man out of my home was easy, cleaning his dog out of my home proved to be a more difficult task. She was a clean dog for the most part, at times she smelled like most wet muddy trail dogs do, but her hair was everywhere. The carpets were the first to get cleaned thanks to her. The more I vacuumed and shampooed, the more my home was quickly losing it's sense of Marley and Jared. But it didn't stop at the carpets. I washed the tile, I scrubbed the kitchen (counters, stove, fridge, everything.), scrubbed the bathrooms down, I washed the walls in my house (No joke.), I cleaned for nearly two days. When all was said and done though, my gross 1980's apartment was immaculate.

But it still didn't feel like mine. I decided to dump the gross couches that I have been living with for years now, and bought some nicer couches off of a friend who was moving out East. I then went out and bought new wall art and an area rug. Buying these items was hard for me. I am never one to spend my money on material possessions for my home. "Home" for me was always a crash pad, never ever an investment. But for some reason, I needed this home feeling in this process. A realization that has left me more than confused. I have yet to figure it out. Ideas?

Just like my apartments ability to adjust, I too have adjusted. The beauty of eating my morning cereal in my underwear, dancing around my living room listening to 90's female rap artists (Missy, Lil Kim, Salt N Peppa, Eve, etc.) and showering with the bathroom door open again felt natural; these are things I haven't done since Jared moved in last July. He never stopped me from doing those things, I just stopped myself from doing them because he was there. As the days continue to go on, I begin to rediscover the simplest things about my home, and I cant physically hold back my smile.

It feels so good to smile again.

When Jared and I ended, I never stopped doing what I loved. I didn't stop seeing my friends, enjoying a good glass of red wine, or getting outside to play, but at the end of every day, I walked through the door of our home. I didn't realize how much that drained my energy. But now, after a long hike, or a day of climbing, or even just coming home from a day of work, I come home and I am welcomed by the energy that I have created for my Self. It is revitalizing.

Rebuilding is a process.
But I have learned that this process has been easy and so so refreshing; not tedious or exhausting whatsoever as I once anticipated (and dreaded).

So I move forward.
I sit back, and enjoy the process.