One of the themes President Obama highlighted in his campaign and continues to espouse during his presidency was service. I read an article recently about what First Lady Michelle Obama was up to and the article included pictures of her reading to kids, serving food in a soup kitchen and thanking various organizations in DC for their work in service to the country. The example and encouragement of our president's family got me thinking about my own volunteering experiences and attitude.
Simply put, volunteering isn't a regular habit with me. My volunteer experiences often came from school or work; either it was an extracurricular service group at school or organizations or activities sponsored by my employer. To be clear, I'm talking about active participation rather than monetary donations. I've done my share of donations to various causes, and while I understand that money is helpful to any organization, it keeps me distanced from feeling like I've made a difference. The usual thank you and receipt is just a piece of paper.
I have taken part in events that were fundraisers where the activity was oblique to the charity's stated ultimate goal for good reason. I have ridden my bike for Tour de Cure to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. I've attended many fundraising activities for my Team in Training friends. (But no, I will never run a marathon for love, money or charity) I've raised some money for NaNoWriMo. I don't have much expertise in curing diabetes or leukemia nor have I run a creative, inspirational non-profit.
But I think my favorite volunteer experience has been activities that are directly applied help. I volunteered with Rebuilding Together Oakland a few times via my employer. Per their website "Rebuilding Together Oakland (RTO) rehabilitates the homes of low-income elderly and disabled homeowners, so they may continue to live in safety, comfort and independence." One year, I helped build a handicapped ramp and another year, I put up some cabinets, demolished a dangerously-leaning shed and put a shiny coat of paint on the house. In both examples, I did get a chance to meet the homeowner, who was very grateful for our work. It wasn't so much the direct gratitude that makes that different, though it's really awesome. I think it was putting a face to the payoff of my volunteer work that gives it that extra oomph. Which is odd for me, being an introvert. Usually I dread the effort of socializing. Strangely enough, it almost always turns out better than I expect.
This coming weekend I'll be volunteering at the FIRST Robotic Competition event in Sacramento. Once again, this was due to my employer providing the opportunity for me. And once again, I'm dreading having to be around a bunch of people I don't know. But I get to watch the culmination of the hard work and learning that high school kids put into their robots. I'm sure it'll turn out better than I expect.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Volunteerism
Sunday, December 28, 2008
2008 Year in Review
In one of my favorite Christmas movies, Bing Crosby advises Rosemary Clooney in song: "If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings." Like many song lyrics, it sounds a little less redundant and nonsensical in song. But I like the sentiment. It's not only appropriate just for when you're worried, but for just about any other time, including year end reviews, bad moods, stuck in traffic and tightrope walking while juggling flaming torches (though you may need the advanced class to do that last part).
Things I'm thankful for:
- My health: Probably the easiest to take for granted until it all goes wrong. All it takes is a split second accident or having genetics fail you. My grandmother on my dad's side of the family is still going strong at 95. On the other hand, I have no idea what sort of health issues are on my mother's side of the family - it could be the health roulette for all I know.
- My loved ones, friends and family: It's the gift of their presence in my life that keeps life rich and rewarding. Whether I've known them since I first took breath or only developed a friendship in the last year, it's those relationships I cherish. I don't make friends easily, being the shy type. And no matter what they tell you in the fairy tales and sitcoms, relationships take work to maintain. It could be as simple as keeping in touch or as difficult as going to therapy to work out stuck points in communication, but it's all effort. And the reward is the connection and closeness that makes a world of difference.
- This year I stayed employed: Given the world economy meltdown, this one is worth celebrating.
- We bought a new house: It's bigger than the previous house. We can have family and friends come over to visit. So far we can afford it.
- We have Ka and Zaia: I've already written a few times about this. But having them as part of the family and household has brought chaos and comedy, responsibility and a whole new set of things to pay attention to like which breakable objects in the house could be seen as potential cat toys.
- We traveled to Bali: It was a wonderful trip (which I promise to write about in more depth next year). It took a long time to get there and really felt like we got a glimpse of a different world. At the same time, it reminded me of growing up in the Philippines.
Things I'm proud of:
- I wrote another book: Again, it's only a first draft of a novel, but it's a complete story and may turn into something worth sending around at some point. I'm glad to have some potential projects to work on in the future. For now, I think I'll go back to my first novel from last year and see if I can make something of it.
- I progressed to purple belt in karate: The belt progression from here goes purple, brown, then black. It gets harder from here with a higher chance of my breaking something, I'm sure.
- Winning first prize at DNA Lounge's Halloween costume contest: See my previous post on this.
- Paying attention to and participating (somewhat) to the 2008 presidential election: Never done that before. I learned lots about how our government works (or doesn't).
There are many more things I'm thankful for and probably a shorter list of things I'm proud of, but for the sake of actually submitting this post before the end of the year, I'll decline from enumerating them further. I'm very happy for the blessings I have.