hungry
so, i'm planning to help with this food drive on halloween, and mr. sean casey has brought to my attention something that really breaks my heart. he says that there are many food drives around thanksgiving, but that people are hungry for more than one week out of the year. this is so very true. honestly it made me want to cry.
recently i have been toying with the idea of joining the peace corps after graduation. the more i think about it the more i don't know how it makes me feel. just like with the food drive, i was perfectly happy knowing that i was helping out, but when the idea arose that this problem is so much bigger than all of us, my immediate reaction was fear. i felt like i needed to run away from it, because it's messy. and let's face it, people don't like messy.
i'm the kind of person who can't bear to see my cat's bowl empty (that's why she's so fat) and the thought of people literally starving just pulls at my heart. it's not just the hungry, it's the poor and homeless and sick. those people who just need a smile or encouragement. the ones who just want a few bucks for a decent sandwich. and it scares the hell out of me. last year at christmas i bought the one tree in the lost that didn't have a top because it had broken off. i felt sorry for a damn tree because i knew no one else would want it and that it would never be pretty unless i took it home and decorated it.
and at the risk of sounding like a crazy person, all these people in need are just like that tree. we need to reach out and do what others won't. at the same time i understand that this is frightening to most people. it's one thing to collect food, it's another to get dirty and go to the streets and help.
that's my issue with the peace corps. i could send money or items. i could call in to the telethons and fund raisers. i could help out. and i could do it from the safety and comfort of home. or i could brave the world and dive right into the mess. that kind of helping isn't for everyone, and one thing in particular makes me wonder if i could take it.
that thing is the fact that any time i think of all the people in need i am overwhelmed to the point that it hurts. because i know i can't fix it all. i can't help everyone who needs it. and who is to say that any one person is more deserving than another? the real problem here is not that i am beaten or consumed by my own compassion or sympathy, but that rather than trying to make a dent in the problem, i just figure i can't do it all, so why do any?
that's a personal problem i am trying to fix. this is not an issue of all or nothing. so remember, that guy on the street may really need that five extra dollars for a bite to eat more than you need it for hair gel or gas. and also keep in mind that anything and everything will help, even if you never leave your house. so donate to your food banks, give to the salvation army, and remember that holidays are important, but need is year round.
happy halloween.
recently i have been toying with the idea of joining the peace corps after graduation. the more i think about it the more i don't know how it makes me feel. just like with the food drive, i was perfectly happy knowing that i was helping out, but when the idea arose that this problem is so much bigger than all of us, my immediate reaction was fear. i felt like i needed to run away from it, because it's messy. and let's face it, people don't like messy.
i'm the kind of person who can't bear to see my cat's bowl empty (that's why she's so fat) and the thought of people literally starving just pulls at my heart. it's not just the hungry, it's the poor and homeless and sick. those people who just need a smile or encouragement. the ones who just want a few bucks for a decent sandwich. and it scares the hell out of me. last year at christmas i bought the one tree in the lost that didn't have a top because it had broken off. i felt sorry for a damn tree because i knew no one else would want it and that it would never be pretty unless i took it home and decorated it.
and at the risk of sounding like a crazy person, all these people in need are just like that tree. we need to reach out and do what others won't. at the same time i understand that this is frightening to most people. it's one thing to collect food, it's another to get dirty and go to the streets and help.
that's my issue with the peace corps. i could send money or items. i could call in to the telethons and fund raisers. i could help out. and i could do it from the safety and comfort of home. or i could brave the world and dive right into the mess. that kind of helping isn't for everyone, and one thing in particular makes me wonder if i could take it.
that thing is the fact that any time i think of all the people in need i am overwhelmed to the point that it hurts. because i know i can't fix it all. i can't help everyone who needs it. and who is to say that any one person is more deserving than another? the real problem here is not that i am beaten or consumed by my own compassion or sympathy, but that rather than trying to make a dent in the problem, i just figure i can't do it all, so why do any?
that's a personal problem i am trying to fix. this is not an issue of all or nothing. so remember, that guy on the street may really need that five extra dollars for a bite to eat more than you need it for hair gel or gas. and also keep in mind that anything and everything will help, even if you never leave your house. so donate to your food banks, give to the salvation army, and remember that holidays are important, but need is year round.
happy halloween.
posted by lisa at 11:29 PM
1 Comments:
One day an old man was walking along the beach. It was low tide, and the sand was littered with thousands of stranded starfish that the water had carried in and then left behind. The man began walking very carefully so as not to step on any of the beautiful creatures. Since the animals still seemed to be alive, he considered picking some of them up and putting them back in the water, where they could resume their lives.
The man knew the starfish would die if left on the beach's dry sand but he reasoned that he could not possibly help them all, so he chose to do nothing and continued walking.
Soon afterward, the man came upon a small child on the beach who was frantically throwing one starfish after another back into the sea. The old man stopped and asked the child, "What are you doing?"
"I'm saving the starfish," the child replied.
"Why waste your time?... There are so many you can't save them all so what does is matter?" argued the man.
Without hesitation, the child picked up another starfish and tossed the starfish back into the water... "It matters to this one," the child explained.
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