Charity Case

Someone asked me the age-old question once: "What would you do if you didn't have to work?"  I thought for a few minutes...and the only answer I could come up with was "Volunteer."  It's always been a big fear of mine that I won't leave any mark on this world when my short time here is up.  I know that (or at least hope that) I make a difference on a small scale in some people's lives...but there's a part of me that wants to do more.  I want to help people.  I want to make sickness and cancer and autism and poverty and hunger go away.

Then I get overwhelmed. I can barely pay my own bills sometimes. I feel like I don't have enough money to donate and make a difference.  I can't settle on one organization because so many of them pull at my heartstrings.

I'm a bleeding heart.

I always have been.

There are so many charities and organizations that, had I the means, I would like to be involved with, but I want to choose ONE (or at the very least, one at a time) and make a difference for that one.

Last year, it was the Susan G. Komen foundation's 3-Day Walk. I've already decided that, for many reasons, I am not doing the 3-Day walk again this year, so I'll probably try for the 5k Race for the Cure happening in my hometown this fall.

Then I read something like this and all those feelings come back: I wanna help! What can I possibly do?!  Yes, I'm praying, but I want to DO something.  My heart swells up and feels painfully tight and I almost feel like I can't sit still.  But what can I do?  Where do I start?

Well...I think I started weeks ago, when I started running. I started running out of boredom with the elliptical, the need for some Zen me-time, and the desire to start building up my stamina. So, what can I do with that?

I can keep training. I can do the Relay for Life and the 5k Race for the Cure this year, and then...just maybe...the training for those races will build up my endurance and make me feel more confident about running enough that I can make even bigger goals and attend more races.

So, I think I am going to set a goal, right here and now, that 2012 will be the year that I raise money for Train4Autism. Maybe I'll still only be able to do a 5k or 10k, but just maybe I will be ready to start training for the half marathon I put on my 101 in 1001 list.

Long-time readers of this blog and my other blog know that I don't believe in coincidence.  I believe every tiny thing in my life, good and bad, is all part of God's master plan for my life. I don't think I "just started running" and started following runners on Twitter.  I think I needed to know about Sam and Tiffany and their precious children.  The pull I feel in my heart towards this family and their struggles with autism makes me want to do something.

Sure, it will be a drop in the bucket...but it's better than doing nothing -- which is absolutely not an option for me.

ETA: (Why do I always notice these things AFTER I hit "publish?") The title of this blog was in NO WAY meant to say any of the people I am running/walking/raising funds for are "charity cases" in a negative sense.  I just mean that, in this case, I am consumed with thoughts of doing something charitable and that I want to do something about it.

MckPrayers

One of my friends from The Knot and The Nest, Jessica, alerted me to the story of Baby Stellan today, via her Facebook status. I just spent my entire lunch hour reading about this incredible family and their unyielding faith in the presence of such struggles and adversity. Please click on the link below to read about MckMama and her family, and make sure you take time to read the story of Stellan, the courageous 4-month old baby with a scary heart condition:

PS22

I admit it. I read PerezHilton.com. Every day. Usually it's just my daily fill of celebrity trash that I'm ashamed to admit I can't stop reading. However, from time to time, there's something really amazing and cool that he posts.

Today was one of those days.

Ladies, and gentlemen, let me introduce you to the PS22 Chorus. How do I not find out about these things sooner?

I just sat and bawled while I watched this video of an arrangement they did on special request from Perez Hilton. It's a cover of "The Call" by Regina Spektor, from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Just watch their faces. Watch the enthusiasm of their conductor. And then run, don't walk to YouTube and watch more of their performances.

THIS, my friends, is why we need to keep the arts in schools:



ETA: Here are the lyrics:

It started out as a feeling
Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought
Which then turned into a quiet word

And then that word grew louder and louder
Till it was a battle cry
I'll come back
When you call me
No need to say goodbye

Just because everything's changing
Doesn't mean it's never been this way before
All you can do is try to know who your friends are
As you head off to the war

Pick a star on the dark horizon
And follow the light
You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back when it's over
No need to say goodbye

Now we're back to the beginning
It's just a feeling and no one knows yet
But just because they can't feel it too
Doesn't mean that you have to forget

Let your memories grow stronger and stronger
Till they're before your eyes
You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye

You'll come back
When they call you
No need to say goodbye...

Playing for Change

Last night when I got home from rehearsal, I checked my email and I had a forwarded email from my best gal pal from college (and also matron of honor at my wedding). She rarely, if ever, forwards things along, but it was soon obvious to me why this was so important to me.

In the body of the email was a link to a YouTube clip. These forwards are always a bit dubious, because in no way can you tell the content of the video from the link itself, and she had only added a smiley face to the body of the email. So, I clicked on it, figuring "what the hell, I'm at home, so if it's inappropriate it's no big deal."

The video was one in what is to be a series of many that will be on a DVD for an organization called Playing For Change. The Mission Statement of Playing for Change is as follows:

The Playing For Change Foundation (PFCF) is dedicated to connecting the world
through music by providing resources (including but not limited to facilities,
supplies, and educational programs) to musicians and their communities around
the world. PFCF supports projects inspired by the communties featured in the
Playing For Change documentary film series.

This video held me spellbound for the entire time (nearly 5 minutes), because I was just so taken with this concept. I am (obviously) a BIG supporter of music education, so it's highly likely that I'll be joining this cause in any way I can (and I'm still looking into the website and reading the blog for ways I can help in my community, even if it's just by a donation).

Just watch this video...I love watching musicians, and I love watching even the filmmakers when the camera pans to them, as they are so obviously enjoying what they do. I truly think the world can and will be a better place, and what better way to unite people than through music -- a universal language? Enjoy:

Help a Mo-Brotha out!

So, off the subject of presidential candidates for a moment (*collective cheer!*), I'd like to ask you all for a favor...

An old bloggy-pal of mine, Mike over at The Mike Stand, is participating in a very fun and very worthwhile cause this month....Movember. Movember is "a moustache growing charity event held during November each year that raises funds and awareness for men's health."

Personally, I can't wait to see his progress, as there is nothing quite as sketchy as a moustache-bearing man.

But seriously folks, it's for a good cause. Go help him out.