Change Yourself, Change the World

My gosh!
This is when that shirt wasn't faded!
Must be ... uhm ...
20 years ago?
How have I changed?

Being ensconced in shelters, food banks, poverty assistance programs, as a user;

Observing the same systems as an advocate;

Pondering the systems I was brought up in, or, more truthfully had to survive through from infancy thru major portions of adulthood;

As my voice grows to its full timber, character, and expression, I find myself looking for ways-and-means to alter ... transform ... change what I perceive to be unhealthy, unbalanced, and not-working in my communities.

My strongest belief is "if I keep doing things the same way, expecting different results, I am crazy-making."

A question that occurs, is "How many times do you try something before concluding it's crazy-making?"

Did You Ask Yourself "What do I believe?"

So! What questions have you been asking yourself about your beliefs?

What beliefs did you examine?

What did you discover about why you came to believe things?

I promised you some of my answers so we can play this game together.

I believed I knew where I was going with this when I started the first piece oh so many weeks ago.

Paths to Change: Homelessness, Poverty, and Abuse.

The most important event in my life …  being homeless.

The crowd hushes.  Murmuring abounds. 

Where in the undercurrent rumblings do your murmurs fall?

• “Did she really just say that?”
• “How pathetic, the most important event in her life is/was being homeless?” 
• “What?
• Being born wasn’t eventful?
• Having significant others wasn’t eventful?  Working wasn’t eventful? 
• Giving birth wasn’t eventful?”

• “You’ve got to be kidding! Of everything in your life and you feel being homeless is/was the most important event?"
• "Shameful!” 
• "What does she mean?"

Rd smiles mirthfully, raises her hands to quiet the crowd, nods, and the talk begins…

Fixing Symptoms Does Not Fix the Problem

Health (physical, mental, emotional, spirit) in the body or in social structures is not made better by fixing symptoms.

Circumstances place me in a situation where I can choose to bemoan, misery-ize, and just plain rant; or I can follow my own talk and choose how to make the circumstances bring about my goals.

All right --
after physical movement calculated to change my position, or posture if you will;
breathing to calm, quiet and relax every aspect of me;
and referring to previous creative praises of me (yep, had to resort to outside intervention in this one! ::grin:: )

-- I am now ready to sally forth.

I can do *that*!

If you are a:

• social services provider,
• advocate,
• teacher,
• parent,
• friend,
• educator,
• trainer,
• workshop facilitator,
• motivational facilitator,
• life coach,
• any kind of coach,
• volunteer,
• fundraiser,
• leader of any sort ....

...this is what you want your clients, audience, followers, and life associates to say to themselves,

"I can do that!"

Mitakuye Oyasin -- i remember ye

Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there; I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow,
I am the diamond glints on snow,
I am the sun on ripened grain,
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifing rush
Of quiet birds in circling flight.
I am the soft star-shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry.
I am not there; I did not die.





poem source

What are you celebrating?

Whew!

Sometimes it is tuff keeping in focus.

I'm wildly flailing for my sword-in-the-stone.

Yesterday had some sweet moments and some horrid moments.

The upshot of it all is today it's a bit more effort on my part to pick up and go on.

Another day it will be easier.  Today?

Well, this morning I do a number of things to recognize, deal with, and move on, from the horrid moments. 

What can you afford to eat?

Homeless without a refrigerator?  With limited or no means to cook?  With limited or no funding to procure food?

Even with it's low-cost and ease of concocting, this won't help my peers still on the streets, unless I cook it for them.

However, it's much needed -- not only by my street peers but for folks like me who are low- and below-poverty-income.  So if you volunteer at a shelter by bringing in food, consider that all it takes to bring in fresh produce is:  awareness, judicious shopping, and willingness to spend your love in the time it takes to prepare/transport/serve.

Surprise!  It's also beneficial for those who are not in an income crunch.

The dish I outline here is called "what do I do with the stuff I could afford to buy?" sauce and entree/sidedish.