Calling things what they are

This is a vain picture.

A vain picture of me doing nothing interesting.

What's worse, I'm clearly trying to mimic/failing at mimicry of a unicorn silhouette

The heart wants what the heart wants...

Dad's day

Happy Father's Day!

And a happy day too to all the men out there who act as surrogate fathers; men who display healthy masculinity to our young people as teachers, coaches, tutors, mentors, Big Brothers, babysitters, and friends, so that young boys and girls don't have to grow up thinking manhood is synonymous with an unhealthy image they see on television or anywhere else.

Fortunately, there are some heartwarming examples fatherhood on TV, and I don't just mean Ned Stark:

http://thestir.cafemom.com/big_kid/151796/5_sweet_commercials_that_really?result=comment_added&comment_state=nonmember&success=1

Children

ILO: Millions of Children in Slave-life Conditions as Domestic Laborers

What do think about this? At first it's an obvious human rights offense that needs to be ended. But there's so much more. In my opinion, it's the caste system by any other name. In my friend's opinion, "If you want to prevent hate and violence in the future, we have to address 10 million enslaved children and 200 million laboring children. Neglecting them will be the source of future instability." Well, that's true too.

I have a level of discomfort confronting an issue square in the eyes when I feel it is so clearly cultural, as well as exploitative. I know I must be missing something. It needs to stop, but how? Oversight data and outside intervention are not likely to be as effective as intra-cultural advocacy and activism. That's just my take. Deriving safe societies where children can be healthy, safe and learned needs to be the imperative, in any case.

Friday and my friends

...are the best.

Especially when they send me .gif files to remind me that, you know what?!

Life. is. exciting.

Dig it.

Donate what you can

A very sweet piece by my friend Jed about a very serious issue:

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2013/jun/12/everyday-struggles/

I feel like I should write more about organ donation here. It changed my life, my family, and my outlook on the world.

I am among the blessed to have never needed, for my own medical purposes, to have ever spent a night in a hospital room or even visit the doctor much. The process of donating an organ was then, for me, a brand new experience. Almost weekly blood work and tests, meetings with what seemed like dozens of physicians, and the mental preparation to undergo a period of time where I would feel ill, weak, and hurting; these tasks were at first mere means to an end.

As I jumped these hurdles, however, I became a fuller person. I practiced yoga with great regularity so that my mind would be still and my body would be capable of bouncing back from surgery. Though I'm young, I made a certain peace with God. Understanding that my life served a purpose beyond myself, I came to trust that purpose would work out for the good, that whatever the surgical outcome. Spending much time with family in close quarters was stressful, but more so, it was a time of great gratitude, where I believe we all realized with profound clarity how much we mean to one another. The struggles of the process, in the end, were minute in comparison to the lessons learned and the growth I experienced. If I could farm kidneys and do it all over again, for a friend or a stranger, I would. But to be able to donate once was a gift the universe gave me and not the other way around.

I think the article makes another good point. Jed invests his time with people who are hurting. He is present with them. He smiles. These are the donations that matter day-to-day, when we are kind to a friend or acquaintance who needs our tenderness, often much more than is evident at first sight. I am grateful for people like Jed, who live among us with great compassion. From him I draw the inspiration never pass someone by.

Lure

“The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive. The great opportunity is where you are."

- John Burroughs

So simple

How good it is to remember that it's not me holding the earth in orbit.

How good it is to be within that world, spinning too.