Everything.

P H O T O  O F  T H E  D A Y

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

 

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 A goal of mine is to make good and healthy decisions in my life.  Ones that will positively impact my life.  The kind that make you say, thank you and tell the story over and over again.  Those are the decisions I want to make.  I want to look back on my life and say, "WOW!"

 

I want to be inspired by my life.  

 

 As we get older, and reach the puberty of our adulthood we lose touch with our community and volunteering.  We are figuring out who we are and where we fit.  We move from city to city until we figure out where to settle, or where to sit still out until our next adventure.  It is almost exhausting.

Over the last month or two, I have had something weigh on my heart.  I tried to ignore it and the more and more ignored it the stronger it grew.  My mom talked about it to me and how she wanted to help  and the meetings she was going to just to do her part. 

I thought to myself --as selfish as it did-- I do not want my mother out helping homeless people.  I thought everything bad that could happen to her.  Going out on the streets at night helping homeless people-- or from my understanding.  It is something that did not settle in my stomach to well.  I need a mom & that mom would be her.  

The more I thought it, the more selfish it sounded to me. It broke my heart that I did not want homeless people to get help.  I believe everyone deserves the same chance.  Make yourself shine.

 

I came home one day from a meeting or a show or the studio, not sure which, but I sent out this text to some of my close friends stating what I wanted to do.  I dream big when I dream, and I gave them a detailed message unsure of how they would react.  There was a sense of reassurance that I was not off my rocker and it was somewhat realistic. [I don't going into detail what the item is on my bucket list yet.  I want to get more details put together before I share it.]  

I know right now that it is not physically possible for me to do nor am I emotionally ready to do so.  I looked online of ways I could reach out to the homeless -- soup kitchens, volunteering, etc.  And something told me to click on this volunteer link.  And there it was. A posting on becoming a photographer for Salvation Army.  

When I saw that it struck me like a bolt of lightning.  I sat there and cried.  I thought for a moment am I ready for this?  I opened up a blank email and started writing.  Not sure what I said or if my grammar was even correct, I know I wrote a fairly long explaination of how I wanted to help.  

A few days passed and I heard nothing back.  I looked back on the entry that was posted and it was dated back to the summer of 2009.  I figured the opportunity had passed me by.  I got back on and book marked a few more things.  I held off on emailing those.  I thought to myself am I really stable enough to be doing this? 

 

I was talking to someone about the whole situation.  They told to me think about long and hard before I made another decisions.  However, they told me it was healthy for me to do what I did.  It was just the reassurance I needed.  I waited another day and I woke up Thursday morning to an email in my inbox.  

The lady told me she understood and would be willing to meet me with me to talk me and show me around.  There it was in front of me everything I hoped.  Someone who understood me and was willing to put the time in.  

As, I write this I am sitting in bed with tears in my eyes and butterflies in my stomach.  Tomorrow is the day that I am one day closer to crossing off an item on my bucket list.  I am going to Salvation Army to meet with the kind lady who is willing the time to meet with me and help me get to where I  need to be. 

Tomorrow, I hope to leave you an amazing story about my adventure.  There is sunshine in my heart  and a thank you to everyone who has made my life a little bit easier. 

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Remember,  I can make ugly, pretty!

Lesley