Season of Service, Summer of Spark

After many “Think Days,” I’ve decided to take the summer off- in terms of looking for a job. I couldn’t justify leaving one just to jump right back in doing the same things. I’ve always viewed getting laid off as an opportunity to explore not only the world around me but figuring how to best achieve the goals I’ve set for myself.

The good thing is I know what I want to be doing in my life.

I want to be a writer. It’s tough coming up with new ideas and going over old ones and fleshing them out into something I can share with others. But whether it’s working on my blogs or on the more creative projects, I’m making strides with my writing- at a snail pace progress, perhaps, but there’s definitely a forward momentum.

I want to promote literacy. One of the ways I’m doing this is through volunteering. Throughout the summer, I’ll have regular shifts for the Children’s Book Bank and the Multnomah County Library as a Search Assistant and as a Summer Reading Volunteer.

I also want to challenge myself in interacting with different people and situations- like I did when helping out with Potluck in the Park (feeding the homeless) or the Tualatin Riverkeepers (canoeing to clean up rivers) and, more recently, “getting artsy with refugee kids” at Katari Park. Even dealing with kids for Summer Reading will be interesting considering I’m not around them as much.

Trying new things is a great way to gain new perspective and perhaps generate new ideas. I’m debating on doing more volunteering but I also don’t want to spend money on bus fare to get there and back.

I’ve been wondering if I should even share this decision because it probably sounds foolish. I’ll be the first to admit I’m kind of scared with all the uncertainties in my life right now. This is an extreme act of faith, believing that everything will work out fine. Already just by letting you guys know, whoever may be reading this, I feel I’ve made the right choice, that this is the best and right thing for me to do.

So, here’s to a season of service, a summer of spark. Here’s to Life!