â┚¬Å”It's our responsibility as human beings. We're put here to make people smile and to share our good fortune. Give it away and you always, always get it back.â┚¬Â Ã¢â”šÂ¬Ã¢â‚¬Å“ Gary Lambert
I hope you'll take a moment to locate a copy of Watermark to take a look at the heroes issue. Inspiring stories about people making a difference and I'm happy to say a few of them are friends of mine. You'll also see my airbrushed puss featured in an â┚¬Å”A Minute Withâ┚¬Â interview by my editor Jamie Hyman. While I think there must have been some terrible mix up to lump me in with a group of heroes, I'm happy for the honor and the chance to talk about this blog.
I would be willing to bet that most of the people involved in the issue would probably shrug off the title of â┚¬Å”heroâ┚¬Â and it wouldn't be out of modesty. I think all people feel the same way about trying to make a difference: the feeling is insatiable â┚¬â€œ we always, always feel like we could be doing more. It isn't a bad thing.
What is heroic?
If you take a look at your own life, you'll probably realize there is heroism there. I work in a non-profit with a dedicated group of people and most of us landed there due to the recession, consequently some of us make half or one-third of what we normally would make. You see, once we landed, we fell in love with what we were doing, so it's hard to even consider â┚¬Å”greener pasturesâ┚¬Â (the green being actual money, in this case). Making a life work on less money because you believe in what you're doing seems nothing short of heroism.
Then again, the non-profit in question is in the arts. Right now I'm stressing over selling our annual production of The Nutcracker. When you're life is consumed by something like that trying to get 17,000 people interested in ballet, it is good to get some perspective, which is exactly what I got this week.
A co-worker came into my office space at the end of the day and told us about her brother who is a firefighter. He just lost a longtime co-worker in a blaze. Naturally, such a thing makes worrying about sugar plum fairies absolutely ridiculous.
What is heroic?
I'll have to leave you to decide for yourself, while I try to find that path myself. Maybe somewhere in the Ripples below you'll find your answer.
I Feel City, Oh So City
The City Solution
Here's an interesting article from National Geographic explaining how the perception of cities has changed. Environmentalists used to look at cities as blights on our landscape, cancers even, but now it appears that cities may be the answer to accommodating our growing population without destroying our planet. The photo of the infinity pool in Singapore sucked me into the article. I've put taking a swim in that on my bucket list!
I Speak for the Trees
Of Forests and Men
A little over seven minutes long, this is the official film of International Year of Forests, which was apparently this year. The film is beautiful, does a good job of looking at the state of trees today, and proves that Edward Norton probably shouldn't be a narrator. Here is the fact that chilled me the most from it: â┚¬Å”Over the past 60 years, we have inflicted more rapid degradation on the planet than in all of human history.â┚¬ÂÂ
Come On Baby, Put Out My Fire
2012 Orlando Firefighter
So, holy crap, I was at Parliament House recently to catch a bunch of friends in Wanzie's Glittering Star-Studded A Christmas Carol (hilarious, by the way) and I saw a poster for an event that I'm going to attend for certain. It turns out that the Orlando Firefighters have done a 2012 calendar and, if the poster was any indication, the firemen are hot! On December 17, PH will have firemen in attendance signing copies of the calendar. The money from the sale of the calendar goes to help firefighters through Strengthen Orlando.
The Anti-Scrooge
People Person
You would have to live under a rock not to know about the philanthropy of Bill and Melinda Gates. If you do or if you don't, you'll still find this article enlightening since Melinda has only recently decided to be more out in the press. She has realized how much more she can accomplish by doing so. I think my favorite part of the article is near the end when she talks about taking time to quietly consider the people she is helping each day. What if we took a moment like that each day to meditate on the work we do?
Scottie's Christmas List â┚¬â€œ Part 2
Thembaleth Beaded Elephant
What do you do? You're a rabid fan of SSTW and you want to show your appreciation by showering the Watermark offices with gifts for your favorite blogger. But you don't want to send just anything for fear he'll make you the subject of a future column on wasteful spending. Here's a suggestion: a beautiful beaded elephant ornament from Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Elephants are my totem and I collect them, plus funds from the sale helps BC/EFA fund grants for AIDS service organizations in South Africa.
