â┚¬Å”Life is what you make it. Always has been. Always will be.â┚¬Â – Grandma Moses
I've been thinking a lot about people lately. People who do good, to be specific. Part of me thinks we should just be happy when people are willing to help out and disregard their motivation for doing so. Still I think you can put people who are out there doing good into two categories and the distinctions are worth mulling over.
There is of course the person who does good simply for the sake of doing it. They see a need in their community and they put efforts into being part of the solution. These folks may work with an existing organization, they might create an organization themselves, or they just work independently. Their pure intent makes them altruists in the truest sense of the word.
On the flip-side of the coin, you have people who, at the end of the day, are in it for themselves. They may not even realize it and think that their motives are pure. Maybe these people are simply looking for a bullet point on their resume. Maybe they're involved because someone of influence strongly suggested they should. They are quite easy to spot because they'll usually remind you â┚¬â€œ often â┚¬â€œ that they are donating their time and services or they might even plead that their reputation is on the line for this reason or that.
A quick visit to dictionary.com will tell you: people in that last category can hardly call themselves altruists.
Let's go back to my first point though. Does it matter which category you fall in, if you're out there trying to make the world a better place? Personally, I'd rather people leave their egos at the door, but maybe that's the bitter bitch in me.
Here we are on Monday. Monday gets a bad rap because it means the glorious weekend is over and we're back to work. (Naturally that depends on whether schedule is regular. Mine is not. Cue heavy, overdramatic sigh.) Below you'll find your Monday Ripples; I hope they will help you look at Monday as a fresh start, a chance to make a difference in the world. Click, surf, absorb, share, doâ┚¬Â¦it'll make the work week go down more smoothly, I promise.
Chain, Chain, Chain
Lock It Up
Having lost my trike, Latifah, just months after Brendan bought her as a Valentine's Day present, I'm sensitive to the issue of keeping your bike safely locked up. Latifah was locked up and the cable was sliced like butter and left hanging, as if to rub the theft in my face. So it takes you locking your bike up and the community helping to keep a watch out for it, one easier than the other. I do think the prevalence of bike racks should be a focus for any city, as we need to focus more and more on pedaling and not sucking oil. When the spot to lock up your bike is this creative, the cautious measure is turned into a joyous experience. I feel like you would feel the support of your fellow man when you lock your bike up to Leon Reid's creation.
Orlando, We've Got a Problem
Fed Up
It is an unpopular sentiment to say in front of some in my circle of friends, but I'm not a fan of Food Not Bombs. I've surreptitiously mentioned this in the past. One thing that is good about their controversy surrounding the group is the spotlight it has put on my hometown's homeless situation â┚¬â€œ case in point, this article by Jeff Gore. You have to look past the Orlando Weekly's usually â┚¬Å”the establishment is bad, mkay?â┚¬Â tone, but the article is filled with good information.
â┚¬Å”I certainly did something about it. I made you.â┚¬ÂÂ
InvisiblePeople.tv
Even for the most caring among us, it's hard to talk about the homeless problem without thinking of it abstract. We can forget that we're talking about humans, no different than us. Invisible People is a project that makes it difficult to forget that we are talking about our fellow man. The chilling stories it tells will remind that life can change in an instant. It can happen to you.
Smart in Pink Isn't She
Rare pink Smart Car in Royal Marsden Hospital Sutton charity auction
Thanks to unusually good timing and the hard work of longtime Watermark advertiser Fred Berliner of Don Reid Ford, Brendan and I recently purchased a Smart Car. I'm going to give you a post just about that experience, but suffice to say the total joy of driving this little car has Smart Cars on my mind. Through obsessive Smart surfing, I found this item about a pink car that was auctioned off for charity.
