[Resolution] #104 Help Someone Anonymously

Thanks to network TV, everyone knows these guys.  I don’t watch Glee, but I sure as hell know about it, and I’m generally surrounded by ‘GleeKs’. It follows a high school glee club in lavish show choir performances of top 40 hits all while following the quintessential high school coming of age stories of building relationships, dealing with life and world issues, and more.

But, this is definitely a fantasy show in more ways than one.  In fact, there are hundreds of schools all over the US who don’t even have a music or performing arts program, and even more who are having the funding for their existing programs slashed to go toward other extracurriculars, more focus on standardized testing, or funding just disappearing all together.

I don’t know if my attention would have been drawn to this issue in any meaningful way if it weren’t for trying to fulfill my month of “30 Ways in 30 Days” on TakePart.com, but I’m so glad that it was.  Music was the gateway to the arts for me as a kid.  It started off with playing Hot Crossed Buns on the recorder and trying out for the school choir and blossomed into a flutist in the middle school honors band.  In high school my love of performance morphed into theater arts and finally translated into the more private arts of creative writing and graphic design in college.  I would have never ended up where I did if it weren’t for someone putting that recorder in my hand, if it weren’t for that 1 hour of my school day dedicated to music, if it weren’t for some higher-up in my school district deciding that music was important for kids.

Well, thanks to DonorsChoose.org, school programs, including music programs, can break from the shackles of school district budgeting and donors are paired directly with teachers all over the country to keep their important school projects and programs alive.

Today, a school somewhere here in the United States got $50 from me to help fund some new supplies for their music and performing arts program.  It’s not a tremendous donation, but it’s something.  In the interest of remaining anonymous I won’t give so many details, but his particular school is in a high poverty area and most of the students are considered ‘at risk’ youth.  Music is an opportunity for them to build confidence, build community, and get exposure to the arts that they may not get anywhere else. But, due to lack of funding they can’t reach their full potential with broken equipment, or not enough equipment for the number of students enrolled.

The arts are so incredibly valuable, it would be an honest tragedy if it were lost to any child, no matter their background, income level, town size, school budget or anything else.  I encourage you to check out DonorsChoose.org to see if there is anything that piques your interest.  Even a $5 or $10 donation is huge for someone who is starting from 0.

…and as a little perk, if you donate $50 you get thank you notes from the kids.  That’s not why I did it, but it’s certainly a heart-warming extra.

Question of the day: How did the arts impact you as a kid in school?

Fighting for a Cause: Get Angry or Get Inspired?

Photo via Time.com

The internet and social media are great. They give everyone the ability to spread information and join together  in support of a cause despite being all over the world. It’s easier than ever to put your name on a petition, make donations, and make your voice heard.  Movement leaders and cause supporters can spread information, research and news as fast as it is coming off the press.

This is all well and good, and I am all about positive change, but there is a not so positive aspect about all of this that really makes me disheartened.  The anger.  People are getting so ANGRY about the things they are passionate about.  So, my question is, how positive is this change really if people are enraged or guilt-tripped into taking action?

I agree that anger is a powerful driving force, but that doesn’t make it a positive one. It puts a dark shadow over good intentions. In my humble opinion.

One of my resolutions is to participate in the TakePart.com ’30 Ways in 30 Days’ project.  It’s about taking a little time out each day to make a positive change in the world, like signing a petition, doing something nice for someone in your community, dropping an environmentally unfriendly habit, and more.  I decided March would be the month.  Yesterday (the 1st) I pledged to end senior hunger by 2020 and put the gears in motion to volunteer for my local Meals on Wheels.  Today, the action was to take their monthly poll which just happened to be about food.

At the end of the poll there was a link to the Facebook for Food Inc. which I ‘liked’ because, well, I’ve seen the documentary and liked it. Also, because I support how positive and inspiring they are about how to take action against the “mechanized underbelly” of the food industry and Monsanto, like buying local, eating seasonal, etc. I respond well to that.

Monsanto is horrible. Yes. But, instead of dedicating themselves to inciting anger, the Food Inc. page promotes all of the positive ways that people can go against Monsanto without being consumed with toxic anger about the injustices the corporation is involved in. You’ll find an article every so often then will get people riled up, but for the most part, positive.

So, where is this positivity in other such movements? I sauntered over to the Peta2 page and sat a spell at the Occupy Wall St. page.  Both are movements/organizations that I strongly support, but I found that both, in stark comparison to Food Inc., were filled with content designed to incite anger or guilt.  They show graphic images of violence and injustice to innocent people. They are filled with comments with calls to radical action. Even though they have my full support, I didn’t feel empowered or inspired when I left, I just felt angry, a little defeated, and most of all like the problem was so big and gruesome that what the heck can I possibly do?

I know there’s plenty I can do, and there is hope, but I didn’t feel that way.

So I ask you…is there a way to put positivity back into a movement that’s about something so negative and horrific?  Or is it absolutely necessary to get people angry to get them to take action?

This isn’t to say that the truth should not be brought to light.  That people should ignore animal cruelty and class warfare because it doesn’t make them feel good, but is there a way to spin it with a positive and productive means for action?

Sound-off!

SOUND OFF: Is the Second Job the new…Job?

It’s a bit of a long story about how I grossly over-estimated what I could afford post-college, but I was recently broadsided with the realization that…I need a second job. Unfortunately this opulent lifestyle I’ve been leading has left me with enough bills each month to…exceed my income.  Not just bills, but if I incorporate my goals of saving and paying off debt instead of creating it, it’s just not going to happen.

So my search for a second job has begun.  And, by second job I mean freelance work, but I digress.

Maybe I should take up super-hero-ing. (Image by Alayna)

I hadn’t thought about it, but while considering possible connections I had that may lead to some freelance design and web work I realized that there are more people I know that have two jobs than the people I know that have one or none.  Is 2 jobs the new norm?  Even for the people without debt and new cars: 2 jobs.  My friends are racking up 50-60 hours a week and it’s “just another week.”

I thought that the big deal right now was that people weren’t able to find jobs.  So where’s the disconnect in my own little world over here? I do think that working two jobs to make ends meet is a far better option than having no job and not being able to. But, I’m curious now.  I’d never thought about it but now that I have…

SOUND OFF: Is a 2 job world the one we’re heading into, or is this just some sort of anomaly in my own social circle?

On the bright side, I’m looking forward to venturing out on my own a bit in my spare time. Some of the most interesting people I’ve met are through jobs. Maybe this is a new adventure in hiding.

P.S. If anyone out there knows of someone who needs web or design services.  I’m your girl.  Please keep me in mind!  Much obliged.