Never underestimate the goodness...

Truly. Sometimes I think we underestimate the goodness that is out there - the News paints such a bleak picture. I don’t watch the News anymore, I stopped watching it about 10 years ago and I think it’s made me a happier person…truly. :) Of course what we see on the News is rarely news - it’s old, wrapped up with a giant bow or something sad turned into an extreme. When I open Firefox I see headlines that completely turn me off - I know it’s just a big, shiny new twist they’ve put on something. They sensationalize, spectacularize, polarize, exaggerate and simply make crap up. Worst of all, news writers don’t consider the people they are hurting with their ‘disinformation’. Then again, it’s probably not the news writers, it’s what they’re told to do (and not do)…

So, turn off the news and listen to people around you:

This simple statement says so much. We never know the whole story - how can we? Everybody is fighting their own battle in one way or another, plus we only ever know one side of a story, and how many sides are there…? I think about my co-workers, my friends, my family. Each has something going on that is theirs. It’s private and only revealed to a select group of people - or maybe no one… A snapshot of my day includes people with family members who are struggling for their life because of cancer, family members with addiction problems, divorce, suicides and family members with children who have been very badly injured. All these people are amazingly kind. You would never know they have all these struggles going on behind the scenes - they still ask me how I’m doing. It never ceases to amaze me and touch me. People are still kind and caring - it’s the News that would like you to believe otherwise.

So think about it, and think what a smile might just do to someone’s day - be kind, always. Words to live by.

Really....?

I looked at a few apartments today (in case you didn’t know, I’ve just moved back to Arizona temporarily) and sometimes I find it interesting what people think are great features or amenities. I’ve always thought this way but I think it’s more in the forefront of my mind these days because I’m thinking about all the amazing PCVs. One place was really proud that they had lots of valet offerings, including valet trash. It’s not an option - you have to pay for it whether you use it or not… I don’t think this is an amenity, I think it’s ridiculous. They pick up trash in front of your apartment Monday through Friday. Really? I have one bag of trash per week - one small 13-gallon bag - I don’t know what other people are doing that they create so much trash but maybe that’s something we should be thinking and talking about. Having ‘valet trash’ picked up every day may be encouraging this kind of waste. Honestly, I don’t know how you make one bag of trash per day - I didn’t have that much with a family of 4. Also, think about it - this means a very smelly garbage truck is going to be huffing and puffing in front of your apartment FIVE DAYS PER WEEK! Besides the obvious waste of petrol, etc., I don’t want that - it’s major noise pollution. I don’t see this as adding any value to the apartment complex, I see it as the complete opposite. Just me……?

Another had popcorn ceilings. Well, not truly the old fashioned popcorn ceilings but close. Why do I hate them so much? Is it because they’re old? Is it because I equate them with asbestos? Disgusting. On top of it the walls were yellow. They would call them off-white, I would call them yellow. Have I ever mentioned I hate yellow? It makes the place look like it’s old and in need of a wash. As a matter of fact, I’d prefer if it was old and in need of a wash, I think. At least then you’re reusing something and making it new again. I don’t want to live in a place with yellow walls and a popcorn ceiling.

The third place was lovely - perfect location, tastefully done, lots of open space and no trash nazis. Lovely Spanish Mediterranean style, WHITE walls and quiet. But, because of its particular Scottsdale location, it offers LOTS of concierge services - which thankfully you aren’t forced to pay for (as my previous rant about the trash). Still, reading the concierge list, I wonder what kind of people would be my neighbors. Are they incapable of dialing a phone - or, at worst, asking Siri to assist them? This particular apartment community will arrange everything from spa services to plant care - I think there’s a list of about 30 items. While I look at this list, I am amazed at how my two little LR5ers have changed my life. Kelly wrote on her blog about how she was learning to wash clothes - properly, from a native. It sounded like she was using an old scrub board (and I was wondering if they had a mangle too…) Apparently this is a fine art but she finally got the nod of approval - but not without much practice first. And here I am looking at places to live that offer ‘dry cleaning and laundry pick-up’. Really? I get it that people are busy and this may be a great service but looking at it through a different lens, are we truly too busy to pick up our own clothes - that we have had someone else launder? If we are, maybe we’re doing things all wrong. We talk about first-word problems and even hashtag it when we’re complaining about something that we know we really shouldn’t be complaining about. But is it possible that #firstworldproblems truly are the bigger problem…? WE are the larger problem? If we had less #firstworldproblems, perhaps there would be fewer third-world problems - our priorities would be in the right place and there would be a better distribution of resources.

Food for thought - while I continue to ponder how people can make so much trash…

The Thought Train

I read some worrying headlines today and while believe half of what I read and even less of what I see on the internet, I know this to be true - I just don't know the extent:

I see this and I think to myself, 'I hope Kelly and Ryan are ok and stay well...'. Then I think - no, I hope ALL the LR-5ers are ok (there's 50 of them)... Then I think, no, that's wrong, I hope all the PCVs are ok... And yes, I move on - why just the PCVs? Why not all the people in these affected areas?

So you can see how this goes on - from thinking about my

daughter and her husband to hoping everyone is ok - not

just the people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, but

the entire world - everyone needs to be ok...

I think we need to do something for them, but what? I'm not

religious. I could say we should pray for them and when I say

that, I'm really meaning that I want everyone to apply what-

ever works for them - prayer, good vibes, happy thoughts, 

crystals, germ voodoo... I was brought up UU (Unitarian

Universalist) and within the church, we were not taught 

about a deity, but rather how as human beings, we must help

and protect each other. We must be there to help when 

others are struggling and give of ourselves - to simply be

good people. I don't think you need religion for that. 

So you can see how my thoughts run - from simply thinking about my daughter and within the blink of an eye, I'm concerned about the whole world and what I can do to help... I think in my case, and many of us here as parents of the LR-5ers, it's helping one person at a time - and even, perhaps, each other. I think of how many very young PCVs there are and how I would have felt if my daughter had left for the Peace Corps when she was 18 or 19 - and I think I would have been quite terrified... A young girl, all alone (which they're not), far, far away from home.... Then I think - well, maybe that's part of what I'm doing here - maybe I need to support the other parents. My daughter has the support of her husband in Liberia (and 'tother way around...) and I find that comforting. I know my daughter will easily fall into a leadership role with her fellow LR-5ers if that's what they want - or need, that is her area of expertise. I find that comforting as well. There is comfort in this world, you just have to reign your thoughts back in sometimes.

What's this all about?

My daughter and her husband recently left for the Peace Corps and I have been corresponding with some amazing people - the parents of these exceptional young people. Many of these PCV (Peace Corps Volunteers) have started blogs. They have no idea if/when they'll be able to udpate them but when reading their amazing and fun blogs, they've inspired me.... They're fun, they're funny, they're introspective and informative... I may not be a PCV, but I'm the parent of one (well, 2, sort of - my daughter and son-in-law...). I think of them everyday, wonder how they are - if they're safe, if they're well, if they're overwhelmed or homesick....

So here I sit - with all the first-world comforts, trying to express my own thoughts of what it's like on the other side of being an LR-5er.....