Volunteerism... what's up with that?

Before I got sick, I found that I had some extra time on my hands, and looked into volunteering. Instead, I decided to go back to school.

As I was finishing my radiation treatments, however, my doctor suggested that I look into volunteering for a cancer cause. As I was already feeling like I needed to give back, the idea of volunteering was obvious. The next day, outside the radiation department, I picked up a brochure for Gilda's Club.

A couple months later, I finally got around to meeting with the volunteer coordinator at Gilda's. It was December, and I helped set up for spa day. I had to leave to help my mom get her Christmas tree, but I was back at Gilda's to put everything back in place after spa day was over.

Volunteering got into my veins. A friend of mine asked me to be on the board of directors for Trips for Kids Detroit. So I did that, too. But I found that I didn't have quite the commitment to that. See, my thing was cancer, and not so much kids.

Through Gilda's, I met a woman who got me into volunteering at the Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade studio. That was kinda cool... the parade is an icon in Detroit, and I wanted to be a part of it!

My heart, however, belongs to Gilda's Club. I have had a chance to meet a lot of amazing people there, and many have become close friends.

During the cool months, when I've finished cleaning up after a lecture, I like to sit in the community room with the lights down low, and perhaps some music playing. I ground myself, remembering where I came from, and what is really important in life.

People volunteer for many different reasons. Some volunteer as a result of having to put in community hours. Some volunteer to meet like minded people. Some are looking for a mate. Whatever the reason, whether it's from the heart or from necessity, I think the world would benefit if more people volunteered.

Some people these days feel that they are entitled to receive everything they can. I thought the "me" generation was in the 80s. And if so, perhaps this is the "gimme" generation.

I received an e-mail this week from Sheryl (who, by the way, I met at Gilda's Club!). I have a really hard time asking for help, and so does she. We were talking about our "problem", and she she passed along this quote to me:

“Giving is only one-half of the law of increase. Receiving is the other half. We can give and give, but we may unbalance the law unless we also expect to receive.”

But what about the opposite? What about Ivana and the Gimme Gimme Gimme's?

Wouldn't it be nice if school programs required some volunteer work? I think we'd all find out what the world was really about.

So even if you ladle out some chili at the soup kitchen on Thanksgiving, or clean up trash at the local park, give volunteering a shot... maybe you'll find out something amazing about yourself.

In the CD player:
"Minimum Maximum - Disc 2" by Kraftwerk
"Sohoman (Live in Sydney 1982)" by Tangerine Dream
"Mota Atma" by Tangerine Dream
Soft Machine Live Cuts