Voices That Need To Be Heard…

Classes have gotten back underway, and as always, life flips into overdrive. We’re busy, we lose track of those around us, and worse, we lose track of ourselves. In the crazy hectic world, sometimes things are thrown in our path that make us stop and pay attention. This one did it to me… Columbia’s Second Chance, an animal shelter that rescues literally thousands of dogs, cats, and other animals a year, depends almost entirely on donations and fundraisers. And now they’re struggling…big time. Reading articles about the dilemma, the philanthropic organization refuses to close its doors on needy animals (thank god!), but likewise is threatened with the possibility of losing its tenuous role as savior to all these animals. Without them, pets would be dumped, thousands would simply die from abuse and neglect, and as much as the Humane Society can help, they don’t reach nearly the wide range of territory as Second Chance.

I teach at MU while working on my PhD and writing books…I know what kids spend on shoes, clothes, video games, etc. I also know what people blow eating out, buying gadgets (I’m as guilty as the next person), and spending a night at a club. To give up just one evening out, if all of us would do it, thousands of animals’ lives could be saved. If you saw the face of an abused or neglected puppy and knew $20 would save his life, you’d donate it, but just because you can’t see his face, know that he’s still there…

Please consider what you can do to help. Drop off a bag of dog food or donate a little cash instead of getting a pizza tonight. Every little bit we do matters…we all say we want to do more, so here’s a great way to prove it.

To donate, visit:
www.columbia2ndchance.org

To read more about the crisis:

http://columbiatribune.com/2008/feb/20080228news007.asphttp://columbiatribune.com/2007/nov/20071113comm001.asp

Inspiration Squared

This week, between going to see Melissa Etheridge and watching the Olympics, I’m busting with inspiration. If you’ve never see Melissa in concert, you should. Having beaten breast cancer and seeing the silver lining of it, Melissa is nothing short of inspirational. In an era of me-me-me, she proves that her song “I Run for Life” can impact millions of people, and that celebrity status can be for perpetuating good-will and positive energy, and not just a paycheck. And then being absorbed by the historical implications of Michael Phelps and May-Treanor & Walsh, it is truly a privileged time to be alive.

We often look back on our history’s past and wonder Man, it had to be cool to be alive then…

Now is one of those “thens” and with people like our Olympians and someone as dedicated to the betterment of humankind as Melissa Etheridge, I tip my hat and realize that not everything about today’s society is negative media fodder. If only the sports world could’ve handled the Brett Favre saga with as much grace.

Melissa’s message, and that of many Olympians, is simple: be a better person, and we’ll create a better tomorrow.

Well said and easily done. One person at a time… Let’s start right now.

Vacations are eternal...

The silver lining of vacations are the paths you cross. Hawaii exceeded all expectations: swimming with sea turtles, discovering dolphins, and chasing sunsets. The families you meet, the couples you feel at home around, the faces that become familiar, if only for a brief stint. Pat/Candi/Mallory/Greta/Grace from Hershey, PA remind me that the beach isn’t the only destination worthy of a trip… Harvey and Jackie from Alaska inspire me to travel north, that it might just be beautiful enough to weather the cold…

More trips line the horizon, more people to scratch off the stranger list, more possibilities that make me giddy with anticipation. Hawaii may be headed into my rearview, but it was lighted paths to new places not yet on my list. For that, I have my vacation friends to thank!

Retreat...

To move away, draw back, recoil…in war, it’s for safety and signifies giving up ground. But the blessed word has a new meaning for me.

I gave the word new meaning when I went on a Writer’s Retreat last weekend in northwest Missouri, at Conception Abbey, and a retreat, it was. The Prairie Lands Writing Project hosted the event, and the fine-tuned schedule gave way to blocks of time to start a new novel. Writing for hours at a time with no phone, no email, no texts, no dogs, no doorbell, no interruptions at all. Bliss, is what we should rename it.

Every writer should try one…every author should embrace the silence and solitude of a monastery and experience the sheer inspiration that occurs because of it. I intend to find all the retreats in my area and replicate this feeling as much as possible! For now, I’ll answer my email and my phone, but I’ll feel the pull to move away, to leave when the next retreat comes my way.

Family Evolution...

At different stages in our lives, it takes on a whole different meaning. As kids, our parents care for us, wipe our mouths, our bottoms, and ready the world for us and us for the world. That function has evolved over the past generation, and the pros and cons of parenting today vs. twenty years ago is a hot debate. What happens once kids leave home and begin lives of their own starts a cycle of change.

At some point in the grand scheme of things, the roles reverse. It’s often so subtle, we don’t realize it has happened. And then it’s just the way it is. What is disheartening is that in this country, so many of our elderly are not well cared for, nor does our society treat them with the respect they’ve earned and deserve. This is something we could take from the Asian and African-American cultures: treat with reverence those who’ve brought you into this world, because as they leave it, we are made better by their time with us. When we shove our parents and grandparents into nursing homes and forget about them, we are only perpetuating that mentality with our children. What then? Are we ready to be the next victim? Do we want to be the ones on the hidden cameras being abused by unhappy nursing home workers, taking their life’s frustrations out on those who can’t defend themselves? Much like people who hurt animals and babies, those who abuse the elderly deserve nothing less than the exact same treatment. If we truly subscribed to the mentality of an eye for an eye, many would think before they acted. As it is now, we’re simply digressing into a society so plagued by violence, we don’t even see the severity and totality of it. As Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” So the message is to do unto others as we’d like them to do unto us. If you haven’t talked to your parents or grandparents lately, call them. Tell them you love them…better yet, go visit them. Life is short, and before you know it, visiting will only happen when you pass through the Pearly Gates. If you pass through the Pearly Gates. Perhaps the best message is that the love, respect, and compassion you show now gets you a ticket in line at those Gates. If more people had faith in that, it truly would be a better world to live in.

Cold in May...

I've decided Mother Nature must be just completely ticked at us...why else is the weather completely bizarre? As I sit and write, I marvel that in late May, I'm COLD! Yes, that's right...COLD! Usually in mid-Missouri, late May is the lead-in to 90 degree days, tanning, and getting the pool warm enough to swim in. But no, after the hardest winter in well over a decade, the spring has been complete with enough rain to fill the pool without need of a hose, and now, the cold front moving through sparks my belief that the world might just be ending.

Thunder snow, ice storms, tsunamis, earthquakes, landslides, wild fires, tornadoes, floods...and I'm sure droughts are on the horizon. If this isn't punishment for all our humanly destruction of rain forests and everything put on earth to help us live, then what is it?

We've treated our resources the way we do everything else: to fulfill immediate gratification without regard for our future. And why not? We won't be around to suffer the consequences.

That mindset has worked SO well for us so far...

Wow Moments...

Wow Moments…

This weekend, I participated in the Kansas City Literary Festival. Reading excerpts from Dregs always means a lot to me, to share insights into what it might take to stop school violence, and I feel every person I touch might help. The weekend was a success, and I feel humbled to have been part of a wonderful literary event.

Highlights for me started Friday night when I got to see the original copies of books by Sir Isaac Newton, Copernicus, Charles Darwin, and Galileo. It puts everything in perspective… And then only an hour later, I met the last U.S. astronaut to walk on our moon, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt. What an amazing man! His wife, Theresa, was just as amazing and interesting to talk to. After chatting with him and getting his autograph, I realized that exploration and constant evolution is what keeps this country alive. So when I got home and had an email sending me to a moving video by Lizzie Palmer called Remember Me, I watched it.

Humbled again, I wanted to share and be part of the generation that says, “I may not believe in the war, but it doesn’t mean I don’t believe in the warriors.” Men and women fight for our country, they do what they’re told, and they do it without hesitation. And for that, we sit in our homes without fear of foreign countries barging in.

To all the men and women who fight for our nation, to all the pioneers who strive to better our world, thank you.