A lot has been going on and time just feels like it’s flying by!
This week I reached level 4 as a Crisis Text Line counselor!! Levels are based on the number of conversations you’ve completed and there are 5 levels. I’m so proud of myself and feel amazing knowing I’ve been able to help so many people. I had some ice cream to celebrate.
Volunteering
4 hours – Crisis Text Line
Charitable Giving
$0
Personal Kindness
There are a few interns at my department at work and I try to go out of my way to talk to them and check in with them about how their work is going. It takes a village to teach and I want the company I work for to be open to the next generation.
Self Care
I worked on some knitting this weekend. I love just sitting on the couch watching something on tv and knitting away. It’s so relaxing. I do about 50/50 knitting things for my friends and I and knitting for donation.
I’ve seen this State Farm commercial for a few weeks now and I think it’s very interesting –
The man in the clip goes about his day and is inundated by causes – they’re on transit ads, social media, on the news, everywhere he looks. There is even a polar bear in an alley for some reason. All these things begin to follow him around while he’s getting dinner with friends, commuting, or exercising. These issues follow him around like a black cloud until he decides to volunteer for one of them. “You can lift the weight of caring by doing.” Is it’s final message (well it’s real final message is buy State Farm Insurance).
Corporations have a long history of doing good in order to build their brand and look good as a company, not necessarily altruistic motivations. And because of this there are a lot of donations to charity and a lot of employee volunteer hours spent (often altruistically on a personal level).
The question is – does motivation matter? Does it matter if we’re volunteering because we feel guilty, because we truly care, because our employer encourages it and we want to get ahead in our job, because we care about how we are perceived, because we need to feel better about ourselves, because we want to better ourselves, because a celebrity we like supports a cause, because we get a perk or swag, or because some other because?
Personally I think some of those “because”s make bad volunteers. They move the priority and focus away from the act of helping. While I don’t think volunteering needs to be completely altruistic, I do think it should be the major reason. I volunteer for many reasons and sometimes the perks I receive are fantastic and I know I’ve grown and developed skills that benefit me personally. I also tell people that if they’re feeling down about an issue that volunteering with like minded people is great for their mental healthcare. But if you’re volunteering because you’ve been made to feel guilty by an ad on your commute I don’t think you’re going to be the best volunteer and I wonder if you’ll even really get any of the other benefits of volunteering.
This commercial makes me feel very uneasy. It’s so negative. The message is there are so many things wrong with the world instead of look what we all can do, and are doing, to make the world a better place. I’m an optimistic person by nature so maybe this ad wasn’t meant for me.
What do you think about the ad? Is it effective? Are guilty volunteers good volunteers?
Okay I blinked and the weekend was over and I realized I hadn’t checked in. So here we go.
Volunteering
4 hours – Crisis Text Line
Charitable Giving
$25 – Orange Duffel Bag Initiative
Personal Kindness
It was my friend’s birthday and even though we aren’t 12 anymore I decided to make her a homemade gift. She loved it. Sometimes the effort really matters
Self Care
Still spring cleaning. I’m slowly starting to see an overall cleaner apartment. Good things take time.
Spending time with my awesome friends, celebrating their good fortune has been really fun this week.
“Orange Duffel Bag Initiative, a 501c3, provides at-risk teens and young adults programs proven to improve their education success, ongoing advocacy, support to their guardians and caring adults, and service to the community in a spirit of offering hope and positive systemic change.”
Why I choose this group:
This comes from another search of my company’s internal website. What drew me to it was that it’s another example of a single person who rally’s people together to change their community from within.
I have worked with At-risk youth in my own community and one thing I’ve learned is that they don’t need pity or help, they need to be engaged and empowered. These are very powerful people who’ve had that power pushed down or brushed aside. I appreciate that The Orange Duffel Initiative sees that as well and addresses the real needs of those they serve.
Being Goode 