Author: beinggoode

I'm a writer working in corporate responsibility in Los Angeles. Trying to figure out how to use my limited resources to make the most impact to the issues that matter to me, how to be the smartest giver possible.

Happy World Water Day!

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I have to take a moment to say that my heart goes out to Brussels. #JeSuisBruxelles

It’s disheartening that this is becoming a regular occurrence but I took some time today to think about how much fun visiting Belgium brought me when I lived in Europe. The waffles, the fries, the Atomium on the horizon. The man who gave me directions in french without bothering to take his cigarette out of his mouth. It is a wonderful place.

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 Holr Magazine

Today is World Water Day

I’m excited to announce that I have chosen Water.org to receive my $2,000 donation that my company gives for my volunteer hours last year. I wish I could say I was clever enough to have timed it to World Water day but it’s just a happy coincidence. I posted a few weeks ago about my struggle choosing a charity and I did struggle. I couldn’t decide to go global or local, cultural or health issues, small or large charity. In the end I think I found a charity that didn’t make me choose too many things. I wanted to give to a women’s rights, an environmental issue, a group that helps teach people how to read, and Water.org does all of those things. Women are primarily impacted by lack of access to water and are kept out of schools and the workplace because they have to spend hours retrieving water. I also appreciate that this was something where volunteering isn’t as much help, the money is the best way to make an impact. According to the website I’ve helped give 80 people “safe water, providing hope, health and opportunity.”

I’m very grateful that I can celebrate World Water Day and that the company I work for recognizes all my hours of volunteering.

Weekly Check-In

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Traditional Volunteerism

  • 4 Hours of Crisis Text Line
  • I finished a shawl and a baby blanket to donate. I get credit for about 5 hours total but the two items tother probably took me 15-20 hours to knit over a few weeks.

Charitable Giving

  • I had a craving and went to McDonald’s. I threw a handful of change into the Ronald McDonald House bin in the Drive-Thru. Such a great cause.

Personal Kindnesses

  • Again I’m going to point out a personal kindness I received. Yesterday I received two compliments on my appearance. I was told I was glowing and that I was beautiful without makeup. It’s so nice to hear. Just reminds me that when you see something, say something. Compliments should be abundant.

Self Care

  • I had a shin splint and have recently recovered so I’m back to running (which my dog is over the moon about). Back to exercising and getting stronger.
  • I know this is the future and not what I’ve done this week but it’s my birthday this weekend. So I’m planning on taking the whole weekend to only do things I enjoy and forget about all the stress! I’ll report back on how that goes.

Please share in the comments how you’re doing this week!

Voluntourism

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This is my first real foray into Voluntourism (Volunteer tourisum). I’m trying to pull together a trip to Orlando in May to volunteer for the Invictus games. I’ve never volunteered on vacation or made a special trip to volunteer but this event in one of my favorite destinations drew me in. It also seems like I could have a similarly amazing volunteer experience as I did for the 2015 Special Olympic World Games. http://invictusgames2016.org

 

I’m still trying to get the pieces to fall into place. Because I’m from a greater distance and don’t know anyone it’s been hard getting an answer on how to sign up to volunteer and if I even can. There are tickets I can buy to the events so I could just go and enjoy. And it’s all coming up quickly and I need to buy the plane ticket… hotel reservations are already made because I can cancel those. It’s a lot of moving parts.

 

I suppose that’s why people typically join pre-planned tours to volunteer in other places. I’m not the kind of person who likes to be a part of a tour group when I travel whether it’s volunteer or pleasure. And with anything you give your time or money to you want to make sure the money/time is really making a difference. That’s often difficult to decipher.

 

Since this quarter I’m focusing on Self Care I also have to ask myself how it fits in. I love travel and vacations. I think they are an absolute necessity to recharge and bring a joy refresh into my life. So it will be interesting to see what happens when I trade in my time to relax and refresh into something else. Although I do enjoy volunteering it takes energy and effort that is different from a normal vacation. It’s more planned – I’ll have to be somewhere at a certain time. It’s putting myself second to the people I’m helping. And I’m spending a good chunk of money on the trip. I’ll report back as the planning moves forward.

 

What do you think about Voluntourism? Have you ever taken a trip in order to give back? Is it just a new way to profit off of the kindhearted? Is it the perfect way to see the world?

 

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2014/07/31/336600290/as-volunteerism-explodes-in-popularity-whos-it-helping-most

Weekly Check-In

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It’s been a busy week full of great things that have worn me out.

Traditional Volunteerism

  • 4 Hours of Crisis Text Line

Charitable Giving

  • Zero

Personal Kindnesses

  • My friends and family had mostly good news to share this week and I made sure that if it was good, bad, or neutral news for me I let them know that I was excited for them. I want my friends to enjoy the happy moments in their life and I’m glad I can support them in good times as much as in bad. It’s important to be kind during the good moments too.

Self Care

  • I was able to rearrange my schedule this week and actually go out two nights in a row. There was a Crisis Text Line Meet-up that was amazing and I got to go to a screening of Zootopia. Both were fun and exciting and have set me up for a nice weekend of self-care napping.

Please share in the comments how you’re doing this week!

Weekly Check-In

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Study, Study, Study is the name of the game for a while.

 

Traditional Volunteerism

  • 4 Hours of Crisis Text Line

 

Charitable Giving

  • Zero

 

Personal Kindnesses

  • They say most of the fun is planning your vacation… so I’ve been helping my friend with tips on planning her vacation because she’s going to a location I know a bit about. It’s a win win because it feels like I’m going on vacation and I can have a little vicarious fun in the planning.

 

Self Care

  • Lots of Yoga and Pilates this week.
  • Still trying to accept that I’m in need of a lot of self-care right now. It’s hard to stop fighting it.

 

Please share in the comments how you’re doing this week!

Accepting Self-Care

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As I was putting away some laundry last night I stepped on a piece of glass (from who knows what) and the bottom of my foot started bleeding. I was stressed, annoyed, and not ready for one more thing to go wrong. I’ve been studying a lot and working a lot and a recent shin splint put a wrench in my training plans. As I cleaned up my foot it occurred to me that I have to just except that I need to take care of myself.

 

It seems strange that we would struggle against taking care of ourselves. Why would we turn down a night curled up with our favorite movie, a yoga session, a trip to a favorite restaurant with a friend, or a spa day? But the excuses seem to pile up; I should be working on something, there’s that laundry that needs to be done, I promised that family member that I’d put helping them first. And I, like most people, have to fight through a fair amount of guilt to get to self-care. I put others first or disregard fun for more important things. #TheStruggleIsReal

 

But you can’t let excuses and guilt get in the way because in the long run everyone suffers. Self-Care is an important thing. It helps you refresh and have the strength to be ready when others need you. My body wasn’t letting me ignore it any longer. I felt the need to take care of myself become more and more present even though I’d been putting it off and letting guilt put it on the backburner.

 

So I took a few deep breaths and told myself that I need to accept this self-care. I need it. I need yoga and to sit and paint my nails and maybe even a nap. Self-care is important and guilt needs to be let go of.

 

Do you struggle with accepting the need for self-care? How do you begin to accept it?

 

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Weekly Check-In

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I’ve recently set my sights on taking a big certification exam in order to help get my career going in the right direction. So that means every available moment is going to studying for it. I think it could really help tip the scales in the right direction.

Traditional Volunteerism

  • 4 Hours of Crisis Text Line

Charitable Giving

  • Zero

Personal Kindnesses

  • So this week I’m going to talk about a missed opportunity. I was kind in interactions through the week but there was one opportunity that I missed but noticed and will do better next time. My job involves a lot of customer service interactions and someone came up to my desk and gave me a lot of attitude. My response was pleasant but it was also to dig my heals in and help them as slowly as possible. Thinking the whole time “you catch more bees with honey, don’t you know that”. While I helped her I didn’t do it in the best and kindest way. Facing unkindness with unkindness is perfectly natural but not the way to go. Next time I’ll do better.

Self Care

  • I decided that to help in my study sessions I needed new supplies. I went to the office supply store and splurged on a new notebook and new colorful pens and a pack of colored pencils just for fun. I remember getting new school supplies every year and how much that new pen or blank notebook makes a difference.

Please share in the comments how you’re doing this week!

Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day!

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Happy Random Acts of Kindness Day! ‎#RandomActsofKindnessDay‬

 

I know when I hear about random acts of kindness I think of grand gestures that a step above and beyond, that take thought and work, and can even be inconvenient or difficult. It reminds people to do something they normally wouldn’t. Be kind when no one expects you to.

 

That’s why I use the term “personal kindness” in my Weekly Check-Ins, I only consider small things that I did personally to be kind. Focus on just a small choice I made to be kind when I could have been mean or neutral. I’m trying for consistent acts of kindness, or making the random, standard. Of course this is a process that I think about every week and I’m far from perfect, sometimes it’s still random. But I’m shooting for simple kindness. Everyday kindness. I don’t mind if I’m kind so often that people expect it, because I expect of myself. I would hate to just be randomly kind, I want to be consistently kind.

 

Not to say of course that Random Acts of Kindness and RAoKD is not wonderful. We should all be thinking about and acting kindly. Every kindness helps.

 

How are you going to celebrate #RandomActsofKindnessDay‬?

 

 

 

 

Weekly Check-In

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I got an influx of good news this week. Makes me feel good to see some hard work starting to pay off.

Traditional Volunteerism

  • 4 Hours of Crisis Text Line
    • I’m officially a Level 3 Counselor!! That means I’ve helped over 100 people! It feels so good to do this every week and see the numbers add up.

Charitable Giving

  • Zero

Personal Kindnesses

  • This week I made sure to ask one of my co-workers who is not my favorite about her weekend. Sometimes exchanging a few pleasantries can really make a difference for everyone.

Self Care

  • I have been making sure to get in my exercise. Sweat out the stress!

Please share in the comments how you’re doing this week!

Taking Time for Acclaim

On By beinggoodeIn Causes I Support, Self Care, ThoughtsLeave a comment

The company I work for offers a few programs to encourage community involvement. Of course I volunteer because it’s a part of who I am but the company perks certainly are nice. You can find volunteer opportunities but also record them and at the end of the year based on the number of verified volunteer hours they give you a certain amount to donate to an organization of your choice. With my 202 volunteer hours last year I maxed out this benefit and get to give a serious chunk of cash to my favorite place! It’s really a nice reward to recognize all my hard work.

 

While I don’t do things for the acclaim it is an important part of self-care to allow yourself to be recognized by others and to take a minute to recognize yourself for all your work. Acclaim shouldn’t be sought out but should be welcomed. So I’m taking a moment to celebrate with my grant.

 

Then I realized I have to pick a charity. One charity. How do I choose? Local or global? Which important issue? Health? Environment? Education? So many good people doing good things!! The first rule I made is I’m not going to donate to any of the organizations I volunteered for so that rules out Special Olympics, Crisis Text Line, American Red Cross, Pantene Beautiful Lengths, 826LA, and Homeboy Industries. All fantastic organizations but they got my time last year.

 

So organizations started popping into my head. There is My Friend’s Place which I’ve worked with in the past and just love. The Los Angeles Library that keeps my city literate. To Write Love on Her Arms which is celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary. The Jane Goodall Institue that is a leader in conservation. The Girl Scouts, I was one when I was younger and loved it. Planned Parenthood a very important organization to women’s health in the US. WriteGirl another great local education organization. And other ones keep jumping into my head – RAIIN, UNICEF, Books for Africa, etc, etc.

 

I guess this is a fun thing to think about. I want to pick a charity by the end of the month. Comment or tweet me your thoughts on how to narrow down my choices or suggest an organization for me to add to my list!