Journal

Joy in Giving - June 2007
I had one of the most rewarding experiences this weekend. A few weeks ago, I signed up for "Sacred Service Saturday" at Agape International Spiritual Center. They have this event once a year to bring together as many people as possible to go out to different places to help out in various different ways. Some of which include: Beach cleanup, art for abused children, cooking for runaway teens, feeding the homeless, spending time with animals & cleaning up at a no-kill shelter, singing & dancing at hospitals & elderly retirement homes, the list goes on.

I volunteered for "Free Arts" where abused children & children which lack communication skills come to this place in Rosemead and are encouraged to be creative and to have fun! The children were ages 4-12, most of them being about 7 or 8. They gave us very specific rules: No praising what the kids were creating. Sounded difficult to me at first but it made sense: other kids may feel saddened/get hurt/jealous that they were told that theirs was good while another was just told theirs was great. Not fair! So all we would do is be there and make comments about their craft: IE: oh wow it looks like you love red. Is that your favorite color? Oh i see you're drawing lions, do you like lions? etc Tricky, but I learned a lot and I will apply this method to other children I might do arts & crafts with in the future. [Read More]

Childhood Memories - March. 2007
When I was eight years old, I was sent to a private boarding school in Guadalajara, MX. Even though I knew how to speak spanish, it was a very difficult time for me. I felt abandoned, and was too young to understand what I was doing all by myself in another country away from home, much less living in an all girls catholic school which made us get up at the crack of dawn to pray, pray some more at sunset and made us eat every drop of food on our plates whether we liked it or not. And yes, nuns aren't afraid to pinch you if you've been "naughty!"

My salvation was my sweet great uncle & aunt on the weekends. I especially got along with my uncle - Tio Pepe (Tito). He would come pick me up and we would spend the entire weekend having fun. Site seeing, visits to mexico city, chapala, eating vanilla or lemon-lime ice cream, candies galore, walking down the street to get fresh menudo or mole, hanging out with him while he tended to his garden, long talks, movies, whatever I wanted. I love mangoes and he always made sure they were there waiting for me every friday. These memories are so clear, as if it were yesterday. They are actually some of my fondest childhood memories. Ironic considering I've always thought being sent to Mexico was one of the bad things that's happened to me in my life...interesting. [Read More]

Treasure Hunt - March. 2007
I like to spend a few minutes a month making a mental list of everything that I am grateful for. Much of this consists of simple things that might be overlooked because we can be too busy looking for the best of the best or wondering when the money is going to start rolling in or keeping busy or working nonstop or wallowing in the past or thinking and thinking some more or how we've been so hurt or how we're afraid to get hurt or how life isn't fair or the woe is me or the shoulda coulda woulda or the ever popular what if's or – you get the picture. This is how hidden treasures life has placed all around you remain undiscovered.

For my treasure hunt, some of my personal favorites are: a park, the beach, driving with the 'top off' or sitting on a balcony with a great view on a sunny day. I take a long deep breath and smile. I take note of all of my senses to make sure they are all alert and ready for what is in store. The treasure hunt begins. [Read More]

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