And this is as early as 3:30pm this afternoon. To say that I am relieved and overjoyed is an
extreme overstatement (vision is a little blurry from the tears in my eyes).
This was too hard, and there were more moments than I want
to acknowledge where I wanted to give up, but at those points reality sunk in
and I realized there were no other options; this is my only option. Either press forward or go home, and home is
to mommy and daddy and I have never gone home.
If this moment is indicative of what this year long
experience is going to be like, then I say bring it on! This could not break me, and thank God for yoga, for I have
become even more flexible, that I can withstand what ever it is the universe
has to offer.
And I will assert that everyone in my co-hort possesses this
same spirit. Not wanting to predict the
future but I can already feel the power and motivation in each one of you to be
change agents (of course we are growing into what that means as it relates to
philanthropy), but I know that spirit exist in each and everyone of us, or else
we would not be here today. I am
thankful for this hard experience of finding a permanent space to rest me head,
and even more grateful for the fact that it is everything I envisioned.
I am living in Northampton
with a plethora of yoga studios at my disposal, a fabulous coffee shop just
down the street (the best chia I’ve had), a short walk to a vintage store, and
a cute Indian restaurant around the corner.
I can’t wait to have you all come and visit!
To say this week has been a doozie is an
understatement. Last week some of you
might have known I lost one of my eye contacts, and in the chaos of packing and
moving up here misplaced my glasses, and forgot to pick up the replacement
contacts I ordered early in the summer (it’s not entirely because I am
forgetful, it was more because I was taking a leisurely stroll through
poverty). So I was literally one-eyed
Pirate Jane! I had never functioned like
that before; I had always had a back up, never having to exist more than a few
hours with my vision impaired. It was
hard, and I felt so uncomfortable.
I don’t identify myself as impaired or disabled but not
being able to see has made me far more appreciative of my vision, and it has also challenged
me to find balance outside of my comfort zone.
I was able to get by with little complaint until one evening driving at
night, it became too much. The lights were all blurry and I could not make out anything that was not right in front of my face. It made me fearful and I did not feel safe on the rode by myself (so
thankful to Kendra for being my eyes on Thursday night because we were
literally driving by faith and one-eyed sight!)
Thank God work has been a fabulous relief to all of my
personal drama.
I am settling in nicely
to my data collection and am working on an email to introduce myself and the
new survey I am leading to the MDF steering committee.
I submitted a first draft today and got
valuable feedback on crafting it with more formal language that is
representative of the audience.
To be
honest I thought the tone was respectful to their status, but I guess I’m not
cognizant of the individuals on the MDF steering committee, and thankful for the support offered to provide greater context about whom I’m addressing.
I have to say, that I love this staff; they are so
supportive and so sweet. Although most
of my day is in a certain type of isolation, everyone is attentive to my
development all while doing some really amazing national work around the issues
of human rights, peace, and democracy.
I know I’m not suppose to say or think this, but I believe
in laws of attraction and that thought, followed by words, materializes action
– I want to work at Proteus at the end of this fellowship and I will bust my
a** to show them that I am deserving.
I need outlets for releasing stress so I bought a
ticket to a show at Paradise Theatre in Boston Wednesday night for September 19;
the performer is Michael
Kiwanuka, he’s from London
and is a Bob Dylan / Otis Redding folk soul singer; he sounds fabulous. Here are links to his website and to Paradise
Theatre for info on tickets. Talk to you soon
Peace and love,
JKW
Talk to you soon!
Peace and love,
JKW
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