This is Where it Starts, Lightening Strikes the Heart

*Friday, Oct. 21, 2011: "Don't do too well or they won't hire on more help for us" is the statement my supervisor made after I offered to clean out the space we are renting out to an agency next week. I want new people to be hired on, but I also don't want to be accused of laziness so the space didn't get cleaned out and I went and worked on a lesson plan instead. She brought up an interesting point and an overarching theme of what I am learning with my time at Emmaus: the inner workings of the non-profit world. Doing enough to get by isn't usually my forte, but with the onset of us trying to hire new people on; I guess it's something worth investing in. This expands to something larger though...the inner workings of the non-profit world have been thrusted upon me more in these past three months than I ever saw at the Shehan Center last year. With such a small organization trying to serve a large group of people, I am learning a lot about how the "normal" non-profit struggles with finances and staffing. It's been so interesting and such a learning experience and I am grateful for that today.

*Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011: I am thankful for reunions. Tonight I got to have dinner with a high school friend I hadn't seen in about five years and we had dinner and then headed out to a mutual friend's birthday celebration. It was retro-80's-bright color themed and only my friend (who's birthday it was) and I dressed for the theme. It was still a blast though. We danced, laughed and had a good time with everyone present for the festivities. I am thankful for the time I got to spend with friends from home and time to be silly with some pretty amazing people.



*Sunday, Oct. 23, 2011: I want to start using lyrics as my titles for these posts because song titles and lyrics speak to me and really articulate what I'm thinking most of the time more than my own words do. So a song that has been really speaking to my heart lately is "Brighter than the Sun" by Colbie Caillat. The line, "But who am I to tell fate where it’s supposed to go with it?" is so powerful (as well as the entire song) because it's so upbeat, so catchy and so motivational. It seems to always come on the radio when I am feeling particularly down, stuck-in-a-rut or just blah and as soon as it comes on I just want to skip, smile from ear to ear and high five people as I pass by them. It came on today, in the midst of my lazy day/stuck-in-a-rut-ness and it was such a mood-lifter! I am thankful for the radio's semi-obsession with this song because it means I get to listen to it a few times a day and feel uplifted and motivated to do anything.

*Monday, Oct. 24, 2011: Today my roommate, Brittney, came in and gave a health talk on HIV/AIDS to my seniors. It was great. She did such a good job and was so informative and helpful. She didn't pussy-foot around anything and they appreciated it. They laughed with her, cracked jokes and got some serious questions answered. They were raving about her after she left and it inspired me to look for other experts in the field to come in and give health talks about different disorders/diseases/health issues. I am thankful for my roommate and for her willingness not only take time out of her day to speak with my seniors but to do it sooooo well.