SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: homeless or hopeless?

Posted on November 11, 2012 by admin

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our own homes to remedy this kind of poverty.” ~ Mother Teresa, nun, peaceful missionary & worldwide civil servant

What a day. What a physically, mentally and spiritually exhausting, yet magically fulfilling and hope-inspiring day. As I type before heading to sleep, the glistening spotlight in my mind still shines on the few hours spent sharing infectious laughter, thought-provoking conversation, and heart-wrenching tear-filled stories with some hundred people or so this late morning. Know that I write this not to showcase my meager charitable efforts, but to share a monumental a-ha in my own mind.

If I could have watched from afar I would have witnessed myself as an outsider literally melting into a crowd; the steadfast and stoic force field dissolving to morph complete strangers into a simple crowd of God’s children. Another trip to a shelter…like a myriad others… where the ultimate goals for its countless, seemingly nameless patrons are never met…and perhaps never will be. “End homelessness” is still the proud banner on the building’s marquis, but most who gather show signs of no end in sight. Just as the “haves” toe the precarious line of accepting the homeless situation as a problem that just cannot be solved, the “have-nots” stand in mirror reflection. I know that even if I visited their grounds every single day with food, clothing, and opportunity for shelter …not even a dent would be made. For the real problem isn’t lack of these wish-list items. The real problem is buried deep within the souls of the homeless. No matter what choices they have made to land them in their current collective circumstances, the destruction and rubble lay heavy in their body, minds and spirits. They live under the weight of overpowering feelings of being unwanted, unloved, uncared, insignificant, incapable, unworthy, unequal, and inhuman, and they wear a badge of hopelessness. No obligatory holiday drive or food drop-off will ever remedy their pain, let alone stop the perpetuation of thousands more joining their disheveled, disjointed crowds. Indeed, I believe many who fall into the demise of homelessness and succumb to its evil accompanying activities can choose to change their habits and perhaps become the very light at the end of their tunnels.

But society has a responsibility as well. As individuals we are each specially gifted to help, and perhaps a resolution lies in truly owning up to the impact we can have on future generations. We have the opportunity each and every day to turn strangers into peers through words and actions that spread nothing but love and compassion. After all, you never know, the person who stands inches from you might be just inches from one last choice that would lead to their own homelessness. And what if the right word or action from you were to create a miraculous intervention?

Perhaps we cannot end homelessness in our own lifetimes, folks. But I’m willing to bet that if we all worked on ending hopelessness, the problem might fix itself.

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SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: pageant or poetry

Posted on October 19, 2012 by admin

“Climb the mountain not to plant your flag, but to embrace the challenge, enjoy the air and behold the view. Climb it so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.” ~ David McCullough, modern-day English teacher

Life is not a pageant. And yet we unabashedly tuck this gloriously divine journey and spontaneously shared experience into a flippant 4-letter word and dress it up like a calamatied, desperate, purpose-less reality star who ultimately exploits and extinguishes her own value. Life is not charading parade of nipped and tucked excuses of beauty…of average activities reupholstered to elicit wooing and swooning in hopes of earning awards no more valuable or necessary than a 14 carat gold tombstone. Life is not a calling to exhibit one’s presumed importance for awe’s sake of our 7 billion relatives. For life is LIFE. It’s like light and air and thoughts and bodies… it’s just there. And we all have IT… for some time. And no one’s is more important. For we are all but a sum of parts playing on a gameboard on an unpretentious planet… and when one piece gets taken away, the game still goes on.

And so, perhaps life is like a poetry slam, or so I humbly reflect. A dedicated effort of an affected orator striving to breathe life into the written word with emphatic, emoting performance that eggs both speaker and audience to tug the air for more oxygen and the room for more space and actions for more meaning. Life is emulated by the aerobic effort required by this act of igniting possibilities into a kinetic energy that spills on and rips through every thread of those in the same circling space. And yet the expansion of meaning in the mutterings from muted paper are mere reflections of the challenges of the poet himself. Though he stands upon a stage, he knows his spectators ironically watch themselves shift under influence, and he is without need of approval. For the poet alone strives to make it to the top of a metaphorical mountain…but for the experience alone of seeing a new view revealed upon his last breath into the last particle of punctuation. Breath to thoughts to words to actions to breath again… and then another upward hike to enlightenment. Unstaged life unfolding. ~ KD

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SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: be brave …tomorrow

Posted on September 28, 2012 by admin

“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” ~ Mary Anne Radmacher, author & artist

Ever had a day where you woke up with the best of intentions in mind, with your hair on fire to make a difference and leave your mark on this world, and with a sense of clarity that could power through any obstacle…. only to have it all seemingly stomped on my noon? Missteps and metaphorical missiles blew your intentions to bits. Challenges and chiding people doused your ignited spirit with doubt and drama. And confusion clouded your once impervious vision. And there you sat and the day’s close wondering what the hell happened? How did all the proverbial S&!T hit the fan when you were sure you woke up on the side of the bed that promised purpose, achievement, peace and joy.

Those are days no one cares to speak of, but we all know happen more often than not. They are part and parcel to being human.

To being alive.

That said, each night as you retire to allow the next morning to arrive… listen for the voice of courage. For its message sears your heart and spine with the unshakable bravery and reminds you to place your armor, ideas, determination and enthusiasm by the foot of your bed. For perhaps tomorrow is your day to overcome and celebrate. ~ KD

SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: settling is for shmoes

Posted on September 13, 2012 by admin

“We must make the choices that enable us to fulfill the deepest capacities of our real selves.” ~ Thomas Merton, writer, social activist & mystic

From breakfast cereal to best friend, shoes to school, part-time job to partner for life… there’s not a second that goes by that we don’t make a decision or have a circumstance knocking at our doors, begging for one. When the challenges and curveballs come, though, life tests our courage and willingness to adapt, change and choose a direction. It’s then that the dilemma of Rice Krispies over Cheerios doesn’t deserve a second thought, for I’ll bet the farm that never was one’s destiny teetering on the battle of snap, crackle and pop versus that stupid little honey bee. And yet, we think we don’t really have to settle for what’s put in front of us, because we have the power to create the selections from which to choose. Right? I mean, we bought the groceries. Well, why the hell do so many of us forget that power when considering the real meat-and-potato issues and opportunities in life. Why do we SETTLE?

Settling. Ugh. Geez…even the word sounds… deflated. We turn our noses up when we hear someone else commit the crime yet we are not innocent of doing the very same. Allowing ourselves to live in the median, in the grey, in an unexplored space of the status quo. So why do we do it? Why do we settle?

Perhaps lack of knowledge, fear of failure, worry over repercussions, comfort with the predictable, judgment from others… the list is tiring and truthfully loooong. But perhaps it’s also because we have lost loving touch with our guts…our instincts…our heart…and our spirit that still knows how to take us to the moon and back if we only choose to leap towards our true selves. Our story is written by our journey, folks, and the journey is written by our hearts. When we dive into the deep end of decisions and face them head-on with all our might, focus and faith, we’ll surface to breathe in relief, real joy, redemption, resolution, and a gloriously REAL reality. ~ KD

SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: how you livin’?

Posted on August 28, 2012 by admin

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience” ~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, philosopher, priest & paleontologist

So…whatcha been doing lately? You know, in between the walking, talking, breathing, building, writing, cooking, sleeping, cleaning, fighting, birthing, driving, primping, disciplining, and sitting. Shall I surmise a list? Perhaps you’ve been…

thinking… feeling… loving… hoping… dreaming… praying… delighting… wondering… visualizing… caring… reflecting…

apologizing… relaxing… promising… compromising… trusting… laughing… celebrating… befriending… worrying…

forgiving… sharing… surrendering… performing… smiling… preaching… planning… empathizing… believing… creating…

Every nook and cranny of each day of your life is filled with the seemingly intangible substance of the spirit, as you act the role of a human being. The fluff of stuff of the heart and mind that your body simply helps carry out…if only to hold you upright…is the weight of your person. It makes YOU, folks. When you accept that there is a hellluvalot more going on in each passing moment, the squishy “spiritual” verbiage becomes more digestible and believable. The underconversation of your purpose and own melodic magic drown out the minutia of doing… and allows you to excel in all of your being. Cheers to your experience. ~ KD

SOAPBOX® mini-motivation: grasping simplicity

Posted on August 16, 2012 by admin

“Hold on to what is good, even if it’s a handful of earth. Hold on to what you believe, even if it’s a tree that stands by itself. Hold on to what you must do, even if it’s a long way from here. Hold on to your life, even if it’s easier to let go. Hold on to my hand, even if I’ll be gone away from you.” ~ Pueblo Indian prayer

Sometimes I catch myself shaking my head in regret, in upset, in despair, in confusion, and in near hopelessness… at both the thought and the sight of just how far we, as a society, have strayed from the simple things life has to offer. Thankfully, I can bow my head in prayer, full of hope and faith that there is someone else, somewhere else thinking and seeing the same view… just one more person choosing less over more, good over perfect, truth over myth, diligence over idleness, trust over worry, and love over fear. Choosing a purpose-driven life sustained by simplicity. ~ KD

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