Gifts & Resolutions
It would be interesting if the price of food was based on caloric content. That 1000 calories in a Big Mac might cost $10 and a head of cauliflower would cost $1; the casual Snicker’s bar would become cost prohibitive and maybe kids would treasure veggies and fruit more than sweets. Or, what if everyone’s labor was valued on an even keel—that no matter what kind of work you did, if you did it in earnest and performed consistently you were guaranteed a certain standard of living. There would be no working poor and even the shop girl would have a good standard of living. Or how about education without judgement—is it possible to thoroughly educate everyone without having the quality of that education depend on personal wealth and monetary exchange?
Call me peculiar, but I have always had a hard time with the concept of real estate. Did God come down from heaven and say, “Okay, now, you can have this part of the world and these other folks get that section.” I doubt it; but then I suspect part of me is descended from a band of Gypsies who roamed Eastern Europe and thought camping out on the edge of the forest was the best of both worlds. Equally perplexing is the concept that people of color are lesser than those who’s skin is a pastey pink. 
When did pink become more valuable than brown, yellow, black or purple for that matter? With the exception of seeing my first person of color when I was four and telling my mum “he’s made of chocolate!” I am hard pressed to understand those who are racist. Natures’ hand in evolutionary adaption to climate is no basis for discrimination; yet even in 2006, folks everywhere seem to have slept through the civil rights movement and the enlightenment of its focus.
On a smaller scale, just eradicating the phrase “you can’t do that” from my creative environment is a constant goal. It’s not a phrase I use much, but one I struggle to ignore from well meaning coworkers, friends and relatives. Offered to protect me from my own spirit of adventure and risk taking, it serves only to plant doubt and undermine my natural exploration. The words sit in the back of the mind and eat away at whatever endeavors are simmering, and in the face of a tiny doubt, cause rancid fear to spring forth. Now I actively remove myself from that phrase whenever it rears its ugly head.
The Christian tradition is giving in celebration of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. But what if we gave a little all the time? What if, when someone is trapped in the flow of traffic we stop and give them a way in? Or how about that elderly lady struggling to return her shopping cart? What if we offered her assistance and returned the cart for her? What if, we find the last Tickle Me Elmo and while waiting to pay, give it to a mom and dad with four sad kids who got there a minute too late? Or how about stepping up to the plate when the person ahead of you in line is short a dollar—what keeps you from digging into your pocket and giving then? How about just giving someone the benefit of the doubt when the tide is going against them? What if, instead of suddenly sharing a little extra at the end of December, we shared all the time?
During the Holidays, it is traditional to remember those who are less fortunate. Take a moment to consider everyone in the Universe is part of the same ecosystem—or, in graphic terms, a long row of dominoes, each one’s action affecting many. Remember in your New Years’ resolutions, 2007 is a good time for a more worldly resolution. Maybe resolve to treat the world and all of it’s inhabitants as if they, too, are guaranteed a place on the planet. We are all leaves on the same tree, striving for a fair share of sunshine—may your share be generous and may there always be a giving hand there when your need arises.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!
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You might be interested in the Living Generously project - lots of people, all making small changes to how they live, adds up to a bigger effect. The project was started by a UK group but now has members from all over the world.
The season of giving is twelve months long - remember this and you'll go a long way (with a reasonable level of happiness). All the best for the New Year.
So there I was, standing in line at WalMart this summer, waiting to pay for the packet of beans I was looking forward to going home to plant. Only two people in line in front of me, and it ended up taking forever because the young woman with the little boy in the shopping cart didn't have enough in her debit account. She'd take a few non-food items out of the pile she'd purchased, and they'd run the card again, and still not enough. She did that three times, and by then I was shifting from foot to foot, looking at the ceiling, trying not to growl. So when it finally went through, and they were bagging her groceries, the man in front of me in the wheelchair pulled out some cash, handed it to her and quietly said, "Get the rest." She thanked him and the transaction was completed. I am STILL humbled by my apparent inability to think fast on my feet and be charitable at any given moment. That man is a hero in my book.
Dear Susan:
You took the words right out of my life, heart, mind and soul. The tradition of giving is so easy to do, I try always to do so. Just yesterday shopping, I did the basket thing. It doesn't hurt at all to do little things for others. Give where you see your needed, daily, is like paying it forward. It gives you warm fuzzy feeling through and through.
I just hope and pray that people will stop and think about this and just "Do it!" We need more people to be kinder, gentler, and maybe there will be peace on earth afterall. The hardest part of all is that EVERYONE must do it!