Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Nostalgia...summer of 1993...

It's funny how a song can take you back to a point in time where your life was much different than it is now. Today, Scott and I ran some errands then had some lunch and on our way back there was this familiar song on the radio. Although the radio was low and Scott was talking, I heard the strum of a guitar. It was an old song that I loved. You know the kind, anthemic. The kind of song that builds until the lead singer belts out the chorus. The type of song that doesn't easily leave your head. It is usually a one hit wonder--a mere flash in the pan but it sticks with you and every time you hear it the years melt away...You're twenty-one in a 1979 Saffron Gold Subaru DL 4 Door with the radio blasting on a road trip to Idaho for my first theatre job.






For me-this afternoon--that song was 'What's Up!' by 4 Non Blondes. I remember that summer, staying in the University of Idaho dorms, working for the Idaho Rep, waking up in the middle of the afternoon, running the wardrobe for a show, then staying up all night watching movies with the rest of the company and going to bed at dawn to wake up and do it all over again. Then there was the time that Brian and Bobby decided to repel out of the dormitory windows ending with Brian's eye being blacked by a flashlight. Or my famous, alright infamous, catch of a baseball and my hospital visit...all in all, it was a great summer.




What's Up!


Twenty-five years and my life is still
Trying to get up that great big hill of hope for a destination
And I realized quickly when I knew I should
That the world was made up of this brotherhood of man
For whatever that means
And so I cry sometimes when I'm lying in bed
Just to get it all out what's in my head
And I am feeling a little peculiar
And so I wake in the morning and I step outside
And I take a deep breath and I get real high
And I scream at the top of my lungs, what's going on?

--4 Non Blondes

Monday, July 11, 2011

It's what I do...





I'm one of those people that, if she sees a homeless person, has to help. It might be with spare change, an old pair of boots or my doggie bag--I just need to help. Now some of you have witnessed these acts of random giving and have questioned why I would do this when the homeless person in question will probably use the money for drugs or alcohol, trade the boots for other things, or just throw the food away. I have no real explanation. I just feel compelled to help. It is as if my spirit won't let me rest until I help in someway.

I would call myself a God-fearing woman and I was raised a Christian. Am I perfect? No. I have made mistakes and I have paid for them and may yet pay for other mistakes that I have or will make. Not everything that all religions profess is something that I want to follow but I believe that truth can be found in all things. There is a common thread that runs through nearly all religions--serve others and give to those who are less fortunate. The Bible states, "...if you have done this unto the least these you have done it unto me...". You might say that in our society "the least of these" might be the homeless. They are definitely less fortunate--no matter what choices lead them to where they are now, they are currently less fortunate and so I give.

Call it paying it forward, karma, browning points or whatever. For me, it is the right thing to do. I do not care what they do with my spare change, old boots or doggie bag. I gave those things in love. I care about them and I want to do what I can with the little I have and so what they do with my gifts is of no concern to me. What matters is the choice that I made to help. It's what I do.

-mlh