End of 2nd Haiti Auction <3
We raised $545 with our second Haiti Auction! I'll be contacting the winners by email by the end of the week. Congratulations to those who won (myself included, I can't wait to hang up my new painting)! The total raised for Haiti Relief with both auctions was $1545. Not bad! Though our auction is finally over, there is still work to be done. This is by no means the end of my efforts to do something for those less fortunate - Tyler and I have discussed plans for a fundraiser for a cure for Lupus, for later in the year. I plan to start volunteering at the local soup kitchen beginning in the next few weeks. And next year? Maybe teaching English in Thailand? Peace Corps?And photography, always.
I want to encourage everyone to do whatever they can to help anyone who needs it. When you find yourself getting sad or depressed, help someone else! It's the best way that I know to remember what life is really about and it is proven to get your mind off your own problems.
Internalizing how lucky I am has made me want to give back, and also made me appreciate every single aspect of my life. I think you miss out on the best parts of life if you don't truly grasp how fortunate you are being born in this time, in this place. Even with all the horrible things that the elected officials made us go through during the past 8 years, and the horrible things they did in our name to people in other countries, and all the crime and pain and pollution and hate that is still around everywhere, there are great things happening everywhere you look. Government aid made it possible for me to go to college. I have enough to eat, and even though I work full time, I have time to create art. Our president just made it possible for me to get health insurance again. And there are people out there trying their hardest to make this world something to be proud of. And that makes me proud.
Reading over that, I realize that I sound like an annoyingly self-righteous do-gooder and I promise, I don't think I'm a saint, and I am a human being, not a witlessly happy robot. Maybe it's the fact that it's the first sun after a week of straight rain, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of optimism, right? :)
Now that my blog is mine again (I kind of stopped posting personal stuff while the auction was going on, so that it wouldn't be so much about me) I am looking forward to sharing some of the recent photography that I've done, so if you want, come back and check it out... <3
