hoooo hoooo hoooo

First of all, an interesting excerpt from "The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: by Utne Reader : 

On nonprofits: 

"And what are our priorities? Perhaps the real problem is that we don’t spend enough time imagining what we want and then doing the work to sustain that vision. That is one of the fundamental ways the corporate-capitalist system tames us: by robbing us of our time and flooding us in a sea of bureaucratic red tape, which we are told is a necessary evil for guaranteeing our organization’s existence. We are too busy being told to market ourselves by pimping our communities’ poverty in proposals, selling “results” in reports and accounting for our finances in financial reviews.

In essence, our organizations have become mini-corporations, because on some level, we have internalized the idea that power—the ability to create change—equals money."

Read more: http://www.utne.com/Politics/Revolution-Will-not-be-Funded-Nonprofit-Industrial-Complex.aspx?page=2#ixzz29D1HvVLR


I've been thinking about this a lot lately. People ask "what are you going to do after you graduate?" about 5 times a day. I love the question and the conversation, but my only answer is "anything that doesn't involve paper." 

People usually laugh at this...but I'm serious. I don't want to do anything that involves an office or paperwork. Books are great, but papers and board meetings -- no thanks. The troubling thing about this is that most activist-type work these days involves paperwork, fund-raising, and dressing "professionally." There doesn't seem to be a way to help people or the planet without working in an office...so what do I (and presumably the 'we' that feels the same way) do? I wish there was a more hands-on way to help people and a planet in need. I can't stand sitting in meetings to determine what a logo should like when there are a million other things we could be doing -- but the logo helps with visibility, marketing, fundraising,  blah blah blah. 

On the same note -- there is so much that is wrong in our country and in our world: persistent poverty throughout regions of the U.S that most of us cannot even begin to imagine; structural discrimination that many claim was eliminated in 1964, but violently persists today; ecological devastation via climate change and its drivers like fossil fuel consumption and agribusiness...sadly, the list goes on and on. How can one person -- even one person with untold privilege for being a white, college-educated, suburban-dwelling, U.S citizen -- do any good? How does this person's position in society situate her in regards to the inequality that is largely race/ethnicity-based? Where does power come from if not from the funding associated with non-profits and/or political machines? 

All of these questions and worries are floating around in my head tonight as I walk though the UW arboretum. Then, suddenly, a magnificent owl swoops over my head and up to a tall perch at the top of an old tree. The owl reminds me of order and grace. He lives to feed on small creatures and to oversee the forest from the tree tops. The owl reminds me that we each have to work on our own tiny corner of the world if we're ever going to 'make a difference.' I don't really know why an owl would remind me of this...but he did, so just go with it. I guess I just realized that despite all of the terrible unfairness and sadness in the world, we're never going to add any beauty by feeling responsible for all of it. Maybe this is the key: the owl doesn't try to solve all of the forest's problems; in fact, he just eats, poops, and sleeps. Yet, that owl, with his wide wings and questioning round face, sure does add a lot of beauty to the dark woods on a rainy and cold Fall evening. 

Changing Blog Title and URL

Well I've decided to try blogging more consistently again. It may not last long...but let's see! 

I've just changed the title and background of my blog to better reflect my current state of mind and probable content. 

Three things are really influencing my thoughts right now:

1. the election and politics in general 

2. a class about birds and kids that I'm currently enjoying 

3. Imminent graduation and the feeling of "what now??" 

This "new" blog will hopefully replace the posting I've been doing on facebook and allow me to share with all of you the interesting lessons I've been learning in my last semester classes slash life.