Wheel by John Mayer
A Life of Service
Ever since my car accident in 2002, my life’s goal has been pretty clear: to serve and better the lives of children and youth.
This has been kind of hard to explain to other people when they ask me, “Why? Why don’t you just work in the private sector now, make lots of money, and then donate that money to some charity?”
How can you explain your passion? If I were as passionate about singing opera or coding software programs, would I need to explain myself over and over again for those?
I just read an article in Time magazine that helps to explain my drive to serve children and youth, and my hopeful vision to be able to do this on a wider scale in the near future.
Here’s an excerpt and link to the article:
As the Constitutional Convention of 1787 came to a close, after three and a half months of deliberation, a lady asked Dr. Franklin, “Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?” “A republic,” replied the Doctor, “if you can keep it.”
— ANECDOTE FROM THE RECORDS OF THE FEDERAL CONVENTION OF 1787, ED., MAX FARRAND, VOL. 3, APPENDIX A, 1911A republic, if you can keep it. The founders were not at all optimistic about the future of the Republic. There had been only a handful of other republics in all of human history, and most were small and far away. The founders’ pessimism, though, came not from history but from their knowledge of human nature. A republic, to survive, needed not only the consent of the governed but also their active participation. It was not a machine that would go of itself; free societies do not stay free without the involvement of their citizens.
Today the two central acts of democratic citizenship are voting and paying taxes. That’s basically it. The last time we demanded anything else from people was when the draft ended in 1973. And yes, there are libertarians who believe that government asks too much of us — and that the principal right in a democracy is the right to be left alone — but most everyone else bemoans the fact that only about half of us vote and don’t do much more than send in our returns on April 15. The truth is, even the archetype of the model citizen is mostly a myth. Except for times of war and the colonial days, we haven’t been all that energetic about keeping the Republic.
When Americans look around right now, they see a public-school system with 38% of fourth graders unable to read at a basic level; they see the cost of health insurance escalating as 47 million people go uninsured; they see a government that responded ineptly to a hurricane in New Orleans; and they see a war whose ends they do not completely value or understand.
But there is something else we are seeing in the land. Polls show that while confidence in our democracy and our government is near an all-time low, volunteerism and civic participation since the ’70s are near all-time highs. Political scientists are perplexed about this. If confidence is so low, why would people bother volunteering? The explanation is pretty simple. People, especially young people, think the government and the public sphere are broken, but they feel they can personally make a difference through community service. After 9/11, Americans were hungry to be asked to do something, to make some kind of sacrifice, and what they mostly remember is being asked to go shopping. The reason private volunteerism is so high is precisely that confidence in our public institutions is so low. People see volunteering not as a form of public service but as an antidote for it.
That is not a recipe for keeping a republic.
Read more here.
Saturn is moving into Virgo
Apparently Saturn is moving into Virgo for the next couple of years. According to Alex, my resident astrologer/spiritual advisor, this means that people in general will be more nitpicky about things in their lives.
The following quotes were taken from www.astrologicallyspeaking.com:
Saturn is the planet of concentrated effort—no short cuts—and he will now be spending time in the practical earth sign of Virgo. Virgo excels at performing tasks until these become acquired skills and loves hard work. Virgo is also analytical, discerning and excels at organization, taking care of details and looking after others. Virgo is the sign we associate with service, the harvest and interestingly Vedic astrologers call Saturn the servant.
This is my sign and what Saturn moving into Virgo means for me:
Capricorn Dec. 21-Jan. 19Your ruling planet known for its ability to structure, assign responsibility and doing things properly is moving into discerning, analytical and organized Virgo for the next couple of years beginning in September. The area for you is foreign travel, learning and distant places as well as in-laws, publishing and legal matters. This could see you moving to a distance, signing up for classes and naturally acquiring a new relative or few. What is it you desire in your life that would allow you to broaden your horizons. This is a wonderful time to choose changes with discernment of course.
It seems like some changes are in store for the next couple of years…
Rap Director Training – Behind the Scenes
Little can be said about the secret rituals behind the training of a Rap Director… but I have some exclusive pictures from my two-week training back in June. If you remember, the training took me first to Baltimore, Maryland, then Virginia to Fredericksburg and then Williamsburg. I got to know nice other trainees extremely well (some would say too well), and more importantly, I got to know myself more.
I can easily attribute my recent success with BUILD’s Boot Camps to this training as it has made me a better facilitator.
Anyway, here are some choice pictures from the action-packed, tiring, and life-changing two weeks of training.
Ashlee and I at Morgan State University (showing off our lipgloss… yes it’s poppin!)
The Lovely Ladies of the “Tentative” Ten (we have yet to have a real team name)
We drove around a lot in these big vans… That’s Daphne, me and Joell in the back and Latoya and Mercedes in the middle.
Daphne being exposed, and Rogelio’s birthday surprise.
Having way too much fun with cupcakes on Rogelio’s birthday
Cupcake madness!!!
Post-Fountain Jump
Fountain Jumping Part 2. I know it’s dark, but it’s worth the squint to see us.
Consumed by the Deathly Hallows & Work
I’ve been super busy the last few weeks because of:
1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Good Lord! I finished reading the last installment of the Harry Potter books, and was so impressed by the artistically written action-packed sequences. This book is pretty close to being my favorite Harry Potter book (next to the Prisoner of Azkaban). And with that I was kind of sad to read the last few pages.
2. BUILD Business Boot Camps
I facilitated two at my site and supported two others (in Oakland and East Palo Alto). Basically I’ve been in “Boot Camp mode” for over three weeks.
Man. I am tired.
Good Lord. Kids are tiring!
But I would not trade it for anything, and this year, I had no “Boot Camp Breakdowns.” If you remember from my posts from last year where I literally was sobbing on the drive home. This year’s Boot Camps were so successful and reminded me of why I am doing the work that I am doing. The students come back in about a week and a half, and I can’t wait!
Boston Trip
Did I mention that I went to Boston in May with four of my superstar students? Well here’s some proof:
New Idea: Speakers Bureau
Me: hey i have a new idea
Me: i want to create a speakers bureau
Me: or like a club
Karla: cool, with who
Me: nonprofits and education-related people are always looking for good people to facilitate workshops or give some sort of speech
Me: but we are always so reticent because we don’t know who to trust, we don’t know what they’ll say, etc, esp if we haven’t heard them before
Karla: ya, thats totally true
Me: professionals are so busy that they can only speak a couple times a year or so
Karla: so create one reliable vehicle for all
Me: but they WANT to be involved
Me: and want to give back
Karla: that’s very true
Me: but its hard for them to stay involved in a … regular fashion
Me: Enter speakers bureau… kind of like a broker between excellent speakers/workshop facilitators and the orgs that need them
Karla: nice
Karla: how would you do quality control?
Me: professionals sign up like a club to be part of this bureau. the bureau makes sure they are quality by having the orgs who have them speak do evals of them, and by doing workshops/conferences/trainings on the subject, and they have to do a minimum # of engagements per year (like maybe 2)
Karla: that’s neat
Karla: I like the idea
Me: and with the built up reputation, orgs can sign up to get their needs filled and know that the ppl are quality
Karla: but I feel like you need some kind of quality control up front too
Me: yea maybe some sort of interview
Me: or video presentation
Me: like they have to submit a video
Karla: that’s cool
Me: man i am too full of the good ideas
Me: and it can be this kind of special exclusive thing that ppl can get into
Me: but it does good work
Me: and then ppl can network
Karla: ya, totally
Karla: you and the good ideas
Karla: lol
Me: cuz as ppl grow older, its harder for them to practice their thing
Me: unless they do it for a living
Who wants to help me set this up?
I fell and then I got up and laughed
Setup: It’s the morning of one of the biggest events of the year for BUILD. This is a convo I had with Leslie about day 1 of Business Boot Camp…
Me (10:51:08 PM): this morning at 645 am
Me (10:51:11 PM): i slipped and fell
Me (10:51:20 PM): and completely hurt my right shoulder, elbow and wrist
Me (10:51:26 PM): its in a lot of pain
Me (10:51:32 PM): im tryin not to be a baby about it
Leslie (10:52:12 PM): oh no
Leslie (10:52:16 PM): slipped and fell during yoga?
Me (10:52:25 PM): um no. i was in the shower
Leslie (10:52:29 PM): oh no
Leslie (10:52:30 PM): dear
Me (10:52:31 PM): and i heard this BLARING loud music
Leslie (10:52:31 PM): how’d you do that
Leslie (10:52:33 PM): are you ok
Me (10:52:52 PM): … and realized it was my alarm clock attached to my stereo and it was playing at CLUB sound level
Me (10:53:01 PM): (my roommate woke up and im SURE my neighbors were pissed)
Me (10:53:11 PM): . so i put on a towel quickly, and ran to turn it off.
Me (10:53:22 PM): i slipped on the hard wood floor. my legs flew up into the air and landed on my right side. it was not cute
Me (10:53:40 PM): but all i could do was laugh.
Me (10:53:41 PM): and wince.
Me (10:53:43 PM): and then laugh again
Leslie (10:53:54 PM): awe now i’m laughing
Me (10:53:56 PM): and then wince as i was driving and trying to pick up my tea cup at the same time
Leslie (10:54:08 PM): are you saying you were naked on your kitchen floor today
Me (10:54:25 PM): if u are clever and read between the lines
Me (10:54:35 PM): which u seem to be
Leslie (10:54:51 PM): 🙂
Proud
It’s days like today that make me love what I do.
I (along with Randy and Amber) facilitated our second annual training for the Executive Leadership Circle (ELC), which is basically the leaders of all of our students leaders. And I really feel like they understood the gravity and responsibility of being a leader and a role model. We spent the morning at Parnassus Investments, an SF company. A friend of mine from the Chorus hooked us up with a board room that overlooks SF Bay… you can see all the way from Alcatraz to the San Mateo Bridge. It was GORGEOUS. Right before we left the board room, I had the students line up against the window. I told them to look out to a point that they liked, and told them, “Take this moment in. Think 15 years from now… this can be the view from your office.” And I really feel like they believed it, which makes me happy.
Here’s another pic of the whole group, including Jim, who works at Parnassus standing next to me.
I love packing efficiently!
It’s almost 1 am, and I am all packed for my Denver trip. And the best part about it is that I don’t have to check any luggage in. Yippee!
Now I just have to figure out that whole shuttle issue…