I should be studying, but I'm not, so here we are!

Yesterday, I went out to help Habitat for Humanity build some local homes. My arms still hurt from all the lifting, hammering, et cetera. It felt good, though; it made me think of Levin helping mow the fields in Anna Karenina, but I was working with other college students and members of the community, instead of impoverished field workers. One of the women helping build had had her home built by Habitat, which blew me away. This is one of the few times I've been emotionally touched by an organization's ability to cause reciprocation or some sort of forward "payment."

I was surprised at the low turnout, and asked if the volunteer organization at the university couldn't pair up with out university Habitat chapter; she said it would only work with more transportation, but...that's never been an issue. So maybe we'll set that up, next semester.

Really, though, it started me thinking: I love volunteerism. I mean, as far as all the things I do with my time, I think volunteering is something I consistently enjoy and look forward to. So, I thought, maybe I should see if I can plug that into whatever I do with the rest of my life. --Which started me thinking about the homeless population and the lack of accessibility to good mental healthcare.

I sat in bed for a couple of hours, this morning, asking myself how we could fix this. I wouldn't be super rich, but I don't want a giant house, or super nice cars, or a billion pairs of shoes, anyway. I just want a motorcycle, the financial ability to buy as much fresh produce as I would like, and a lot of counter space in my kitchen and bathrooms, without having to worry about paying anything off for the rest of my life.

The point, I guess, is that I always wanted to go into psychology/the medical field because it's a helping field. What I want to do, specifically, is be able to pinpoint the people who need it most and have the least access to it, and get them back on their feet.

I'm not one of those people who has been freakishly excellent at the medical sciences from a young age. But I do like people, a lot.


PS: If you spray olive oil on de-stemmed kale leaves, sprinkle them in sea salt, and bake them on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for fifteen minutes, they come out crispy and taste pretty close to potato chips.

I am probably the healthiest unreformed junk food addict.

Volunteering can be really rewarding, but unfortunately it can also be kind of a hassle to start if you don't have a club or something you can go through. Plus, a fair number of organizations would rather have donations than volunteers. :

Kale chips can be pretty good, though I've never made my own. Do you think the difference is pretty big between store bought and homemade?
» randomjunk on 2012-12-02 05:07:00

It's possible that kale chips are a relatively new thing in stores. I saw them in various grocery stores in New York a couple years ago, and I've been starting to see them here in California in Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. They're kind of marketed as being healthy and all that, so maybe they're just more available in areas that care about that kind of thing a lot? No idea.
» randomjunk on 2012-12-02 09:56:44

I keep hearing about kale chips, but I haven't had any yet. Maybe I'll ask my sister-the-health-nut-sort-of about it and she'll make some.

I think more people would volunteer more if they *felt* like they had more time. As it is I think most folks feel like they're busy with this or that so it keeps them from using their time for others.

I know that's how I feel most of the time. :/
» invisible on 2012-12-03 03:27:58

It will, I'm not sure exactly what I will do for that, will have to adapt lol
» hiddenagenda on 2012-12-04 07:31:44

I also love volunteering. I feel like everyone has time if they make time. I've been thinking a lot about the homeless/mental illness problem, too. I think a lot of the mentally ill homeless people here would have to be forcibly medicated. I don't know how I feel about that. :/
» Zanzibar on 2012-12-05 03:57:45

I was reading a little bit about the history of mental health in America and stuff and they were saying how back in the day they had lots of mentally ill homeless people and abuse of homeless people in their homes (e.g., locking them in closets), so the good citizens of the day banded together and got all of these mental health centers built (sanatoriums...) and then everyone was happy because this formerly vulnerable population was finally being cared for... until a bunch of years later, when people did exposés of mental institutions and found that people were being heavily drugged, lobotomized, abused, etc., so they closed down all of the big mental institutions in horror and now we have mentally ill people on the streets again. le sigh.
» Zanzibar on 2012-12-06 06:00:26

a) we need to talk about some more healthy eating cheats because i'm chagning my diet up.. i recently discovered kale and mustard green sbut i've been eating em raw. shoudl i be steaming them? baking? what to do what to do

anyway, what can i do with all this ground turkey i got? i made some pasta but i hearpasta is bad for you?

ihunno


I used to organize university-wide habitat drives back in my younger days. I love dmeeting the homeowners and often times they were right there building the house with you.
» undisputed on 2012-12-12 11:09:09

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