Archive for the ‘30 days of thanks’ Category
Money Money Money Mooooney…Money!
Prompt #83: Money
I.
“I don’t know, Doc. I just feel so…misunderstood.”
“I see. Tell me more.”
“Like everyone wants a piece of me, wants to get their hands on me. So many will do just about anything to have me–steal and do all kinds of bad things that they’d never do otherwise.”
“Um hum.”
“And then once they get me, what do they do? They put me away somewhere hoping to turn me into more of me or worse yet, they just throw me away. Not literally, but they use me for such silly things, they might as well burn me.”
“Continue.”
“As far as I knew when I signed up for this, I was just supposed to be here to make doing things a little easier, to give them a way to exchange goods and services. I never expected things to get so out of hand…for me to become so important and sought after that lives are ruined for me, that wars are fought over me, that people and animals and trees die for me.”
“Yes, go on.”
“I just wish they wouldn’t put so much pressure on me, thinking *I’m* supposed to bring them everything they ever wanted. I’m only paper after all.”
II.
Has anyone else read Naomi Klein’s article “Rapture Rescue 911: Disaster Response for the Chosen” published on The Nation‘s website a few days ago?
Here’s a snippet, although I do recommend going over there and reading the whole thing:
Just look at what is happening in Southern California. Even as wildfires devoured whole swaths of the region, some homes in the heart of the inferno were left intact, as if saved by a higher power. But it wasn’t the hand of God; in several cases it was the handiwork of Firebreak Spray Systems. Firebreak is a special service offered to customers of insurance giant American International Group (AIG)–but only if they happen to live in the wealthiest ZIP codes in the country. Members of the company’s Private Client Group pay an average of $19,000 to have their homes sprayed with fire retardant. During the wildfires, the “mobile units”–racing around in red firetrucks–even extinguished fires for their clients.
I had no idea. I’m speechless, but I’d love to hear your thoughts, especially from anyone with personal experience with this.
III.
Today I’m thankful for:
Having come to the realization at a relatively early age in life that the quest for money and material things is not how I want to spend my days on Earth. I haven’t always made the best financial decisions (and some were downright awful), but I’m definitely proud of this one.
It’s not that I don’t like or want any money–as we all know, it does make the world go round for better or worse. We all need at least some of it to survive, and let’s be honest, life is much easier, less stressful without having to worry about where your next meal is coming from or about what would happen to you or your family if something terrible should happen.
And we also know that there are plenty of positive things that can be achieved *only* with money–relief efforts, health and education initiatives, etc.
But that doesn’t mean we all have to be in a race to collect the biggest pile, doing whatever we can (even when our insides are dying a slow death) to get there. Personally, I’ve wholeheartedly adopted the mantra of someone who has inspired me greatly over the past 10 years, SARK:
Do what you love and the money will follow.
If you don’t know about this awesome woman named SARK, do go over to her website Planet SARK and check out what she has to say.
And one final thought:
The best and most beautiful things in life
cannot be seen, not touched,
but are felt in the heart.
– Helen Keller
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[tags]money, sunday scribblings, sark, helen keller, california wildfires, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
weather you like it or not
In case anyone doubts the fickleness of the weather in Calabria, I’m going to show you a little of what it was like here on Thursday, November 1.
From the time I woke up that morning, it had been pouring, buckets and buckets of water, so I hadn’t paid much attention to the windows. But then, just as I was starting to think about lunch, a hint of sun glared through the balcony door.
Literally at that moment, P called me and told me to look outside.
11:45 a.m.:
I’ve seen a lot of rainbows here, but never one this low; indeed, that’s why P had called me–he hadn’t either. And where he was at the time, he was nearly at the start (or end?) of it–my little pot o’ gold!
11:47 a.m.:
To be clear, these views are from my balcony, off to the left. To the right there is the sea, or at least that’s what’s usually there.
11:56 a.m.:
We get a good amount of fog here throughout the fall and winter months, but I’ve never seen this much fog in the daytime. It rolled through quite quickly, though.
11:59 a.m.:
At this point I thought we were finally, finally in for some afternoon sun, and we did have a good couple hours of the stuff, but then I looked out toward where the rainbow had been.
2:24 p.m.:
And it rained the rest of the afternoon and was cloudy and/or rained Friday. As I type this on Saturday morning, there’s plenty of sun and not a cloud in sight, but I’m not placing any bets.
Today I am thankful for:
The sun and rain, the clouds and sky, the hail and snow, the wind and still air, the heat and cold–all of the natural weather elements that make the world go round, help our food to grow, make trees greener, and above all, keep life interesting.
Because who hasn’t gotten caught in the rain? Or the wind? Or the snow? It’s not always fun (although it can be!), but it’s always an experience. You just can’t help but feel alive when you’re getting pelted in the face with hail, can you?
And besides, sometimes it’s good to be reminded that the world does what it wants and we’re just along for the ride. Weather you like it or not. Hah!
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[tags]rainbows, calabria, southern italy, weather, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
NaNoWriMo & NaBloPoMo–Goooooo!
It’s here! It’s here!
It’s November 1 and that means a few things. One of them is a steady stream of people to the local cemetery–All Saints’ Day is widely observed in southern Italy–but let’s talk about happier things.
First, there’s NaNoWriMo, which is short for National Novel Writing Month. It’s more international than national, but it *is* all about writing a novel–or at least 50,000 words throughout the month of November. I’ve been informed that it works out to 1667 words a day, but who’s counting?
Right. I am.
I just may divulge more information about what I’m writing about as the month goes on, so do check back for updates. I guess I could put a little progress bar or something in the sidebar here. Hmm. We’ll see about that.
Next we have NaBloPoMo, or National Blog Posting Month. Again, not strictly national, but all about blog posting–every day in November. So long as my internet connection holds up, I’ll have something new (although I’m not promising “entertaining” or “interesting”) for you to come and read each and every day this month. Lucky you.
Now as part of NaBloPoMo, I’m also participating in 30 Days of Thanks, brainchild of Boogiemum, so every day this month I’ll be listing something I’m thankful for. Feel free to play along on your blog even if you’re not doing NaBloPoMo or, as always, in the comments here.
Today I am thankful for:
All of the wonderful friends I’ve made through blogging, and not just because they send me gifts like a digital camera (The Daily Rant), tahini and books (Piacere), and books in Italian for my birthday (At Home in Rome).
It’s a relationship that’s difficult to describe to those not in the blogosphere, but there’s just such a warm, comfortable feeling of flitting around from blog to blog in the morning, catching up on my friends’ lives and smiling, laughing, crying along with them. I feel so much more connected with the world since I started blogging, and it feels wonderful.
And Post Number 1 is in the books. Only 29 more to go!
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[tags]nanowrimo, nablopomo, 30 days of thanks[/tags]
Michelle Kaminsky is an American attorney-turned-freelance writer who lived in her family's ancestral village in Calabria, Italy for 15 years. This blog is now archived.
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