Anniversary

Most of the world forgets a disaster. Sure, on anniversaries, all the news crews go back and do a two year anniversary special and probably give anybody with PTSD a really hard time by showing disaster footage again. And then most everybody forgets again, until the next anniversary.
OK. I can understand forgetting if you live far away and if you have no connections to Japan. I forget about lots of terrible things I see in the news too. But just try to remember something. There are so many problems and things to fight for. Just pick one. Remember animal cruelty. Remember poverty. Remember AIDS. Remember your local park. Remember domestic violence. Remember gun safety. Remember GLBTQ and marriage equality. Remember homelessness.
OK, so now that you`ve remembered, do something on a regular basis. Not because it will make you feel better, though that is nice. Not because people will think good things about you, though that is also nice. Do it because a person who does not have some kind of positive influence on the world around them is betraying a basic human responsibility. 

I mean, when you die, do you really want the most people can say about you and your accomplishments is “he was a nice guy?” I am not knocking being a nice guy, because being a nice guy or gal is a great thing, but do you really want that to be all? 
I know lots of people want to be great writers or great poets or great songwriters or great painters, and eventually most of them don`t make it. I personally spent a lot of time writing things to express myself, only to find out I didn`t have a hell of a lot to express in the first place. But if you`re like that, the good news is there`s still an answer to your drive to contribute in some deeper way. Just put down the guitar and find yourself an NPO. 

How about a couple of hours on Sunday? If you don`t go to church, think of it as church.
If you do go to church: think of it as church!

And to the people who are already fighting for something and have been doing it for a long time--thank you. Let us know how you`re doing.