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Friday, April 20, 2012

go ahead, reap the rewards

did you know it's National Volunteer Week?

t'is true.


which is funny, because i didn't know, but i just so happened to volunteer yesterday.

the past week or two i could feel myself getting a little stuck in my head. there's been some waiting going on in my life. and that mixed with a very wide open couple of days off? i needed to get out and quick. i chose a transitional family shelter in the Bronx, or more accurately, a dance class for kids at a transitional family shelter in the Bronx.

yes!

the class only lasted an hour. we played dance Simon Says, that game where you dance dance dance then someone shuts the music off and everyone freezes, and we learned a short routine. i'm telling you, volunteering? best mood enhancer ever. the kids were freakin' adorable, everyone had fun, and an hour later, i was back on the train - smiling.

in my experience (and i'm sure this ain't no original statement), the funny thing about volunteering is that you're supposedly helping others, but it feels like you're the one who benefits the greatest.

i felt the effects all night. back home, i happily hunkered down to work. for whatever reason, i began reading one of my new work-in-progresses aloud...in an english accent... and i totally fell in love with the piece. this forty pages with no foreseeable plot will be the best book ever!

when i hit the showers a while later, instead of squealing and squashing it, i instead gently trapped this spider with the huge egg sack attached to it's back, and released it outside.


see the round ball thing? egg sack. i know!
it's not like i enjoyed taking this picture.

last week, i yet again saw Kanye West at ABC Kitchen. this time he wasn't with Jay Z. he was with Kim Kardashian. (i'm so clueless i had no idea it was her, just that she was a pretty lady who put a TON of effort into going to lunch. i could see her makeup from across the room. and how did she get her hair like that?). anyway, seeing Kanye brought on similar invincible emotions that volunteering did. i left ABC Kitchen feeling like one day, Kanye and i would do an anti-bullying campaign together. who knows.

why not think that my current work in progress will be the best book in the world? why not think i might one day work with Kanye West? kids at a family homeless shelter dance and laugh and go on (i'm sure) to do great things. it's all possible.  

erm, i got off track. did you know it's National Volunteer Week. so at least, like, hold a door for someone. i promise, you'll feel the effects.

this one's for that little boy who willingly did the robot with me yesterday. oh, and you too Kanye. my people will be in touch with your people (in a couple of years or so).


happy friday, ya'll!

1 comment:

  1. I have been volunteering (it's more like a full time job) for the kids' school for the past year. But, it's work I do from home so there is very little human interaction. But, yesterday while I was drawing with chalk in the driveway with Violet, two of the neighborhood kids crossed over to ask if they could draw with us (they are 5 and 6 years old). I wasn't even planning on hanging outside very long (and definitely not with someone else's kids). But an hour later we had the driveway filled with a colorful tableau filled with ideas from their colorful imaginations; we had strands of dandelion chains going on the lawn and a hopscotch game all set up on the sidewalk. And Violet was very happy. It's not quite volunteering- but then, hey they weren't my kids and they weren't friends of my kids, and I wasn't getting paid for it. Anyway...

    You are a good egg and a fine dancer, Corrie Wachob. There is no reason in the world why you should not think that you will someday work with Kanye West on the best book in the world in a homeless shelter with dancing kids.

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