Volunteering at Tacoma Rescue Mission

Poverty is everywhere. It does exists even in the super power country, United States of America.

I did volunteer at Tacoma Rescue Mission on Wednesday, January 23rd. It was a very wonderful experience to help the disadvantage people, even tough just by serving dinner for them. I realized that it meant a lot when I heard one of them said, “thank you guys, I appreciate it”!

What we did was pretty much easy. Each person stood for a different meal section and handed them when passed through. I could say it was my favorite volunteer’s activity. I enjoyed being around those people who patiently served others, yet it was the unforgettable moment to see various expressions closely.

Tacoma Rescue Mission prepared everything neatly and well-organized. I have seen and participated in a couple of social mission in my home country, but this volunteer activity I joined at Tacoma Rescue Mission gave me a new insightful experience. 

In Indonesia, at least based on what I have seen and participated in, we don’t serve ready-to-eat meals, but staples. Ready-to-eat meals were available for only a certain occasion, like in time of disaster or in fasting month (Ramadhan). It is not easy though to serve meals three times a day for a number of people. What caught my attention was also the combination of meal served;  a fresh and  healthy food. Tacoma rescue mission ensured that all the nutrients needed were in meals’ package. However, people could choose what they wanted on their plates. For kids, they got a glass of healthy milk. How cute! There were so many people standing in the line thus we had to make sure that the meals were enough for everybody. That was why when they asked for more, we had to answer politely that everybody would get the same amount. 

Tacoma Rescue Mission does  a wonderful job to help the community. It provides services for homeless, supports for people with addiction and other problems, including hunger. I believe that it is not a work of a single person. It could happen because people come together to help the disadvantages. The donors, workers, and volunteers work together and commit to build a better community.

At the end, I finally got a wonderful story to share later with people in my community. We could have one like this; a place where people come together to help others, in my hometown. Could we? 

standing in the line for meals

we are volunteers

Happy Belated Birthday

I know, it sucks to be forgotten by somebody. I’d better say,“I don’t remember” than directly saying “I forget.” I may not remember the date, day, or event, but I will never forget somebody as a person. Once we met, you would be a part of my life. No matter how long we don’t see each other, you will never be forgotten, you will never be forgotten. 

Happy belated birthday, Rudy!

Be happy and stay young :)

Allah Bless.

 

I Miss You, Mom

I knew ever since
that life would never ever be the same
but I can feel you, here..

Every time I see your picture
I feel you're still alive
You're waiting for me to come home
You're waiting for my call
once a week
You're so alive in my heart
in my mind

It seemed like yesterday
when you left
but I still can't get enough of you
I'm craving for your love
The love that nobody could give
except you

I miss you so very much, mom..

I miss you so very much..

Dare to Give Up on Your Dreams

This is the essay I wrote for my reaction report assignment in communication class. 
                     

Dare to Give Up on Your Dreams

Augusten Burroughs, the writer of the best selling book Running With Scissors wrote an article for Psychology Today about ditching the dreams. In some cases, dreams are not worth keeping; we need to let them go and move to other goals. Burroughs said, “they are not like spleens. There is not just one per person.” He tried to persuade us to have a self-knowledge; the ability we need to measure the possibility to reach our dreams. As he stated, “It is not true that you can do whatever you set your mind to. It is a lie that with hard work and perseverance, you can achieve anything.” Isn’t it provoking? I say yes.

Burroughs set a dream to be an actor since he was kid, but then realized that he was not into that. What he actually wanted was to reach people but to be an actor was not the right vehicle to drive him there; then he changed his vehicle in the form of writing, and he became a writer.

I personally agree to Burroughs’ idea on ditching the dreams.  We should look deeper to  understand what we want and what we can do. The case of ditching a dream is not a new concept, at least in my life. I believe that some cases in my life have been through the process of ditching wishes and finding a new one. It simply can be found in a very basic case, like changing the way I dress up because I look fat in certain clothes or in a bigger case like enjoying my new college, since I didn’t get into my dream college. I do believe everybody goes into similar experiences as mentioned above.

However, ditching a dream is a big case; it takes time to fully understand that you should let go of something you have been keeping for a long time for something new. This is a time to rely on self-knowledge, implementing the four steps of thinking process; selecting, organizing, interpreting, and negotiating to see the truth and move the bow to a better direction.

Source: Burroughs, Augusten. “How to Ditch a Dream.” Psychology Today June 2012: 28-30. Print.

photograph by Yoga Putra

What Next?

Welcome to my new blog, yayy!

I've just finished my mass media final exam this morning. Yea, it was because of that course I got this new blog. I knew there was no requirement to made it into real, but still I loved to do that. Well, then I decided to continue posting on this blog. Practicing English writing is not a bad idea, isn't it? I'll also post some essays that I wrote for my classes' assignment.

Thank you Mrs. Paulson! You're such a generous smart lady! :)

THE GIRL WHO SILENCED THE WORLD

Severn S. Suzuki, she is the girl who silenced the world for seven minutes in 1992. My ESL (English as Second Language) teacher showed us this video when she introduced us the environmental issue we are now facing as the citizen of the world.

Before, I never knew about this video or who Severn Suzuki is. I found this video was very thought provoking and heart touching. A 12 year old girl gave a speech in public, talking about environment, fighting for her generation in the future. In fact, we are still facing the same problems she talked about in 1992, or even worse.

 I watched this video several times and still it could catch my attention. I loved the whole speech, not only the message but also her voice, tone, pitch range, intonation, everything. My next question is, where is she now? Is she still concerning about environmental issue?

Then I found this video,

She is there, doing the same thing she did when she was a kid, fighting for future generation to live in a better world. We don’t have a label as environment activists, but still we can do tiny little things to keep the world green. Even tiny little things do matter.

THE JACK O’LANTERN

The Jack O'Lantern

Last Wednesday, October 31st was my first Halloween. All I thought about Halloween were dressing on scary costumes and lots of candies and chocolates. But in fact, there was a unique story about its history. Actually, people celebrate Halloween for several reasons, which includes celebrating the lives of people who aren't with us anymore.

What is more interesting for me is pumpkin. What is the idea of using pumpkin as an icon of Halloween? Why do they carve the pumpkin into certain design?

Well, after googling, I finally found the unique story behind it. The design made for pumpkin named Jack O' Lanterns. Jack O' Lanterns is a popular Halloween tradition that originated hundreds of years ago in Ireland. The practice originated from an Irish myth about a man named "Stingy Jack." According to the story, Stingy Jack invited the Devil to have a drink with him. Stingy Jack then asked the devil to turn himself into a coin that Jack could use to buy their drinks. But, Stingy Jack kept the coin with him, so the devil could not turn into his original form. Another time, Stingy Jack again tricked the Devil into climbing the tree to pick a piece of fruit. While he was up in the tree, Jack carved a sign of the cross into the tree's bark so that the Devil could not come down. 

It said, God would not allow such an terrible soul into heaven. The Devil, upset by the trick Jack had played on him and keeping his word not to claim his soul. Then on Jack’s death, the devil sent Jack off into the dark night with only a burning coal to light his way. Jack put the coal into a carved-out turnip and has been roaming the Earth with ever since. The Irish began to refer to this ghostly figure as "Jack of the Lantern," and then, simply "Jack O' Lantern."

In Ireland and Scotland, people began to make their own versions of Jack's lanterns by carving scary faces into turnips or potatoes and placing them into windows or near doors to frighten away Stingy Jack and other wandering evil spirits. Immigrants from these countries brought the Jack O' Lantern tradition with them when they came to the United States. They soon found that pumpkins, a fruit native to America, make perfect Jack O' Lanterns.

Isn't it cool? YES, it is!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! :)

Happy Halloween!