A Need to Serve: Public service and art

I love volunteering, fundraising and serving in the community; it's one of my life's passions. I think it's one of the foundations of life--not just charity, but service. Giving of your money is very important, yes, but giving of yourself and your time is a completely different feeling. I've served in a wide variety of settings, from children's cancer organizations to homeless shelters, Yoga and wellness centers, hospitals, art classes for the disabled, animal welfare programs, blindness advocacy organizations, etc. If I have one regret in my life, it's that I haven't done more. The more I serve, the more I want to do. I'd love to travel overseas someday and do what I can for third-world countries. Whether I'm spending time with animals or people at shelters, offering a shoulder for moms when they just need to break down and cry about the latest chemo treatment or surgery, or if I'm singing to spread hope and raise money, I find so much joy and inner peace in serving. It empowers me--helps me understand that I can do a lot in this world; but it also reminds me that no matter how hard my life gets, it could always be worse. It makes me so grateful. I can cultivate empathy, joy, love, forgiveness, hope, courage, strength, humility, and fearlessness in myself and in those I serve. Service isn't just something to put on your tax deduction list, brag to your friends about, or feel good inside about (those are not good reasons to serve, and they'll get you about as far as the first time you put your fingers into a rotten grapefruit at the food bank.) I serve to learn, teach, grow, understand, give, receive and overcome. Serve because there is work to be done and you can do it.

You learn so much. There's a depth to giving of your time and talent that reaches into every part of your life. You hear homeless people tell their stories, the old folks at the nursing home love to reminisce about scenes from their lives that go along with the song you are playing... The feeling you get knowing that you've brought hope and new resolve to a family whose child is stricken with cancer--all of these things are proof that there is so much good in this world.

Once in a while I have to bow my head alone and cry when the things I've witnessed are just too heart-breaking, but if I can make some small difference, then I can keep picking at the lock until the door opens wide. Sometimes the work is back-breaking, frustrating, I feel like I'm getting nowhere, but I've always found in the end that the work was well worth doing. I've never once regretted serving, never found a better way to spend my time. I'm really busy, and making time to serve is often hard, but I've never regretted foregoing a few other activities in my life to go down to the center and teach a Yoga class for senior citizens. They can use the things we do in Yoga to help themselves get up if they fall, and Yoga will minimize injury when they fall. It may be hard to teach them in the class, but what I'm doing will help them and their families for a long time to come. Taking a few minutes out of my day to give a free singing lesson to a homeless child means that I'll get a little less of my own work done, maybe, but it's so worth it to hear her starting to believe in herself and leave her fear behind. I can't put a roof over her head single-handedly, but I can bring her some joy, and show her that she's loved, and she has wonderful gifts to give the world even though she may be penniless.

So why am I blogging about public service on my Artist's Way blog? Because the work that I do directly affects my art. The stories of people I meet form the basis for the songs I write; the experiences I have change my viewpoint, as I survey a finished piece. Everything you do in your life affects your artwork, I'm learning. Life is a circle, a balancing game--everything affects everything else. (Hey, I wasn't going for the Circle of Life song from the Lion King, but cliche... touche.)

I've given money to charities, and I will continue to do so as long as God graces me with the means, but for my own benefit, and for the benefit of those lives I can touch, I'll always give of my time and talents. When I was working my way through school, that's often all I had to give, but in the end, it was enough to accomplish what needed to be done. Sometimes I never thought I could do the things that came my way that needed to be done. I struggled, not believing that I could do anything to help, but knowing that I could not just sit still and do nothing. Ultimately, I learned the essence of the phrase "Where there's a will there's a way." But I learned a much more valuable lesson in the process. I learned that each and every one of us has something the world needs.

I've also been the recipient of service. More than once I've had to swallow my pride and reach out a hand to the world for help in one way or another. The world is full of angels and kind souls, who have reached out to me, and given me so much. When I was younger, I often felt very helpless. I received so much, but felt I had this huge debt I could never pay back. What could a blind woman do? What could I do? I didn't have money to give, or much of anything, I felt. As I began to accept the gifts God placed in my life, and as I learned to heed my artistic voice and God's role in my life, I began to understand that I did have a debt, and I did have the means to repay it. I had a voice; I had faith; I had wisdom and insight and courage; and I had love. What more did I need?

Life is give and take. We each give, so that in our time of need, we may take. I have taken, now I'm giving, and I'm sure things will circle around again. Be sure that when you are able, you give, so that when you are in need, others will do the same for you.

Your homework: Go serve. Find an organization in your area that needs your time. there's tons of them, so don't say "I don't know any." Then, make the time!!! Work, school, family--hello! Serving is a priority item on your to-do list. Sit down with your planner, and really look at your jam-packed week. If you really squeeze, I promise you'll find an hour or two in there somewhere--is everything on your priority list Really a priority or is there a little give hiding in there somewhere you just can't admit to? :-d

Serving your community is serving God. Get the family involved! Take a day away from soccer practice or school and go help teach art classes at the battered women's shelter, or go play with the animals at the local Humane Society. Go to the food bank and sort vegetables or pack boxes for them (they always need extra hands.) Serve dinner for the homeless; they don't just need you at Christmas. Don't just whine at dinner about a sad news story you saw... find a way to help! (A few of you reading this may want to pinch me for that last statement.)

These things may seem transient, short-lived to you, but if you can take a homeless child's mind off the fear and the pain for a few minutes by helping him color a picture, or you can sit with an aged woman and squeeze her hand when she talks about her days as a young girl overseas... You're helping. You'll know it deepin your soul, you will feel it when the work you are doing is helping. Putting food on a plate at the soup kitchen, cutting your hair for Locks of Love... you don't see the end result of the work you do, but do what you can in the moment, and put the rest in God's hands.

Then, apply that principle to your artwork. Do what you can in the moment, and put the rest in God's hadns. His hands are much bigger than mine, and can hold so much more. When my art enters His hands, I feel this incredible weight come off my shoulders, and I know it will flourish and be more than I could ever make it alone. When I give my art to him, which can sometimes be very hard and frightening, it always turns out for the best.

How do you let go and "give it to God?" What public service have you done that inspires your creativity and your art? What makes you feel God's presence in your life? Share, so others can grow from you.