Answering the urgent question

[swan_tower]

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is: ‘What are you doing for others?'” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

Another month begins; another tikkun olam post.

It may sound odd, but the above quote makes me think of something two friends of mine once said at the beginning of a LARP they were running. They pointed out that if you come into a game with your main goal being to have fun, then there’s one person working to make sure you enjoy yourself. But if everybody comes into game with their main goal being to help other players have fun, then you have a whole bunch of people workign to make sure you enjoy yourself. So it is with the world: if you only try to help yourself, that’s one person. If we all try to help each other . . . yeah.

Share that help with the world. Volunteer work, donations in money or kind, acts of kindness, anything you’ve done to repair the world. No act too small. Repeated and ongoing acts welcome. Any good is good.

Originally published at Swan Tower. You can comment here or there.

Comments

[rosefox]

I ran a workshop for struggling teen writers and helped them through a lot of problems. Afterwards I wrote to them:

It’s okay to write; it’s okay not to write. It’s okay not to be perfect, it’s okay to leave work you’ve outgrown. It’s okay not to be good. It’s okay to be new. It’s okay if what you get out of writing changes over time.

It’s okay to write for the sake of writing and then dispose of what you’ve written. It’s okay to write something and post it and not look back. It’s okay to write imperfect first drafts and then revise them. It’s okay to work with other people; it’s okay to keep your writing to yourself.

Whatever you’re feeling about writing, remember: “Rose says it’s okay.”

Because I needed to hear that when I was an anxious teenager, and I think they need to hear it now. I felt really good about doing that.

[swan_tower]

Those messages can mean a lot, especially when you're a teen.

[ashnistrike]

Made a couple of the millions of calls that helped kill the "health care" bill. Continued working with our local social justice group and hosted the Democracy subgroup at our house. Watched the kids while other household members went to support our local Sanctuary City ordinance (hopefully to be passed tomorrow!). Provided emotional and material support to EPA employees. Made art.

[swan_tower]

Hallelujah for the defeat of "Trumpcare."

Did the Sanctuary City ordinance pass?

[ashnistrike]

It turns out that they have to vote on these things twice--but the first round passed in a landslide. Second round in two weeks, and we have every reason to expect it'll be the same.

[alessandriana]

Standing monthly donations to a few different places. Used resistbot to send some faxes about Gorsuch and various other causes- I like it.

[swan_tower]

Got a link for resistbot?

[alessandriana]

https://resistbot.io !

[swan_tower]

Late in responding to my own post . . .

Ongoing stuff: petitions, calling my reps, etc.

I made a massive donation of clothing to a cerebral palsy charity. I found where my Black Lives Matter pin had vanished to and put it on my purse, so it will be with me no matter what I'm wearing. And -- this is small, but I've decided it counts -- I went to see the Power Rangers movie not just because it looked fun, but because I wanted to support a film with a cast that covers a broad cross-section of race, sexuality, and even neurodiversity.

[marycatelli]

Monthly donation of food to the food bank, plus a special collection for Easter dinners. I bought a whole pile of cake mixes and cake frosting today.

[sovay]

No act too small. Repeated and ongoing acts welcome. Any good is good.

Mostly I attended a bunch of things: First Baptist JP's monthly vigil in support of Black Lives Matter, Mass Trans Political Coalition's rally in support of trans youth, a town hall with AG Maura Healey, and my cousins' monthly letter-writing party. Also I went to a local Democratic caucus and ended up getting elected as an alternate delegate to the state convention from my ward in Somerville. Otherwise I mostly made phone calls. March in hindsight was kind of an awful month.

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Late in responding to my own post . . .

Ongoing stuff: petitions, calling my reps, etc.

I made a massive donation of clothing to a cerebral palsy charity. I found where my Black Lives Matter pin had vanished to and put it on my purse, so it will be with me no matter what I'm wearing. And -- this is small, but I've decided it counts -- I went to see the Power Rangers movie not just because it looked fun, but because I wanted to support a film with a cast that covers a broad cross-section of race, sexuality, and even neurodiversity.