Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
What a year this 2005 has proven to be! This has been my year of self-discovery, a year that began with adventure and I continued finding myself down new paths. As I reflect upon this last year, I look back with a smile and call 2005 my annus poeticus. I think it was my own Odyssey, or Aeneid, if you will, and in my mind I was a wandering seafarer trying to find myself in that long journey home.
And now, my 2005 journey….
After 10 years, and by God’s grace (with funds from my excruciating overtime during the 2004 Hurricane Season) I returned to my cultural homeland, the Philippines. To describe my vacation, you can take these words: food, weather, women and add any of these adjectives: beautiful, hot, and good. Enough said.
That trip laid a great foundation for the year, and I learned so much more about my family, and this culture I’ve long honored, but gained even more respect about. I was witness to progress—a country emerging with modern technology, improved infrastructure, improved educational resources. But, unfortunately, I also witnessed firsthand the people that progress forgot—the hungry children, the disabled, and people who were even poorer than the “dirt poor,” for at least the “dirt poor” owned the little scrap of soil they lived on.
Even before I had gone on this trip, I knew what the Philippines was like… a nation of extreme opposites… the very wealthy and the very poor… the well-fed and the extremely malnourished…. the very healthy and the chronically ill. What’s even harder to comprehend is that sometimes these extremes are within the same family.
I might not have a lot of money, and I may not have a lot of power to drive institutional change, but after my trip there, I recommitted myself to being the change that I want to see in this world. That change may not be in my lifetime, but perhaps in some way, I’ll do my part to facilitate it!
I came back to the States well-rested, but still I felt myself very inefficient at work. With the hurricane season starting that June, I was also dreading another possible year of hell. I just couldn’t pinpoint this funk I was in… I thought a number of good excuses, but the true reason was in myself. So, I began a career move.
In June, (right at the start of hurricane season), I started a new job as Volunteer Services Manager for a local hospice. It’s been an adjustment…. I’m confident about how I manage volunteers—the greatest challenge has been navigating all the paperwork, especially in a healthcare setting.
Serving in a hospice setting has quickly opened my understanding of both dying and living. Of course, we serve patients with life limiting illnesses, but I’ve learned how hospice enhances the quality of that limited life. I’ve had opportunities to sit at patients’ bedsides and have wonderful conversations. I’ve met family members who’ve cared for their loved ones with great honor and respect (and yes, unfortunately, I’ve seen family members who could care less). I even had to go into a patient’s home and search for a gun, which I found—fully loaded— stashed under the sofa in the living room.
It’s a great job, but I don’t think it’s something I’m going to do for a long time. I even surprised myself a few weeks ago when I had lunch with friends from my last job. They’d joked with me about missing the action during the hurricane season and commented how I’m probably glad I’m through with it for the rest of my life. “Last year was tough, but I might do it again in the future.”
Everyone was surprised… and I caught myself. They pointed out that was a big change… when I left, I was adamant about not going back into the emergency management field, but now, I think I’ve worked through my own personal feelings that I’d be comfortable working in it again.
In the meantime, I’m staying close to home and not traveling as much.. and that’s good. Since I’m home more, I’ve adopted a dog, or rather she’s adopted me. Molly was Jeremy’s dog, and for one reason or another, she landed on my doorstep, and she ain’t leaving me now! She’s a cutie, an English Springer Spaniel, with a lot of energy! Having her has very enlightening for me. It’s tough enough for me to be a dog-parent, and I even question my own thoughts of what kind of parent I’d be… I can’t even begin to think about all of you who have children and how you manage it.
And I draw enough young energy from the church youth group. It’s been over three years now that I’ve been on the Core Team at Good Shepherd, and it’s been a wild ride. The freshmen that came in the year I joined will be graduating this spring. From camping trips, to Steubenville conferences, to Night of Joy, and the National Catholic Youth Conference, I’ve seemed to have done it all, and I’ve enjoyed most (minus a few sleepless nights) of it.
It’s been great this past month to be working with our seniors, who’ve taken great responsibility organizing service projects for the homeless. There’s great leadership in this group, and you know what I mentioned earlier about changing the world…. maybe what I hope the world will be will happen because of them. And somehow, that wouldn’t surprise me… I know they can.
I’m feeling a lot more healthier now than in years past… Molly gives me the driving push to exercise more since she needs to burn all that energy, another benefit of having a dog. I’ve tried to eat better (you know how that goes) and the stress at my new job is sometimes better managed than my last. Though lately, this season has been stressful for me, and not even related to the holiday. It’s that damn paperwork.
So, that about sums up my life for my annus poeticus, 2005. Yes, it was a poetic year for me, learning more of who I am and my calling in life. And this life journey will continue, and I’m sure 2006 will hold many new opportunities for me!
Best wishes this CHRISTmas season and great health and prosperity in the New Year!
Peace & Love,
Alfred, AC, Alfred0, "that Hawaiian dude,"
22 December, 2005
05 December, 2005
Christmas Mathematics
I've developed a new mathematical formula this Christmas season:
Prayer x reflection + charitable giving + thought Christmas messages - stress - time in shopping mall - hosting Christmas parties = AC's ideal Christmas holiday!
Maybe I'm becoming more of a Scrooge in my old age, but I've decided to make it a low key holiday.
I'm not shunning the holiday at all; I'm still going to most of the parties I've been invited to and I'm soaking in the sight, smells, and a few of the sounds of the holiday. I just don't want to go overboard.
This past weekend was cool... I co-manned our booth at the Winter Festival and met up with some friends later to soak in the scenes around downtown and celebrated a great FSU game later. To me, that's what I want most about the holidays... to spend time with my friends and family.
Prayer x reflection + charitable giving + thought Christmas messages - stress - time in shopping mall - hosting Christmas parties = AC's ideal Christmas holiday!
Maybe I'm becoming more of a Scrooge in my old age, but I've decided to make it a low key holiday.
I'm not shunning the holiday at all; I'm still going to most of the parties I've been invited to and I'm soaking in the sight, smells, and a few of the sounds of the holiday. I just don't want to go overboard.
This past weekend was cool... I co-manned our booth at the Winter Festival and met up with some friends later to soak in the scenes around downtown and celebrated a great FSU game later. To me, that's what I want most about the holidays... to spend time with my friends and family.
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