If something is worth doing...

If something is worth doing, It’s worth doing poorly.
I say this to people and they always laugh and then the realization of it’s truth sets in. and they kind of go hmmm. but i don’t think they ever really process it beyond that point. I have been processing this phrase for the last year or so and try to live by it everyday. we’ve all heard the phrase in it’s more recognizable form… “if something is worth doing, It’s worth doing well.” and while I believe in doing things well, I think this phrase has become - “It’s worth doing perfect.” and this is dangerous. I can’t tell you how many times in my life I have started something and not finished it because it won’t be done “well.” or the times I haven’t even bothered starting something. I have heard it said that my generation and the people younger than me struggle with decision making and I believe this “Excellence” ideology is to blame. again I am not against doing things well but when the expectation is that only excellence will do then why bother making a decision that could be good, but it could be bad or even worse that it could be almost good but not quite. So we don’t make a decision and hope that someone or something will decide for us and we’ll go with the flow. We have tried to institutionalize excellence to give it some sort of credibility. “oh you want to be an artist? go to Art School.” “oh you want to start a ministry to tell a particular people group about Jesus? You need to go to seminary.” Furthering the message, Excellence is what we have deemed you are striving for and your decisions will be made for you by this institution. There is even a term for people who aren’t schooled artists. It’s called “outsider art” creating a label that differentiates them from learned artists. I am simplifying this of course to make a point, I am not against art Schools or Seminaries. Excellence in the field of medicine or architecture for example is something we want but I am using these examples to talk about decision making and how we go about living our day to day lives being told that someone else will handle your decisions because they can do it well and you can’t. So when we get an idea to do something we shut it down in our own mind before it has the chance to get shut down by someone else. We need to learn to be ok with failure and even mediocrity when it comes to something we are passionate about.
You may have heard that Edison had like 1100 prototypes of the lightbulb before he got the one to work. 1100 failures before success came. So… lets all go and do something we are passionate about poorly if that’s what it takes to get it done and don’t let anyone tell you it needs to be done well to make it worth it.
If something is worth doing... It's worth doing!

totally loving this song today!

I am digging the throwback rock and roll/rockabilly thing lately. The video is awesome too.

Awesomeness

This is a great magazine that I have been enjoying lately.
http://www.geezmagazine.org/
We have a subscription at Scum and it gets passed around and enjoyed by all the staff. great stuff

Selfishness

So I'm pretty terrible at this whole blogging thing. But I will keep trying. Life just gets busy sometimes and days go by without much fanfare. I could only tell you of little bits and pieces of the last few weeks that I even remember. It kind of makes me sad. I have a lot of thoughts in my head but somehow none of it seems important so it gets left behind and the days keep going by. Wow. So depressing. So lets move on and be constructive in this life. I am deeply saddened by all the pain and suffering that seems to be going on around me lately. Money woes, divorce, wandering people with no purpose, selfishness causing hurt. My own selfishness has made me apathetic to all of this and I want to stop it and love and care for these people who are hurting in the way that God made me to care for them. This is my goal. to reach outside of myself and see what other people are doing and how I can listen, or hang out, or care for and stop being so selfish. I also want to create for the purpose of healing my soul. I want to experience the joy of creating things and working out some of the ideas in my head that have plagued me for years. I think i could stay pretty busy with these things and hopefully my family and the people around me would be blessed and God would be glorified.
yeah.

How I feel alot

Make a difference today! Reflections of a fundraiser by Laurel Hoffmann

Tell me what I'm supposed to do.
     I work in communications for a social justice non-profit. And the hard truth is that we need money, and emotional (read: manipulative) fundraising letters work. they effectively siphon money out of the wallets of well-intentioned people who somehow aren't jaded by the non-profit appeal mechanism.
     I'm proud of the work we do. Our programs are designed to help those living in poverty remain housed. We serve an evening meal, provide clothes and hygiene items, as well as run a food depot, all to increase the chances of people having enough money to pay their rent. For us, success is being able to invest in the lives of the people we work with. As cliche'd as it may sound, we focus on the person, not the problem. What we do best is create a place where people can belong, which in turn build community, which ultimately allows for hope to grow. We believe that what appears on the outside as an inefficient system is in truth the all-powerful efficiency of God's love at work. Donations make all this possible - they contribute to feeding, housing and clothing the poor, as well as paying the below-industry wages of our socially justice minded employees.
     While we celebrate what we are able to do, we also ache that we force our community to stand in line for food and clothes and coffee and yet again for a place to sit and visit. We ache that we are a part of the machinery that takes away their choices by deciding for them what they can eat , when they can get clothes and how often they can withdraw from our food depot. We ache that we can't be all inclusive, even though we know that God is. And we ache that we have to daily turn people away.
     So we write letters that move people to give more so we can do more. We look for photo opportunities. We plead with you, the moneyed, to have compassion for the people we work with daily. I call donors friends - "Without the continued support of friends like you..." - even though, in most cases we've never met. Our literature creates a sense of urgency; it says, "Make a difference... Today!" and "Donate Now!" It uses exclamation marks. I understand that perceived urgency motivates people; I know it motivates me. I just don't like the feeling of being played. Or that I'm playing with someone else's emotions. But the needs we see everyday are, indeed, urgent. We need the money. So tell me, what am I supposed to do?

Laurel Hoffmann works at a faith-based, inner-city organization in Edmonton, Alberta.

Cora's first day of Pre-Pre School

Here is Cora getting ready to go to her first day of pre-pre school. really it's just a mom's morning out program that she will be going to on friday mornings. She was so excited she talked about it for a week.

She jumped right in with both feet and is definitely not a shrinking violet. She is ready to take on the world. I just hope Scarlet and I can keep up.

Moving

So we have been moving again so I have pretty occupied with that the past few weeks. Moving sucks and even though we have moved 4 times in the last 4 years it doesn't get any easier. Every time I think that I have thrown so much crap away that this time it will be much easier I still get done and realize how much crap I have that still needs to be thrown away or taken to goodwill or something. Nevermind the stuff that is still at my parents house, my brothers house and my sisters house that I haven't touched in three years. ugh! So I will update more once we get all settled into the new place and maybe this time I will be diligent in throwing things away.