Like it or not, our skin pigment has a significant effect on our daily interactions in America. I touched on the idea in Part2, but in part 3 I address a few common stereotypes that are thrown around, talk more about a few of my experiences with skin pigment differences, and begin to look forward to the future.
I just wanted to let you all know that Susan and I are going on vacation for a week - an island vacation. I will be posting another blog today, but you may or may not see a post in the upcoming week. I am thinking about actively trying to not blog, but I might be more prolific than ever. If you saw my reading list you would know that it will be difficult for me to keep all my thoughts in my head!
I am considering changing my account setup to email you the day after I post a blog. I have been more prolific lately, and I know the idea of reading more than one of my posts at a time can be daunting. Send me an email or comment on this post if you have thoughts or concerns.
Thank you all for coming on this journey with me and giving your love and support in whatever form it takes. It is all helpful and appreciated.
Much Love,
John
Today I wanted to share the story of a man who has come to our care center since my arrival. The name is fictitious, but the story is not. I hope you get a small sense of who he is and why he is important.
Today's post is not very long, but I think I have finally started to find a way to describe how poverty is affecting me here. I am surprised by how long and how much processing it has taken me to just take these first few steps. My hope is that like running a marathon maybe the first few steps are some of the hardest, and understanding will come a bit more easily from here on.
As 2015 draws to a close, some of my friends compile and share lists of their favorite songs from the year. In a similar vein, I have compiled and shared some of my favorite recordings from the year. I hope you enjoy the sounds and their descriptions.
A few reflections on my relationship with Christmas, gift giving, and generosity. I try to find some understanding about the stress I feel around the holidays, I share a story about an embarrassing gift, and you will here a recording of Oh, Holy Night from the Catholic Church in NongKhai.
Well, with our first gift exchange on 12/17, and the big performance on 12/19 - we are in full-time Christmas mode. Luckily, last weekend the Christmas spirit unexpectedly arrived for me. The where (Thailand, Obviously!!), but the how is what today's post is about. I stripped it down as much as I could, I hope you get the sense and maybe (yimm) smile.
Well, part 2 is here with a little reflection on how all the attention can affect me. I also draw a few comparisons to the experience of people in my favorite city - Chicago.
This week you can find my post featured on the Good Shepherd Volunteers (GSV) website at: http://justlovegsv.blogspot.com/
Let it Begin! I am really excited to share my first Blog Series!!! I am tagging it the "SkinPigmentSeries". This is a topic that I have been thinking, reading, and learning a lot about for a long time, but certainly more intensely for the last 3 months. I will be keeping them shorter, like little vignettes. I hope they share some insight into another aspect of our experience here, and how it is affecting how I see the world.
Today's post surprised me a little because it was inspired by the Pixar animated movie Inside Out. I share some reflections on spirituality, mental illness, and memory.
Just a day after his post discussing Simplicity, John has an ironic crisis when his iPhone suddenly (and it seems permanently) stops connecting to the internet. To John's bemusement, Susan gives this post 2 thumbs up with several loud cackles! John does find time to give a little thanks as well.
On Tuesday of this week, I had the opportunity go on Outreach to visit patients and deliver food. Today, I will be sharing about my experience with the 3 patients we visited, and some reflections on simplicity. Happy Thanksgiving week, I will have more to share very soon!
Alright, so you all hear me talk about the deep and heavy much too often. Today I am unabashedly sharing the Awesomeness that is life here in Thailand. I will walk you through a typical day, and probably make you a little envious of our lack of commitments and distractions from pretty much doing whatever we want, whenever we want. Of course it comes at a price, but today we are not talking about that!
An unexpected week saw Susan and I both come down with Dengue Fever and spend 2 days in the hospital. We are doing well and continuing to rest and recover. The illness created some time to reflect on illness, the Thai medical system, and our service here. I hope you enjoy the read! Susan says it's her favorite post yet!
An exciting weak with field trips on Monday and Tuesday, Susan and I got to live some night life and see some cultural events! I also found a little inner calm and insight at an unexpected moment. Several images are in the blog, and many have been updated on my photos page if you have not visited recently.
Some days everything goes as planned, and somedays you end up wondering how you arrived where you ended up. I seem to always be surprised where I end up, but it does not take long to retrace my path and understand my journey.
A bit of a tougher week, I reflect somewhat on my inspirations, my difficulty formulating this post, and Susan and I attend a Thai funeral. My apologies for the delay, I almost had it completed but then I came down with a touch of a cold.
Now that I'm 7 weeks in, I certainly feel settled and I am told winter is quickly approaching. Today I will revisit the tenant of Simplicity and what that looks like for me right now.
