“The blueprint isn’t the building.”

Mary Pipher

“actions speak louder than words.” shoot, if i had a nickel for every time i’ve heard my mother say that, we’d be having this conversation in person, and i’d be picking up the tab. laboring, trusting, noticing, speaking, writing, yearning, connecting, pondering, desiring, building, standing, dancing, surviving. these are all actions that julie mentioned in her post. her post reads to me as a segue, a bridge from talking to doing.

caring is an action. so is caregiving, tending, pondering, deciding, preparing, singing, trying, loving, wiping, cooking, nurturing, hugging, listening, crying, seeking, writing, bearing witness. see, actions don’t have to be global to be valid or worthwhile.

many women who are career caregivers and family hearth keepers eventually find themselves stepping over the threshold of their front door, and all too often, it’s like leaving a darkened theatre and stepping right smackdab into the sunny parking lot. there’s an acclimation that must take place. many of these are women can tell you in the blink of a gnat’s eye what everybody around them thinks and feels, but ask them what their opinion is on something, ask them what gets their blood churning, and they draw a blank.

Some people go to priests; others to poetry; I to my friends.

~Virginia Woolf

knowing our own thoughts and passions takes a little longer. discovering, defining, and clarifying personal voice are actions. so is supporting ourselves and others as we move through this stage.

we talk, write, listen. we poke around, visiting blogs to see what resonates with us – all actions – and while there are books and plays i want to write, i’m itching to do something that involves moving more than my fingers. i’m ready to live into my word of the year, ready to do something JustBecause.

some women go spend time at the ocean. other women get a job doing something they’re interested in. others collect, paint, draw, yarden, train for marathons.

but me? right now – as of last week – my action involves finding an old piano and deconstructing it down to the keyboard. all i want is the keyboard. a full keyboard. 88 keys. and once i have the keyboard, i want to hang it on the wall in my studio. it’s a desire, and desire is an action.

when this crazy idea came to light, i smiled (a good sign) and said to myself, “okay. so where do i find a piano?” i have a piano, mind you – music is in our blood – but i don’t want to take it apart, so i did what i always do: i asked my friends. within 4 hours of posting a note on facebook, a woman i seldom see even though i’ve known her for decades, commented that she had a piano i could have. the plan is to look at it tomorrow, then find a way to get it from there to here, find some tools, and let the deconstruction begin.

will harvesting the keyboard of an old piano save the world? shoot, no. will it cure cancer or restore order to haiti or stop domestic violence and rape? don’t i wish. no, i expect this is nothing more than one woman who’s itching to do something, doing something. nothing more, nothing less.

and i’m doing it with the help of friends. some i haven’t seen in years. others i’ve never seen (in person) at all. helping, listening, giving, picking up . . . those are all actions. and every action leads somewhere.

even the teensy little action of clicking on the name of a woman who left a comment on julie daley’s blog. there’s one more piece to this post, but i’m about to be late to a very important writing date with a friend i met when she came to audition for a show our theatre company produced last summer, so till soon . . .

~~~~~
my great aunt rene (and i mean “great” in terms of lineage and as an adjective) was a career caregiver. she never had children, but she took care of us, her brother, her two sisters, and countless others. in her younger years, she took such good care of a sick, elderly man that when his father died, the son deeded the house to her in appreciation. she then build a small house on the back of the lot and created an apartment on one side of the house, and the rental income fed and clothed her when her youngish husband died. laughing, playing canasta, yardening, and flirting were some of aunt rene’s more noteworthy actions. she took care of people and plants, and she tended them – us – well. the azaleas in the photo are in her yard.

Second helpin's:

1. coming to terms with our grips
2. overture
3. rightful sound

people never cease to amaze me in their generosity and willingness to help those in need. what happened in haiti is beyond the scope of my imagination, and the myriad of ways people are offering assistance to haitians is near-overwhelming. small businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals, corporations, and non-profit organizations are stepping-up to help, and they need your donations. as you go through your day, pay close attention. do you wear glasses? there are people in haiti who need glasses. when you put your shoes on, think about all the people in haiti who are without shoes. when you get a drink of water, remember that haitians get thirsty, too. diabetes, heart conditions, developmentally-delayed people, children, and the elderly are segments of the population holding parts of my heart. what are the things you and those you love need to survive daily? there are people in haiti who need the same things – things they are not able to get right now. this is by no means an exhaustive list*, but if you’re looking for ways to help, here are some opportunities you might want to check out.**

there are small businesses and entrepreneurs who are giving of themselves:

• kelly diels, the crackerjack writer of the blog called cleavage organized and motivated the twitter troops to donate what they have. read how you can join the cause and/or scroll on down to go shopping from the vast buffet of people who’ve donated their goods and services and help yourself while you help others.
• aidan donnelly rowley is donating $2 for every comment left on her blog. (this from danielle la porte, author of the blog called whitehottruth.com. and just so you know, danielle donated the proceeds from one of her fire starter session. no small thing – the donation or her work.)
• my friend, lindsey, is donating $2 for every comment on her blog, a design so vast left between now and monday morning, january 18.
• update: another creative, multi-talented friend, kate is donating the proceeds from an herbal consultation.
• update: and congratulations are in order for our alana who’s pregnant! she’s researching how to respond to the call for breast milk.
• update: for a limited time, artist bryce widom is donating $15 from every purchase of The Return or Liberation prints.

to donate much-needed medical supplies, visit:

• hospital albert schweitzer haiti (via brian andreas)
• haitian health foundation
• partners in health
• americares
• hope for haiti

to provide assistance specifically for haitian children:

• special needs youth: a friend’s sister is the stateside administrator for a religious organization that provides assistance for haitian youth with disabilities. if special needs youth are dear to your heart, visit their web site and see how you can help.
• hope for haiti’s children
• haiti children
• save the children

if basic needs (food, water, shelter, sanitation) is your thing, here are some options:

• care
• world vision

perhaps you’d like to help with shelter – transitional shelter, permanent shelter, and/or community shelter:

• architecture for humanity
• habitat for humanity

they need clothes in haiti:

• shoes: everybody needs shoes, and if shoes are you think, here’s where you need to go.
• alana reports that sports chalet is collecting shoes through january 31. they’re asking for gently-worn shoes that they’ll ferry over to soles 4 souls, but if you can’t bear to part with your shoes that are already broken-in, buy some to donate.

non-profit organizations are collecting and delivering various items of need:

• the american red cross helps in a variety of ways. to donate to the red cross via cell phone, send a text message to 90999 with the message, “HAITI,” and donate $10.
• if you have hilton hhonors® points just laying around, maybe you’d like to donate those. for every 10,000 points you donate, hilton donates $25 to the international federation of red cross and red crescent societies
• unicef

other compilations of donation options:

• on his blog, guy kawasaki lists 20 ways to help. (via my whipsmart friend, amanda at violetminded.com.) (just so you know, i was already working on this list when i learned of guy’s list. there may be overlap, but i didn’t copy off his paper.)

* i have no firsthand knowledge or experience with these organizations, so check them out and use your own good sense before contributing. i am receiving nothing in return for mentioning them here except the knowledge that i am doing what i can to help people who cannot help themselves right now.

** if you know of other outreach opportunities, let me know and i’ll add them to the list. i will be updating as needed.

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