Volunteering

This is definitely the time of year where volunteerism goes up. With soup kitchens needing assistance, non-profits of all kinds needing people to adopt a family for the holidays, gift wrapping activities; you name it, there are plenty of organizations to volunteer for. Where am I volunteering? Not the soup kitchen, nor any of the places I mentioned. But for the Washington State Holocaust Education Resource Center. Because my mom is a holocaust survivor I used to be on the board of this very important organization. A couple of months ago I called them up to see if they needed any help. It's amazing how much this organization has grown from the days when I was on the board. Back then I interviewed Holocaust survivors, pre-Steven Spielberg. It was an awesome responsibility to elicit responses from people who had been through the horrors of the holocaust. KOMO-TV provided us with the venue and professional videotape equipment which was so terrific. We created a video out of those stories and I wrote the first grant that the organization received in order to complete it.

Things have grown tremendously since I was on the board; they have about 12 trunks filled with books, curricula and other educational materials that are constantly going out to schools for teachers who are doing a unit on the Holocaust. Professional done posters have been made that describe artifacts that the Center has along with the person who donated it. I've been assisting with some of the artifact cataloging.

Along with this, I've been inspired to write my own families story directed at the middle school age group. I don't know how far I'll get, but the Center assures we that I can self-publish and they'll get it out there. How amazing that would be! I've never even considered being an author. But then there are always ways to accomplish something great, even if you haven't considered them as possibilities. Right now I'm keeping myself open to all possibilities.

If you volunteer, you never know where opportunities could lead or you may find the inspiration to do something you had never thought of before. Get out there and find an organization that speaks to your heart. You never know, you may end up their next Executive Director, if you aren't careful.

Writing for A Living: Who Me?

Well after wandering around the net for awhile and looking through Craig's list and all sorts of other places, I ran across a post for writers. I know, I know I'm already writing right here, but I would like to make a little bit of money. So I sent the guy the link to this blog and he said I was a talented writer. Is that some kind of line or something? I always considered myself just an average writer. Who knows?

Well I know for sure I'm not a stellar writer or I'd be published by now. Then I started reading a book called "The Zookeeper's Wife" and immediately put it down and thought "hey I could write a children's book about my own family". You see my family on my mother's side went through the holocaust (which is what the Zookeeper's Wife is about) and I got inspired. Believe me I have no huge or lofty ideas that whatever I write will actually get published, but one never knows.

Then I thought, I could write it in installments. Let my best friends kid read it and see if it even interests him. Then I'll go from there. Am I nut's? Well not exactly, I think I was really inspired by the fact the J.K Rowlings was featured last night on 20/20 as the most fascinating person in 2007. Now she's some writer and what an imagination. I'm jealous of the creative types that can just think up stuff out of thin air. I would at least need reality as an anchor for anything I wrote. Any budding writers out there?