My life in Tennessee

I've been mucking and gutting houses, in Nashville, Tennessee. This city is beautiful and has a lot more to offer than I had initially expected. I've enjoyed my time here and the work especially. I am sad to leave knowing there is so much more work to be done. I never realized how much I would enjoy physical labor until I was able to spend time doing it. I wouldn't mind doing it for longer however, I know that I have different goals that I'd like to accomplish.

I am currently working on my teams video debrief and I am hoping to post it to YouTube and to this blog if the file isn't too large. Copies will also be available for distribution after it is completed. You just have to contact me for one.

Anyway, life goes on. In other news, I will be flying to Maryland on Friday to spend the weekend. I'm excited for the adventure.

Sara

Blue Tenn in Tennessee

I did in fact get sent to Tennessee, thankfully. It would be a cruel joke if the universe didn't let me go. Fortunately, I did something right in my life and now I'm here. Although, I was getting used to the idea of hanging out in New Orleans until the end of NCCC. I had made friends with a team from Maryland, Raven 4 they're awesome.

Anyway, in Tennessee the composite team and I are mucking and gutting houses in Nashville. We have met a lot of really nice home owners, and people in general. We work long hours and the work is physical, but good. I spend most of the day covered in mud and fiber glass grinning from ear to ear. I'm happy to be here and I'm happy to be able to do this work. We are scheduled to be here until July 3rd but it could be earlier or it could be later. There is no telling. It would be nice to be sent back early in order to hang out with Raven 4 some more, but I really love the work we're doing so if I can't get sit back early, I'd rather stay until the end of the year. Either way. I feel like the work that I've had this year was worth all the other stuff. I wanted an education project and I practically had 3. I wanted to build houses and I was able to do that too. I didn't want trail building and I some how managed to avoid it. I really wanted disaster and I'm in Tennessee. I don't know if it could've been more perfect. I mean obviously it could always be better, but it could've been worst as well. And I'm happy with the way things have turned out. I'm excited to continue the work we're doing here.

I still have no idea what I'm doing next year, but hopefully I'll figure something out eventually.

Life in the Parish

So, I'm hanging out at PJ's Coffee shop right now and it feels like last September all over again. Except for the fact, I had to walk to get here, and then back because I forgot my wallet and then back again. I love the feel of sitting in a coffee shop and having the opportunity to just hang out. Maybe, I'm strange. Although probably not really lots of people love coffee shops. I'm still unsure of what I'm going to do at the end of July when my Ameri-Life is up. Most likely, I'll be back in Georgia, but I'm applying to jobs all over the country. Some are AmeriCorps positions but not NCCC. NCCC was fun, but it's a one and done kind of deal for me. I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. It's hard living and working with a team of people, but I love it still. I love the work the work is what makes it worth it. I get to serve people, it's amazing and wonderful and well I'm not selfless so I can freely admit that it makes me feel and look really good, both in real life and on paper. (It doesn't make me feel anything on paper, obvi).

We started work with the St. Bernard Project. Which is an amazing organization that is helping to rebuild St. Bernard Parish. You should check out their website and learn all about them as they are totally worth it. Also, if you ever want to have a really awesome Volunteer vacation they still need help because the Parish will not rebuild itself. Plus, NOLA is a great place to visit and you can do it for pretty cheap. They take individuals and groups.
http://www.stbernardproject.org

Also, if you want to donate some money you can text NOLA @ 50555 and donate $5. It's painless and will do good for a family.

Anyway, I still don't know about Tennessee, I probably won't know anything until Tuesday or something. It's the life of a corps member they don't just tell you about patience and flexibility they make you practice, a lot!

I'm off to enjoy life,
Sara

Nothing is Absolute

If AmeriCorps has taught me one thing this year it has taught me that nothing is certain. There are no guarantees. It is what it is, and we as people have the choice to roll with it, or wallow in self-pity. In my life time, there are times when I wallow, there are times when I go with it, and there are times when I do a little of both. I know that I love big, fast and strong, and I love with my whole heart. I have trouble holding back. Sometimes it leads to pain, sometimes it leads to new love, and sometimes it leads to great adventures. Although this style of being has sometimes ended in tears, I have gone through enough to know that there is always a lesson, there is always a value and there is always something good to come of it. It's the figuring out part that sucks the most it's those times when you question what you did wrong or could have done better. It's the uncertainty it's the what if. In the end, whatever the situation, I have always managed to come out alive and for the most part better. And I have no other choice but to continue that way of life.

I'm just happy that I always have a back up plan.

Glimpse

Subtlety is not my forte. I have trouble holding things back. I know that. I’ve been trying to not let on too much, as of late. I hope that this will be enough to give you a glimpse into my life right now, without saying too much:

I need mountains in my life as often as possible.

I’m fueled with a new creative streak that I was lacking a month ago.

It could be the humidity; it’s probably not.

Sweet Tea and porch swings have been reintroduced into my life as something that is necessary for survival.

Nothing is absolute.

An Ameri-Update

There are 69 days left of AmeriCorps. Grandmother Pens always told me not to count today because it's already happened. Which means I have 69 days to figure out what exactly it is that I'm going to do next. I have a plan and a back up plan, and a back up plan for the back up plan. I'm kind of a planner. I don't like feeling lost and unsure. I enjoyed this adventure, but I'm happy to finally have an end in sight. Our final round projects have been revealed and I will be living four miles away working with St. Bernard Project, re-building houses for people who lost their homes in the floods of Katrina. It will be nice to learn new skills and be building houses again. I have really enjoyed this project and I'm sad that I won't be able to finish out the year with RSD. It would have been the best project to end on. Fortunately, St. Bernard Project is an Ameri-favourite so I'm not really missing out too much.

I don't really know what else to say other than: I'm kind of hoping that we have a composite team offered up for round 4. If not I will be happy to finish out the year with my team, if so I will be happy to apply to work on disaster relief. I really wanted to do some disaster relief this year. Although, I didn't really want to wish for disasters. But they have happened so the possibility for a composite team is more likely now than it was before the flood in TN, the tornadoes in Arkansas and the oil spill in the gulf.

In the end, I'm happy to be able to work and do good regardless of what it is. I'm excited to finish out this program and return to a somewhat normal life.... although I doubt that I'll have a "normal" job for a year or so. I am kind of planning on doing something different and that I won't be able to do once I am a fully fledged adult. Basically, I want another year or two without a career. I'm hoping my plans work out. I'm praying they will.

Mountains are my muse.

This weekend I went on an adventure to Robbinsville, North Carolina. It’s a small town in Graham County in the midst of the Smokey Mountains. I’ve not seen a place this beautiful since I was last in Mecca, California. Both of these places evoke a special kind of heart palpitation, that drives my creativity and I switch between pen and pencil with new ideas. I think it’s interesting that, me a self-proclaimed suburbanite can find such contentment in places that are comparatively remote. There is something about mountains that move me in a way that I can’t explain. Perhaps because I grew up at sea level I’m in awe of being so high. Or maybe it’s because there are very few natural elements that can compare to the magnitude of mountains. Thinking back to it, what I loved most about Scotland was the luscious rolling hills, and the hairy coos.

Like Mecca, in Robbinsville no one seems to be in a hurry to get anywhere. People seem content to just hang out and chat and enjoy each other’s company. Unlike the city or even suburbia where the overwhelming need to go pushes you forward, quick and hurried and self absorbed. I enjoyed feeling like people were genuinely interested in what I do, and where I came from. I mean in a sense I’m a foreigner in those parts. I’m new and different. Of course people want to know what this outsider is doing. It still felt nice to be around people who seemed interested. Sometimes, I feel that the people I left behind are more absorbed by their own life. Rightfully so, I guess.

It was surreal to go to a place where the closest Wal-Mart was about an hour a way. I enjoyed the isolation, and frankly I didn’t feel isolated, as I wasn’t alone on my adventure. I met a lot of interesting and really intelligent people. It was a nice change of pace to just listen to people for a while; to just hang out and think about life, love and the pursuit of happiness. There is possibly more to say, but I’m still not at the point where I want to write about it. I will say that this past weekend has inspired me to want to write and draw and create. I'm hoping to run with my creativity and put it to good use.