Chief Mountain, Colorado

Chief Mountain, Colorado

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Spring Into Mindfulness

Cliché as it sounds, I am a pretty firm believer that everything in life happens for a reason. The path that I am on has taken me around the world, has presented me with necessary challenges that have taught me imperative life lessons, has introduced me to incredible individuals, and has given me a life of adventure, knowledge, growth, balance and pleasure.

That being said, I think it was no coincidence that while camping in the Arizona desert last month, I began rereading (for the fourth time, in a third language) one of my favorite books – Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Eat, Pray, Love.” For those with a taste for travel, I highly recommend this woman’s pleasure seeking journey through food in Italy, yoga and meditation in India, and romance in Indonesia.
Anyway, as I was reading while enjoying a nice cup of coffee in downtown Tucson, a thought popped into my head – “I wonder if there is an ashram in Arizona.” Well, within an hour I was walking through a row of palm trees towards the Temple of Light. Within two hours I was partaking in an evening meditation, and within three hours I was planning my meditation retreat for spring break.

The following week we began our spring break, which was conveniently timed for the day after I was hospitalized for dehydration. (Public service announcement – when working with chainsaws eight hours a day in the Arizona desert, do not underestimate the power of water, Gatorade, and shade).

I arrived at the ashram just in time for their daily evening meditation, and all I could think about was the excerpt from “Eat, Pray, Love” regarding her arrival – she made her way to the ashram around three in the morning, just as everyone was beginning their morning meditation. She said she felt like a chicken that was placed into a new coup – apparently, when introducing a new chicken to a coup, one should not do it in the daytime, for the other chickens will attack the foreigner. One should do it overnight, while the other chickens are sleeping, so when they wake up they won’t remember the arrival, and they will think the new chicken was there the entire time.

Well, I didn’t quite feel like a chicken. If I had to choose an animal, it would be a mix between a lost puppy and an awkward turtle, confused, slow to make it to my place in the Temple and unable to sit still for more than five minutes. How is my team doing? Did I submit all of my paperwork? Did I leave them the food card? Will their tents survive the rain? Needless to say that out of the two hours of scheduled meditation time, my first evening at the ashram brought me about ten minutes of peace and quiet – a true sign of how far into a dark box I was able to shove my inner peace, covering it with a lid full of worry and stress.
I was housed in a beautiful, two bedroom home with a kitchen full of vegetables from the ashram’s garden (tended by an individual from another AmeriCorps program, small world), organic vegan food and a variety of tea that I didn’t have enough time to sample. The accommodations were incredible, especially after a month of living in a tent.

For the next four days, I spent my time attending group meditations at sunrise and sundown, reading, writing letters to my loved ones, getting creative with my vegetable recipes and enjoying every last second of much needed alone time.

Ah yes, alone time. As of late, I have really come to appreciate and cherish alone time, especially after joining the team-based NCCC program. We live in an age of information and task overload, constantly on the go and constantly surrounded by other people. Oftentimes I found myself doing things simply because others were doing them, simply because of social approval. However, the fulfillment and pleasure that resulted were minimal.

As parts of a group, we often neglect to tune in to the needs of the one person whose happiness and wellbeing we're fully in charge of, the one person who will always be there, and the one person that we often neglect to care for and treasure – you.
Meditation has been a growing part of my life, one that I have been exploring and learning about for quite some time. The practice has been my way of balancing myself, restoring my energy and revealing to myself my desires when they are not influenced by the people around me.

Yoga, running and physical activity in general help me clear my mind and center myself, and they’re an easy way of de-stressing (added bonus if they involve an adrenaline rush, i.e. skydiving, snowboarding, cliff diving, zip lining, etc.)
Reading, not too much I have to say aside from encouraging everyone to try it. If you don’t like a book, try another one, try a different topic, try a different genre, don’t give up on literature just because one author was unable to capture your attention.

Food, for me, has always been more than just a means of nourishing my body. Cooking is an art, something I find enjoyable in itself, even if the result is mediocre. Luckily, with the vast amount of recipes and ingredients readily available, the possibilities are endless.

Exploring the great outdoors. Whether it's hiking, biking, kayaking, hammocking, boating, surfing, or simply endulging in the amazing feeling of sunlight and wind hitting your skin, there's something majestic and soothing about being one with nature. We live on a beautiful planet, take in all that it has to offer.

Lastly, write. You'll be surprised by what you discover once you put your thoughts on paper.

Naturally, we’re all different. What works for me may not work for anyone else, and that’s okay. Perhaps that’s exactly why these are the activities that I do in my alone time. But no matter what it is that puts a smile on your face, don’t forget that you won’t see results unless you actually carve out time from your busy schedule and go do it.

On my last evening at the ashram, I was able to meditate for nearly the full two hours, distracted only by the fire ant that decided to bite me.

Namaste.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Taxes Are Taxing

Winter break came and went, and it was time to go back to Denver for transition week. Except I couldn't, because a snow-pocalypse covered most of the Northeast in snow, delaying my flight by nearly a week. Upon my return, it was time to pack my bags and head out for my next project - tax preparation for low-income families and individuals in Kansas City, Missouri!
Our lovely home in KCMO, courtesy of the Salvation Army
Upon arrival, we received an intense, two day training. Following the exam on the third day, most members of the team received the Basic IRS Certification. On the fourth day, we started working with clients.
Even having had some background knowledge of taxes, I still found the training and exam challenging. That being said, I felt like a proud parent when my corps members passed the exam and excelled at doing returns.
Next Step, Kansas City office at the Full Employment Council
I can't think of a better way to sum up our work than with our accomplishment narrative: "With over 20% of Kansas City residents living below the poverty line, Next Step Kansas City works to promote financial stability in the Kansas City metropolitan area through multiple educational opportunities and services, including free tax preparation. Sun 2 served as the primary source of tax preparers during this tax season. Corps Members and Team Leader operated the free tax site at the Full Employment Council and occasionally 3 other sites, serving as tax preparers and greeters under the supervision of the sponsor. Sun 2 prepared over 1200 returns and returned over 2 million dollars to Kansas City residents. Beyond the quantifiable accomplishments, the team learned the importance of economic stability and was able to share this knowledge with the clients. Through the one-on-one, interview-based tax preparation process, the team was able to learn from the individual situations of the clients, while helping clients understand their taxing circumstances. Ultimately, the gratitude expressed by many of the clients was encouraging and uplifting, suggesting a lasting impact on the Kansas City community resulting from Sun 2’s hard work."

Outside of work, we made the most of our time in Kanas City. Having a sedentary project was balanced with daily morning work-outs at the local YMCA and zombie runs. In our free time we explored the city, its museums and nearby nature hikes, did a ton of team builders and had a LOT of movie nights (where I was introduced to Game of Thrones, highly recommend watching it!).

First time exploring downtown Kansas City
Web of gratitude team builder
Hiking in Kansas City, Missouri
MLK Day of Service at the Food Bank
Helping out at the YMCA triathlon (in exchange for free gym
memberships for two months!)
Day of the A
World War I Memorial, Kansas City, MO
Chalk Pyramids, Kansas
Humbling. That is the one word that comes to mind when reflecting back on my experience working with Next Step Kansas City. From veterans that have no home to mothers that support a family of five on three thousand dollars a year, from  unemployed college graduates drowning in student loans to individuals who lost their jobs and can't make ends meet, the wide variety of clientele that we worked with all had one thing in common - trapped in the hole economic hardship and nobody to hand them a ladder. Being able to help them was the best feeling in the world, because I knew that their tax return money would put food on their table, pay for another month of rent, and allow them to take a day off to go and interview for a better job.
 
The tears of joy, hugs and gratitude of those that we're able to help make it all worth it in the end.
 

Oh There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays!

Since the purpose of this blog is primarily to document my journey through AmeriCorps, I won't go too much into my time at home. However, below are some photos that sum up my Christmas break, which I was lucky to spend with friends and family.
25th birthday with the woman who made it all possible
AmeriCorps friends meet home friends
Stuart Edge kissing card trick at Times Square
Hart Agency Christmas Party
Christmas Eve with my best friends
Weekend getaway to Boston and New Hampshire


Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Flood Recovery in Lyons, CO

As it has happened quite often with this blog, it went on a small six month hiatus, one that can be credited to a combination of a busy schedule, lack of internet connection, and mostly procrastination. My sincere apologies.

So, picking up right where I left off, my last entry summarized a whirlwind of events in the two short weeks of Corps Member Training Institute. The day after induction, most teams departed for their first round projects, with their destinations ranging from south Texas to Arizona to Arkansas, and many in between. Since my team was selected to be local first round, we had a few days off before beginning our project, a time that we used very wisely: 
Sun 2 after completing the Manitou Springs Incline, 1 mile of stairs
A few days later, we were on our way to Boulder, Colorado. Upon arrival, we settled into our beautiful home for the next five weeks, better known as the AmeriMansion:
Our home at the foothills in Boulder, Colorado
Enjoying one of the many snow days
We shared our six bedroom home among twenty people, living with a team from the Water Unit that was working with Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks. All in all we got extremely lucky with our housing - we were living across the road from the foothills, with beautiful trails within walking distance, yet we were still within minutes of downtown Boulder, a place I briefly visited (and fell in love with) on my cross-country road trip two summers ago.

Located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, Boulder is a very popular tourist destination. Known as a hippie haven, the city has been voted as one of the happiest places to live in the United States, boasting an array of outdoor recreation, healthy lifestyles, delicacies, arts, music, and everything in between.

For a vegan foodie, the food selection was a dream come true; for a yogi, an abundance of yoga studios (if you have never tried hot yoga, please do!) and the Shambhala Meditation Center offered much needed meditation escapes; for a reader, the Boulder Public Library, World of Books and Trident Booksellers were my sanctuaries, where I spent most of my free time; for a lover of the great outdoors, the beautiful trails surrounding Boulder and the Rocky Mountain National Park were pure joy; lastly, the city offered an abundance of breweries, a winery, and a few fun bars that provided dancing, karaoke, and even arcade games that pleased my inner-nerd!
A trail above Boulder, Colorado
Rocky Mountain National Park
For six weeks, my team and I worked with the City of Lyons assisting in flood recovery. Our tasks varied on a day to day basis, but they included mucking and gutting flooded homes (everything from ripping out dry wall to sledge hammering tile in bathrooms, from taking out tile floors to demolishing entire rooms), helping residents move their belongings out of destroyed homes into storage (we even helped a wine business owner, whose winery was located on the creek in the mountains, move dozens of boxes of wine from his flooded garage... yes, he did invite us for a tasting), dirt removal (it is exactly what it sounds like - you take a shovel, and you move dirt, avoiding the patches that were drenched in sewage water due to unpleasant odor), debris removal, and preparing homes for mold remediation treatments.
An article about our work in Lyons in their local paper, The Recorder
This home was lifted off of its foundation by the flood water
Removing dirt which covered this property during the flood
Mucking and gutting a church in Lyons, Colorado
Helping out in Lyons was my second disaster deployment, the first being in Moore, Oklahoma, following the tornadoes last spring. Unsurprisingly, both brought up very similar emotions. Emotionally challenging and draining, both experiences come with a silver lining - a shift in perspective that can only be experienced after talking to a person that has lost all of their material possessions, a person in economic distress, yet a person with gratitude and joy simply because they're alive.
 
I recall a conversation with a man who lived on the creek whose guest house was washed away while his daughter and her boyfriend were sleeping in it. A rescue mission followed and thankfully nobody was hurt. Having lost his entire home, having had his entire property destroyed, having had his family almost killed in the flood water, all this man kept saying was how excited he is to rebuild, and how lucky he is to have my team there to help.
 
We spend so much of our time worrying about the small things and chasing after the wrong things, attempting to fill the gap in our lives with material goods when in reality, who we are what is left once all of that is taken away.


I could not have asked for a better team


 

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Corps Member Training Institute

Due to the government shutdown, Corps Member Training Institute was condensed from a month to two weeks. Fortunately, the staff worked extremely hard to ensure that all necessary trainings were completed in the short amount of time. Unfortunately, the new schedule left very little time for unit outings – hikes, museum visits, teambuilding and PT games. We did, however, get to take our temporary teams out to dinner for the first week, which gave us a chance to get to know them and sample some delicious local cuisine (nothing fancy, but I am a firm believer that the best conversation very often happens around food, so I was happy).

As always, we made the best of it.
AmeriCorps Next Top Model  (Uniform violations edition)
Unit time at Red Rocks Amphitheater
Chief Mountain, CO - elevation 11,709ft
Chief Mountain, CO
Classes, classes, and more classes. From Red Cross First Aid/ CPR certification to diversity training, from driver training to AmeriLympics, the shortened CTI was jam-packed with information as we prepared the corps members for induction and deployment. A week and a half into CTI we finally got our permanent teams, and I could not have gotten luckier. For our first round project, we will be working on disaster recovery in Lyons, Colorado, the hardest hit area in the September flooding.
My fantastic team all geared up for disaster recovery
Before we knew it, Induction Day was upon us. Before I knew it, I was holding one of my corps member's hand and tearing up as we listened to an incredible, inspirational reflection by Sun Unit's very own on challenges, perseverance, and turning obstacles into opportunities. The ceremony came and went, and the corps members of Class 20A were officially sworn in. A big congratulations, and best of luck to all!
Leadership of the Sun Unit on Induction Day
My amazing team on Induction Day!

First Day of Class 20A!

Two long, anticipation-filled weeks later the day was finally here - the Corps Members of Class 20A had arrived! As with many other long-awaited days that pass entirely too fast (i.e. graduations, proms, weddings), the memories of that day are now a blur of preparation, excitement, questions, laughter, delicious Portobello sandwiches (food is something I rarely forget) and lots of photos. Colorado Heights University felt empty no more.

Nearly three hundred individuals converged from all walks of life for one purpose - to serve. Different age groups, educational backgrounds, upbringings, beliefs, races, religions, and the like unite to work together, learn from one another, and to accomplish more than they ever thought possible.

One of my favorite aspects of NCCC is that alongside questions such as “where are you from” and “where did you study,” “where have you been” is also considered small talk. For the most part, everyone I have met in this program over the last year and a half has been worldly and well traveled, from study abroad programs to backpacking, from volunteering in other countries to vacationing and exploring, it seems that everyone has a story to tell.

Not only do people that travel instantaneously form a connection and have plenty to discuss, but I am also a firm believer that travel changes people for the better. It opens minds, broadens perspectives, and increases overall awareness in people – experiencing life in other countries often makes people more appreciative of what they have at home.

I will never forget my very first day in AmeriCorps, arriving in Denver with apprehension and doubt in my suitcase, questioning whether this program was right for me. A few short hours into the adventure, I made my very first friend, now my best friend – we sat together on the bus, I shared my Russian cookies with him and we chatted about all the places in the world we have traveled, all the places we want to go, and all the people we look forward to helping. I left my doubts and apprehensions at the airport – this was the perfect program for me.

We spent the first morning greeting all the new, excited, nervous, eager, confused, happy, lost, sad, enthusiastic corps members. ID photos, in-processing, campus tour, lunch, unpacking, dinner, and the very first evening meeting with the new Sun Unit.

Standing up on stage and introducing myself, wearing the green in front of a sea of gray, we were Team-less Leaders no more.
Campus tour extraordinaire

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Government Shutdown

September 30th, 2013.

The team leaders gathered around their computers, watching the live streaming of the Congress debate. 10PM was quickly approaching in Colorado, meaning it was almost midnight on the East Coast. Midnight, the deadline for making a budgeting decision and passing a new continuing resolution. Hours trickled down to minutes, minutes to seconds... a two minute extension after midnight, then nothing.

The United States government shut down.

Over 800,000 government employees were furloughed. Being that AmeriCorps NCCC is a government program, so were we. The morning of October 1st, most of our staff went through an "organized shutdown," leaving us with less than a quarter of our staff memebers. I could go on for hours (or pages) discussing my thoughts and feelings regarding the shutdown, but there is a time and place for everything, and this blog is not it. If there is one thing that AmeriCorps has taught me, it's that it's not about me - there are hundreds of thousands of people who had it much worse than we did. In this program, and life in general, the only constant is change, and sometimes you just have to roll with the punches and make the best of it... and we did just that.

So what exactly did the Team Leaders do during the shutdown?
They got some sun (Day 1)
They did PT at the park (Day 3)
They hiked (Day 5)
They helped out at the Boulder Community Food Share (Day 9)
They "Put the Beds to Bed" at Washington Park (Day 12)
They worked out, a lot (Day 14)
They cooked delicious meals (Day 14, and every day)
They helped build stairs on a train for the blind at Genesee Park (Day 15)
They kept their spirits up (Every day)
And they celebrated once it was all over (Day 16)