New Year... New... SLOGAN PLEASE!

Ah, the new year is right around the corner! 

It's tomorrow actually. 

Check out this picture from my friend Kate's graduation party! It was such a wonderful night! You'll have to excuse my friend's facial expression, I don't think he was ready! :p 

anyway, 

My friend came over last night and helped me turn my room into a place where I can think and be productive and at the top of my game. I can't thank her enough. It was a greater gift than anything money could buy, and is basically my new secret weapon for KILLING the new year! 

I'm ready for the new year. I didn't know it until the end of the year started to come around, but I have prepped for this year all year long. I have worked very hard and stayed on tracked, stayed focused, and tried my very best to nurture all of my branches of life, and maintain a well balanced life. I could not be more satisfied with how this year has turned out to be, especially after what the last few years have been like. I could not have dreamed to be where I am now as a person, (obviously not economically or financially, but personally.)

So for this new year, I'm imposing some new challenges on myself that are slightly more difficult and require more determination than the things I accomplished last year, and If I can keep up my positive attitude, and my morale, there is no doubt in my mind that this year will reap twice the benefits of last year, and last year was amazing. 

This year is going to take a little big more out of me, but I really think I'm ready. Be on the look out for Flash Back Friday's post to catch up on my trip to Thailand! There are some pretty good revelations in there and some food for thought. 

Today's

Food for thought: 

I had to stop and ponder on something recently... How do I feel about homeless people not being able to panhandle around businesses?

I only ask myself this question because it's hard to take away all of the weird factors of society out and look at what is truly happening while a homeless person is panhandling. Now, I understand that nobody wants to be faced with someone uncomfortably in their face asking them for some spare change, especially when they're out having a good time, rewarding themselves for all the hard work they've put in during the week. I understand all of that... But I think it's much deeper than that. I couldn't really put my finger on it, but something bothered me about that a little. Just a little. A twinge of injustice. I know that it's uncomfortable, especially when you always have to say no because you're a broke college student waiting for a late disbursement from your financial aid and only get paid minimum wage to work less than 25 hours a week. It's one of those things you just accept, because it's comfortable, and from the surface seems like it all makes sense and that there isn't a hint of crazy about that mentality. But something told me to think about that for just a second longer. SHOULD we be facing them face to face in your time of leisure? Are they parasites? Are they unfortunate souls? Are they leeches? Are they bums? The thing is, and the reason why this question is so hard to answer is... They are individuals. And every individual comes complete with their own set of morales, issues, blessings, and curses. You just never know who is going to appreciate your last dollar, and who is going to use it to self medicate the symptoms of a disease that our society has caused them. And who is fit to help these people? And why is there a time and place for homelessness? Are we hiding from our sick, and needy because we don't want to face the fact that even though we are 7 billion strong, and have a surplus of resources, we still have hungry, and homeless men, women, and children, mostly due to the civil apathy that plagues our lives? Most people have an apathy for their own life, so it doesn't surprise me that they show much indifference to others' lives. Even as someone who has a lot of sympathy for the homeless, I can't help be feel uncomfortable in situations when I feel like I am forced to confront another human being's dire issues of life. A life that without a place in society is meaningless to many. I struggle to fathom the lowest points of a person's life that they might wish upon themselves even more destruction that they might find another 20 minutes worth of peace in a life that has in turn become meaningless in their own eyes. I have never been that person. I will likely never understand it. Not every person who is homeless is like this, because as I said they are individuals, but there are a great many that are homeless because another facet of our society (drugs and alcohol) has taken over their lives. I think they problem is.. these demons attack souls that have not been cultivated to withstand life without aid. That is a tragedy. It is a tragedy that people who had so much potential weren't cultivated to that potential and weren't strong enough to prevail in the hard circumstances that they have come across throughout life on their own, and did not have the support of the right people who could have shown them their own worth... But who is a lost cause, and who is worth helping? When is it okay to be homeless? Where is it okay to be homeless? Anyone can be homeless... but nobody can do it alone. It takes a village. It takes a village to CREATE homelessness, and it takes a village to ALLOW homelessness to exist, and it takes a village to PREVENT homelessness... and it starts with cultivating the PERSON... not a dollar, not just food... you need to bless these people with an ear, with knowledge, with opportunity. The rest is just surviving. These people don't just deserve a safe place to sleep and food in their stomachs, they're not cattle, they need lives worth living. Every body does. But homeless people are the most obviously failed by our "village". I can't tell you what is right, or what is wrong, or what we should do, or how to fix it, or what to think, or what to say to a homeless person, or what is in your heart. I just know that in a moment I questioned the reality that I live in because SOMETHING told me there is something a little off about ignoring a part of humanity.