Live High

I have a serious confession: I have not written anything of substance since graduation in May (save for the occasional diary entry). As a person whose lifelong dream is to be a writer/editor/author/etc., this is somewhat of a tragedy. And a horrible embarassment.

The truth is, much like my fellow 2009 graduates I have felt lost for a majority of the time period between the beginning of summer and the end of the first semester I was out of school. It didn't hit me until finals week started for my collegiate friends (and I had no exams to study for, no papers to finish at the last possible moment) that I am officially a degree-holding individual in the working world. If I thought a semester went by quickly when I was in school, I've found that a week passes in the blink of an eye now that I work every weekday from 9 to 6.

Not only does time pass quickly, my wallet seems to empty faster than it did during my school days. Even without the full responsibilities of a working adult, I still have trouble paying for the lifestyle I seem to want so badly. A lot of conversations I have with friends have gone from the usual girl talk about boy problems to the more "mature" topic of ambition and financial success.

This past week, L.A. has finally run into winter. There was a rainstorm on Monday followed by a very chilly rest of the week. In honor of the cold weather, I often chose soup for lunch. On one particular blustery day, I walked down the block to one of my favorite lunch spots. Dressed appropriately in a winter coat and scarf, I encountered a man who asked me for spare change for coffee.

Having grown up in San Francisco, I am no stranger to strangers and homeless people. Having graduated from St. Ignatius, I am no stranger to the idea of being a person for others. However, as the daughter of my mother, my paranoia immediately came into effect; I would never open my purse/wallet on the street, especially when I am walking alone. I apologized to the man, said I didn't have any, and continued walking without missing a beat.

The minute that moment lapsed, I felt guilt. I don't know this man's story; I don't know what he goes home to every night, if he has somewhere to go. But the fact that I couldn't help him find comfort in a cup of coffee on a cold day opened my eyes.

The next day, my sister forwarded me an email from college students preparing for a service trip to Central America. There was a list of donations they were asking for, and my sister asked me to go with her to pick up a few things. We went to a discount store less than a mile away from our home on the Westside, and again I was confronted by circumstances unusual for me. I seemed to have entered an alternate reality, where people moved up and down the aisles without common social graces. No one said "excuse me." No one made eye contact. No one waited for fellow customers to move aside before grabbing something out of reach. I looked at a few of the customers and, for the first time, didn't write them off as "rude."

In an extreme comparison, it was like Leonardo DiCaprio's character Jack in Titanic; it wasn't that he was intentionally rude... He never learned the etiquette that the elite class held as second nature. The people in the store were there not because they enjoyed a discount but because these are the products they could afford for their families. They lived under circumstances where survival was first and foremost. Perhaps manners and courtesy are things they never had to learn. When we left the store, I didn't know what to make of our experience so I commented on how depressing it was in there.

Tin: Yeah, did you see the girl's shoes?
Me: No. What shoes?
Tin: One of the women's shoes was taped up.

Consumed in my own selfish problems for months, maybe years, made me forget that other people around me in the same two-mile radius still lack the basic necessities that many of us take for granted.

The fact of the matter is that money is not the only answer to the problems of the world. Money will not solve ignorance. In some cases, it often aids ignorance. Many go from day to day caring only about themselves and never once face the issues that plague the rest of society. We forget to look away from the mirror and look to the world around us. It may not be our responsibility to solve poverty (or oppression, or terrorism, or hunger), but it is our responsbility to learn. To know. To understand. To lend a hand.

Disney Theme Parks seem to agree: Especially in these difficult times, it is important for all of us to step back and help each other out. Starting in January 2010, if you give a day to those in need they will offer you a day-pass to one of their parks. For more information, click here.

This holiday season, I challenge everyone to get the f*** out of your comfort zone. Give up your time to do something 100% selfless. Walk down the street. Read the newspaper. Smile at someone. Keep extra change in your pocket in case someone asks you to help them buy a cup of coffee. When you see strangers as individuals with a story, you'll remember that no one should suffer alone. It's not about simply writing a check to a charity; it's about opening your mind. If everyone truly cared about others, we could change the energy in our lives and start to change the energy in the rest of the world.

As I grow up in a society where capitalism and wealth prevail, I hope that I don't lose sight of the values I learned from St. Ignatius. If we climb the ladder of success that higher education promises, I hope we continually look back... and still care.