Adopting a Cause~Fighting Hunger in our Midst

Tags

adoptee, awareness, Charity, Entertainment, Giving back, Hunger, John Henry MacDonald, Music, Social Consciousness

People need to become more connected to where they live…It’s good to make a difference locally. -Poet, memoirist, and fellow blogger Luanne Castle

Luanne is absolutely right. I’m trying to make a difference locally with an upcoming Santa Fe, New Mexico event. In the works for a year, a concert for charity is happening on Sunday October 8th. Austin-based singer-songwriter John Henry MacDonald is coming to town to raise money for Feeding Santa Fe, an all-volunteer organization that, once a week on Thursdays, gives a bag of groceries to anyone who shows up at the drive-through dock.
Hunger, or, as it’s often called,“food insecurity,” is serious problem. Of course, this is true in many other places, but Santa Fe is where I live and where I can strive to make a difference. Fortunately this is a city with a big heart. Feeding Santa Fe, is one several agencies striving to alleviate hunger. Think of it as a free food pantry. The totally-volunteer organization rallies their workers every Thursday beginning at 6 a.m. Bags of groceries are distributed to those who drive through the loading dock in the rear of the Feeding Santa Fe building. No forms to fill out, no questions asked. I volunteered and was touched, moved and inspired by the great work this organization is doing. And so it was that I decided to create a benefit for Feeding Santa Fe.
John Henry MacDonald is a friend I met on the hiking trail last summer. During treks in the mountains around Santa Fe, I learned a lot about this remarkable man’s journey, his musical and storytelling expertise, and his passion to help people. When he and his wife Louise came to Santa Fe again this summer, we talked more. Another friend, Susan Odiseos, heads up Feeding Santa Fe, and we’d talked about how her organization can raise money for an industrial refrigerator and other needs. I put John and Susan together and the concert idea was born. John Henry, an endlessly creative Renaissance man with a gift for storytelling, has created a show titled “A Guru Named Frank,” and he’ll be presenting it at Holy Faith Episcopal Church. The generosity has already started, with Los Alamos National Bank donating money for printing promo cards and posters. Dozens of Santa Fe’s finest restaurants have given lunch and dinner certificates for the ongoing “Food for Food” raffle.
What does all this have to do with my being an adoptee? Plenty! Before I was adopted at age five, I faced food insecurity. My brother and I were shuffled about in a series of temporary arrangements, and we often lacked enough to eat. After age five, in the home of my adoptive parents, I never went hungry again. In today’s turbulent world, one wonders how to help make things better. Feeding people is a step in the right direction. (To learn more about Feeding Santa Fe, go to http://www.feedingsantafe.org).

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Please comment, especially if there’s something you’re doing in YOUR community to make a positive difference. We’d love to hear about it!

Join Elaine for reflections on Adoption and Life

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Adopting the Positive

Tags

adoptee, adoption, Authenticity, awareness, Creativity, Journey, Meditation, Positivity

We know what we are, but know not what we may be. -Shakespeare
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always

Simply taking a walk around the neighborhood can open the door to gratitude

reach my destination. -Jimmy Dean

Welcome, dear readers, to my blog. If you’ve been following me, you know that I was adopted and that I write about what it’s like to see the world through adoption-colored glasses. I’ve moved beyond feeling that being adopted is a curse, toward the realization that it is a blessing, Still, I’m always striving for new ways to re-calibrate my emotions. Recently, I completed an online meditation course. The theme: “Getting Unstuck~Creating a Limitless Life.” It lasted the better part of the month, and began with lead-in talks introduced by the supreme Oprah Winfrey and led by the amazing Deepak Chopra.

Each one of the 21 days focused on a new intention. The following ten were the ones I embraced…

“I am fulfilled when I can be who I want to be
I am never stuck when I live in the present
I embrace the newness of this day
I am in charge of my brain, not the other way around
Today I am creating a better version of myself
I am aware of being cared for and supported
My awareness opens the door to new possibilities.
My life is dynamic because I welcome change.
I deserve a life without limitations.
Every day unfolds the next step in my journey.”

Meditation is a powerful tool for keeping positive. My take-away from the online sessions is the realization that we can expand our horizons and that there are powerful tools for doing that. I am dedicating the rest of August to meditating. The process is threefold: Sitting quietly and comfortably; Holding the intention (mantra) of the day fully in mind (doing this for 20 minutes); Journaling afterwards about the meditation experience.
My gratitude to Deepak Chopra and Oprah Winfrey for making online sessions available. Thanks to them, I’ve made meditation part of my ongoing campaign to adopt the positive. You’re invited to join me. Shape your own intentions. Write them down and focus on one a day for the rest of this month. Please comment…and let us know the results!

The Goodbye Baby-Adoptee Diaries- gives an insider view of growing up adopted.

Haiku Monday

Tags

adoption, Adoption recovery, awareness, birds, haiku, Nature, reflectiveness, Snow, Winter

In dealing with adoption questions such as, Are my “real” parents my adoptive mom and dad or the parents who are biologically related to me?, I’ve learned that a lot depends on perspective. Some people, especially those living in the harsher climes, look at winter as tedious, dreary, uncomfortable. Others, ignoring the cold, choose to notice the beauty. Today’s guest blogger and poet Roberta Fine has adopted the season in all its loveliness. She’s chosen details that feed the spirit and imagination. As we begin the shortest days of the year, enjoy her Haiku Scenes of Winter…

Baldy disappears

Above the Clouds

Behind descending veil–

Birds crowd feeder.

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Brown, wrinkled, puffy–

Frozen apples still on tree

Feed the winter birds.

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Ravens trail coyote,

Hoping he’s a good hunter,

Will leave leftovers.

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Cooking up a stew—

Birds aren’t the only ones who like apples even if they’re frozen.

Sunlight streaming through window

In my warm kitchen.

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Mountain emerges

From cloud in late afternoon—

Sparkling, massive jewel.

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Winter moon shining

Softly on violet snow—

Dogs barking to come in.

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Shopping for some bread

In the store a stranger’s smile

Brightens the cold, grey day.

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Cutting wind shakes trees.

Scatters seeds from bird feeder.

Birds peck through ice film.

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NOTE FROM ELAINE: Adoption issues occupied up my psychological “real estate” for too many years. It was more than time to transcend them, to wake up and live more positively. Christmas and the holiday season, I propose, offer the perfect time to shed any self-images that tarnish and corrode. The luminosity of Roberta Fine’s winter haikus reminded me of the world’s beauty.  What are YOUR favorite winter images? I’d love to hear about them! Please comment below or reach me on Twitter @TheGoodbyeBaby.

See the world through adoption-colored glasses-Every other Monday.