Doing great, and doing good

I must say, I am very pleased and impressed with the way my company observed King day. It started out with a community-wide (everyone from the Reston, Va. office) meeting in Downtown D.C. They served us breakfast and gave us nice long-sleeved t-shirts with King's image on the back. Then we had 2 speeches and a couple of presentations on topics ranging from going green to one man's personal account of his involvement in the civil rights movement from a white man's perspective.

After about 3 hours we broke out into our pre-assigned groups to perform community service in the D.C./Maryland/Va. area. My volunteer project was at a homeless shelter in D.C. We sanitized the entire building (which was enormous) and painted the walls.

As my group was walking to the shelter, we were accosted by a man on a bull horn spitting religious prose to use. In so many words he told us that we think we are doing something great because we are out here on MLK day donating a few hours of our time. I was thinking to myself: He doesn't know me! Its in my blood...lol

The one thing that will always stand out in my mind is what I saw as I was cleaning one of the sleeping quarters. On one individual's bed, I saw three books. One was the bible, and the other two I cant recall the titles. The titles arent important. What stood out was that person's continued desire for knowledge despite their current situation. That just further solidified my regard for reading and education. They cant take that from you people! Read On!

(Coming to a neighborhood near you once I transfer back to Georgia)

Reading is fundamental and FOR THE MENTALS

I digress...

Overall, I really enjoyed the day and if the powers that be in my company dont give a darn about MLK, I really couldnt tell.

Was MLK day a day off or a day on for you?

XOXO,

AYT

Acknowledge your fear and do it anyway!

I think that the question mark is the best way to describe how I have been feeling for at least the past week or so. To update you on things: Merry Christmas, Happy New Year! 2008 Started out with me having to make some major decisions. The family member I was supposed to get an apartment with ran into some financial troubles rendering them unable to committ to a lease. I also discovered that the family members that I live with now pushed their move-out date up by a week giving me a little over three weeks to find a place (reasonably priced) on my own.

I will admit, the idea of being on my own in an unfamiliar place caused some anxiety. Its one thing to leave the nest when you're in familiar territory, but im doing this sans familiarity and a tangible support group. After much deliberation, I decided that this was the best opportunity to live out the title of this blog. Acknowledge my fear and do it anyway. You see, I realized that its now or never and if I can make it here, I can make it anywhere.

I supposed I became used to the comfort of knowing there will be food in the fridge and a pillow to lay on whether I decided to be financial responsible that month or not. Dont get me wrong, I feel utterly blessed that my parents, aunts, and uncles allowed me to build a solid enough foundation to stand on my own two feet. Its just that time for me to prove that I have stored all their lessons and advice and will use it wisely.

How do I feel now? Im excited to finally be on my own, making my own money and completely responsible for my own well-being. I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T do you know what that means? (lol). I know that if im alright here in this shit-pit known as the D.M.V, I know I can make it in the A. On another note, I just learned wednesday that I will be in Va. until the end of March with no solid date of return. One of the problems is that there are few jobs in my company's pipeline in Atlanta. So even if I had a solid return date, there is still no work for me down there.

I just want to get back to the life I know. I feel that when I talk to people up here about Atlanta, im so focused on my return that I sound closed-minded about life up here. Its just that I had a life down there that I dropped it in the middle of everything and came up here.

On another note, I was walking around Downtown today and saw a girl who looked familiar. She looked like a girl I remember seeing around campus during college. Sure enough, she attended my alma mater! I just dont forget a face! We exchanged email addresses, but she will be pretty busy until April b/c she is studying for the MCAT...ah well...

Stay tuned for more updates. Oh yeah, for more "pieces" of my life, check out: http://pieces.themakingsofus.com...Holla!

XOXO,

AYT