Today I spent some time in a park and I saw a well kept asian man with a big backpack shuffling through bins in the park looking for something to drink or eat. Earlier on I saw a drunk man busking on Santa Monica main road, playing his heart out to make some cash for his next drink.
My heart really goes out to anyone that is less fortunate than me and I know God teaches us to not judge, but for the life of me I don't feel it's right to give a drunk man money for his next drink, but I do feel I want to give a hungry man some food. I don't know how the hungry man ended up there, maybe he's a drug addict and maybe the food alleviated his hunger for a day, but made no lasting impact or perhaps he lost his job and really just needed a meal. It's hard to know if you are making someone's day a little easier or if you are perpetuating the spiral of destruction - because the Bible has two contrasting messages.
2 Thesselonians 3:10 says: For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Proverbs 31:19 says - Open thy mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy.
So the advice is if you don't work for food, you will go hungry and on the other hand it says to do all you can for the poor and needy. I guess God as great and wise as He is expects us to pray and use discernment when faced with which causes to give to. At the end of the day He also empowers us with talents and willpower to overcome all odds in life, so we can rise up from the worst situations. And that means He can do that for each homeless and even drunk man on the street!
So when does my help actually help?
A meal means nothing - I am talking about the bulk of the time you choose to spend on charitable causes or the financial contributions you make. Come on, let's be real...we all work and study hard to get where we are and I for one want to make sure that what I give back goes to a worthy cause and not into a black hole.
This all reminded me of a site a very special friend referred me to and I decided that these are the types of people I definitely want to help - Entrepreneurs who just need a bit of a financial headstart. You don't even donate money. YOU LOAN IT.
So I have a fire under my ass to start a lending team and help some people who REALLY need and also WANT help. And it can all be done from the comfort of my home on my laptop. Check out the KIVA site.
Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.
Watch this video - it's ONLY 11 minutes long - why don't you make the watching part of your giving today!
PS - Mail me if you want to join my small lending team heathergracemaytham@gmail.com
Sunday 15 August 2010
What makes a kid brave?
I woke up in sunny Beverly Hills today and felt like being in the sun.....so I found out about a beach house that has a public pool and missioned to find it in Santa Monica. But after a 20 minute drive it was completely clouded over and chilly and I was really bummed. I drove around the beachfront for a bit and then found a Farmer's Market! What a splash of colour!
I watched these kids going for rides on shetland ponies. There were 3 year olds screaming to get off and larger kids looking seriously frightened and then there was this little girl in pink who was loving every moment. She refused to hold on and just giggled the whole way.
I wondered what parenting skills instill adventure and bravery in a child, while others grow up petrified of the unfamiliar.
The brave girl kicked butt.
Thursday 12 August 2010
Magic moments
I have a few things I can't live without - God, Truth, Love, Passion and learning about human potential.
For years I have been interested in people's behavior and trawled through various books, seminars and workshops to learn more about what puts us together. When I started drama classes about two years ago, I never realised that I would learn so much more than I could ever imagine about human life and our make up.
Acting is such an amazing fun process! Learning about beautiful techniques that help you remain true and present to the moment and to not interpret emotions with intellect, makes me feel a splendour towards life I can't describe. Don't get me wrong....sitting through a 5 hour scene study class watching other actors perform scenes and then be coached is exhausting, but I try to lap up every word they are given because it's such a fascinating process.
A truthful, magic moment, can only happen when you do not use logic to understand what is happening in the present with your emotions. Logic is the opposite of creativity. I am going to try and remember those words and to create magic moment to moment in my life and not live ahead of myself.
For years I have been interested in people's behavior and trawled through various books, seminars and workshops to learn more about what puts us together. When I started drama classes about two years ago, I never realised that I would learn so much more than I could ever imagine about human life and our make up.
Acting is such an amazing fun process! Learning about beautiful techniques that help you remain true and present to the moment and to not interpret emotions with intellect, makes me feel a splendour towards life I can't describe. Don't get me wrong....sitting through a 5 hour scene study class watching other actors perform scenes and then be coached is exhausting, but I try to lap up every word they are given because it's such a fascinating process.
A truthful, magic moment, can only happen when you do not use logic to understand what is happening in the present with your emotions. Logic is the opposite of creativity. I am going to try and remember those words and to create magic moment to moment in my life and not live ahead of myself.
Saturday 7 August 2010
Don’t waste life making grand plans. Just jump - Masarat Daud
I have to interrupt my blogging about LA to introduce you to another amazingly inspirational person I have had the pleasure of crossing paths with. I briefly explain how I came about meeting her in the intro to another blog when I saw her talk at TEDx Dubai.
Masarat Daud's business card says she is a "Chief Actionista" and heads up the 8 day Acadamy. This initiative empowers children and adults from less fortunate areas in India through educational courses that span 8 days. She is truly a lady of action and also a prolific twitter addict - she always keeps me entertained with tweets such as:
Nobody in my village and community wanted to marry me because of two reasons: education and ambition.
It's not God that we lose faith in. It's humans. When we see the worst that humans are capable of, it shakes our core.
I am so small I can barely be seen. How can this great love be inside me? Look at ur eyes, they're small but they see enormous things.--Rumi
I asked her a few questions and I hope you find her answers as inspiring as I do. This women is one dynamite package. Recently married - I wish her all the best and her husband is one helluva lucky man!
What was the first good deed you did in your life?
Gosh, I can’t remember. I’ve been a softie since childhood and I can’t trace back! I don’t think it really matters to even go back and remember these deeds—they are done and gone. It is a continuous process, we have to constantly give back. I’m just giving a small payoff for the enormous generosity Life has blessed me with.
How long have you been involved with your initiatives?
I have been working on the 8-Day Academy since February 2009. It’s still in its infancy and after many different experiences, I’m still trying to build it. Many lessons learnt in this short year.
WHERE do you think your ideas come from for the charitable work you do?
It comes from goodness. My manifesto is to be a good person everyday, in such a way that my goodness inspires others to do good. I look at people, I listen to them and my work focus is: how can I give them practical, long-term solutions to positively affect their lives? That’s why I don’t call my work ‘charity’. I call it an investment. Your small gesture can lead to big returns!
How and when do you find that you come up with ideas for your initiatives?
In my case, it’s a little different. I gave up my job to focus on changing lives through education. Not everyone should follow my example because I escaped the corporate life before Life caught me (marriage, children, bills etc etc). My brain is constantly working—when I meet people, I try to see how I can bring their skills and experiences to my village people; when something inspires me, I wonder how I can bring this inspiration to the villages? If there’s an idea that clicks (usually it comes from researching communities, meeting people working on different projects, discovering a chronic problem that villagers face), I immediately think ‘How will the 8-Day Academy help in this?’ If it means to intervene besides the 8DA, I do that too. There are too many things to do, too many people to help and very little time.
What drives you to want to make a difference?
A sense of responsibility to the world. Beyond and above religion, is humanity. Or I’d even say that humanity is our biggest religion. When you look at things from that perspective, you realise that we are all the same. So it’s just unfair that there is such an imbalance in the world—one side of the world wastes resources while the other side scrambles and begs.
Do you feel guilty if you are not giving?
Yes, absolutely. It feels like you’re staying in a penthouse, without paying a penny!
How do you motivate yourself?
I love watching TED talks. I love connecting with inspiring people, who have faced many odds and changed many lives. I love reading about their initiatives. I look at my own 8DA graduates and see that with the little that I’ve taught them, how large a difference it has made to their lives. I am inspired by very random and regular people, in many different ways.
Do you get support from people and if not do you feel frustrated by people who don’ have the same vision as you?
I am very grateful for the support I have received from my friends and some family members. Largely, I’m still misunderstood but I don’t waste too much time on that. We can’t force others to see through our eyes. In my heart, I know that I am doing good work for a good reason and one day, they will all understand. This is how I feel about people around me. However, when I face resistance from the people whose lives I am trying to improve, it saddens me more than it frustrates me. But those moments are temporary. I’ve seen opinions change very fast!
Tell me about your parents and what type of people they are:
My parents! I am a mixture of my dad’s and mom’s spirit. My father is the quiet, intelligent diplomat who is very passionate about education. My mother is the fearless, kind-hearted, street-smart person. My parents are village people who came to UAE 26 years ago to earn a good life for us. It was a very difficult journey and UAE was a desert back then. My father came from a poor background and he used to study under the streetlights from borrowed books. I really respect them from the way they have grown and evolved without forgetting their roots.
Is there anything else you want to share?
Don’t waste life in making grand plans. Just jump. When you’ve jumped, you’ll realise that drowning isn’t an option and you HAVE to swim through. You cannot know in that one moment in time whether what you did was a bad or good decision. You will only know later in life. I left my job and many told me that it was a bad choice. But in this one year, if I wasted life and didn’t take the 8DA seriously, I would have agreed that leaving my job was a bad choice. But a year later, when I see so many success stories coming out of 8DA, I know that my decision was right! Money isn’t always the best way to judge your decisions.
Masarat Daud's business card says she is a "Chief Actionista" and heads up the 8 day Acadamy. This initiative empowers children and adults from less fortunate areas in India through educational courses that span 8 days. She is truly a lady of action and also a prolific twitter addict - she always keeps me entertained with tweets such as:
Nobody in my village and community wanted to marry me because of two reasons: education and ambition.
It's not God that we lose faith in. It's humans. When we see the worst that humans are capable of, it shakes our core.
I am so small I can barely be seen. How can this great love be inside me? Look at ur eyes, they're small but they see enormous things.--Rumi
I asked her a few questions and I hope you find her answers as inspiring as I do. This women is one dynamite package. Recently married - I wish her all the best and her husband is one helluva lucky man!
What was the first good deed you did in your life?
Gosh, I can’t remember. I’ve been a softie since childhood and I can’t trace back! I don’t think it really matters to even go back and remember these deeds—they are done and gone. It is a continuous process, we have to constantly give back. I’m just giving a small payoff for the enormous generosity Life has blessed me with.
How long have you been involved with your initiatives?
I have been working on the 8-Day Academy since February 2009. It’s still in its infancy and after many different experiences, I’m still trying to build it. Many lessons learnt in this short year.
WHERE do you think your ideas come from for the charitable work you do?
It comes from goodness. My manifesto is to be a good person everyday, in such a way that my goodness inspires others to do good. I look at people, I listen to them and my work focus is: how can I give them practical, long-term solutions to positively affect their lives? That’s why I don’t call my work ‘charity’. I call it an investment. Your small gesture can lead to big returns!
How and when do you find that you come up with ideas for your initiatives?
In my case, it’s a little different. I gave up my job to focus on changing lives through education. Not everyone should follow my example because I escaped the corporate life before Life caught me (marriage, children, bills etc etc). My brain is constantly working—when I meet people, I try to see how I can bring their skills and experiences to my village people; when something inspires me, I wonder how I can bring this inspiration to the villages? If there’s an idea that clicks (usually it comes from researching communities, meeting people working on different projects, discovering a chronic problem that villagers face), I immediately think ‘How will the 8-Day Academy help in this?’ If it means to intervene besides the 8DA, I do that too. There are too many things to do, too many people to help and very little time.
What drives you to want to make a difference?
A sense of responsibility to the world. Beyond and above religion, is humanity. Or I’d even say that humanity is our biggest religion. When you look at things from that perspective, you realise that we are all the same. So it’s just unfair that there is such an imbalance in the world—one side of the world wastes resources while the other side scrambles and begs.
Do you feel guilty if you are not giving?
Yes, absolutely. It feels like you’re staying in a penthouse, without paying a penny!
How do you motivate yourself?
I love watching TED talks. I love connecting with inspiring people, who have faced many odds and changed many lives. I love reading about their initiatives. I look at my own 8DA graduates and see that with the little that I’ve taught them, how large a difference it has made to their lives. I am inspired by very random and regular people, in many different ways.
Do you get support from people and if not do you feel frustrated by people who don’ have the same vision as you?
I am very grateful for the support I have received from my friends and some family members. Largely, I’m still misunderstood but I don’t waste too much time on that. We can’t force others to see through our eyes. In my heart, I know that I am doing good work for a good reason and one day, they will all understand. This is how I feel about people around me. However, when I face resistance from the people whose lives I am trying to improve, it saddens me more than it frustrates me. But those moments are temporary. I’ve seen opinions change very fast!
Tell me about your parents and what type of people they are:
My parents! I am a mixture of my dad’s and mom’s spirit. My father is the quiet, intelligent diplomat who is very passionate about education. My mother is the fearless, kind-hearted, street-smart person. My parents are village people who came to UAE 26 years ago to earn a good life for us. It was a very difficult journey and UAE was a desert back then. My father came from a poor background and he used to study under the streetlights from borrowed books. I really respect them from the way they have grown and evolved without forgetting their roots.
Is there anything else you want to share?
Don’t waste life in making grand plans. Just jump. When you’ve jumped, you’ll realise that drowning isn’t an option and you HAVE to swim through. You cannot know in that one moment in time whether what you did was a bad or good decision. You will only know later in life. I left my job and many told me that it was a bad choice. But in this one year, if I wasted life and didn’t take the 8DA seriously, I would have agreed that leaving my job was a bad choice. But a year later, when I see so many success stories coming out of 8DA, I know that my decision was right! Money isn’t always the best way to judge your decisions.
Thursday 5 August 2010
Maple Trees and LAPD vehicles
I arrived in LA two days ago for my two month acting-work-study-gig. I know it's passé to say you are studying acting in LA, but I still can't believe I am here!
I was fortunate to be able to stopover in London for four days and spent an amazing time with my brother and his family who live there. My sister just relocated to the UK from Cape Town and is staying with them so I got to see TWO of my siblings!
My sister landed her dream job at some multinational food science factory the day I arrived... this girl has A+++++++ grades and knows how sodium decompresses with gluten to form bio synthetic waves that keep crisps fresh and stuff like that. She worked incredibly hard to land this job - so it was big news!
I wanted to inhale every moment with my family - the last time we were together was 2 years ago! I loved holding 12 week old Kaiyah in my arms and did not want to put her down, which of course ruined her mom's sleep training, but I could not help myself -she is after all my first niece! The house was a hive of activity with a 2 year old, a 12 week old and a hyperactive dog, I realized how quiet my life is in comparison, but was relieved to know that I could return to my peace afterwards!
When it was time to leave, I shed a few large tears - even the thought of a dream holiday/work gig on the other side of the plane journey could not close the floodgates. My family are so special and there is nothing that can ever replace time spent with them. Love you guys!!
So with a drizzle in my eye I left for LAX - after a 4 hour plane delay and a 2am arrival with no one to meet me at the airport except my budget sardine can rental car, I felt really tired, grumpy and wanted my own bed. Because of the delay I had to kill time till 9am to do the key pick up for my apartment in Beverly Hills, so I drove around in the middle of the night and suddenly all grumpiness left me as I realized what an amazing opportunity I had to drive around the LA streetlights for the first time in my life and get familiar with my new neighborhood.
The last two days have been about getting organized and I now have my class schedule for Edgemar Centre for the Arts - I'm doing 4 classes a week (Scene Study, On Camera Cold Reading, Improv and Voice Classes) and then I have 4 x 5 hour work slots in between classes each week where I will be working for Producer/Director and Acting coach, Michelle Danner.
I pestered Michelle for 4 months to give me this work study opportunity after doing one of her courses in Dubai and honestly said I'd walk her dog or babysit her kid if it came to that, but luckily she has a very exciting movie coming up that she is directing so I have been roped in to do pre-production and casting for that, so am really grateful that I will get the opportunity to actually work on prep for a movie in LA - that's supercool.
To start - I've got a movie script to read, a 140 page musical to review and improv class tmrw. But right now - I am off to the park down the road for a jog. I hope I see a flashing LAPD vehicle - it's still a novelty that I have only seen in the movies!
I just can't help wanting to jog down my street while the afternoon autumn sun sparkles through the maple trees. Aaaah maple trees, what a beautiful site after 2 years of deserts and palms!
I was fortunate to be able to stopover in London for four days and spent an amazing time with my brother and his family who live there. My sister just relocated to the UK from Cape Town and is staying with them so I got to see TWO of my siblings!
My sister landed her dream job at some multinational food science factory the day I arrived... this girl has A+++++++ grades and knows how sodium decompresses with gluten to form bio synthetic waves that keep crisps fresh and stuff like that. She worked incredibly hard to land this job - so it was big news!
I wanted to inhale every moment with my family - the last time we were together was 2 years ago! I loved holding 12 week old Kaiyah in my arms and did not want to put her down, which of course ruined her mom's sleep training, but I could not help myself -she is after all my first niece! The house was a hive of activity with a 2 year old, a 12 week old and a hyperactive dog, I realized how quiet my life is in comparison, but was relieved to know that I could return to my peace afterwards!
When it was time to leave, I shed a few large tears - even the thought of a dream holiday/work gig on the other side of the plane journey could not close the floodgates. My family are so special and there is nothing that can ever replace time spent with them. Love you guys!!
So with a drizzle in my eye I left for LAX - after a 4 hour plane delay and a 2am arrival with no one to meet me at the airport except my budget sardine can rental car, I felt really tired, grumpy and wanted my own bed. Because of the delay I had to kill time till 9am to do the key pick up for my apartment in Beverly Hills, so I drove around in the middle of the night and suddenly all grumpiness left me as I realized what an amazing opportunity I had to drive around the LA streetlights for the first time in my life and get familiar with my new neighborhood.
The last two days have been about getting organized and I now have my class schedule for Edgemar Centre for the Arts - I'm doing 4 classes a week (Scene Study, On Camera Cold Reading, Improv and Voice Classes) and then I have 4 x 5 hour work slots in between classes each week where I will be working for Producer/Director and Acting coach, Michelle Danner.
I pestered Michelle for 4 months to give me this work study opportunity after doing one of her courses in Dubai and honestly said I'd walk her dog or babysit her kid if it came to that, but luckily she has a very exciting movie coming up that she is directing so I have been roped in to do pre-production and casting for that, so am really grateful that I will get the opportunity to actually work on prep for a movie in LA - that's supercool.
To start - I've got a movie script to read, a 140 page musical to review and improv class tmrw. But right now - I am off to the park down the road for a jog. I hope I see a flashing LAPD vehicle - it's still a novelty that I have only seen in the movies!
I just can't help wanting to jog down my street while the afternoon autumn sun sparkles through the maple trees. Aaaah maple trees, what a beautiful site after 2 years of deserts and palms!
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