Category Archives: make a difference

interview with hannah

I met Hannah because she is the teenage daughter of my friends Joy and Jim. Hannah has become a friend of mine. She is smart and beautiful, and I can’t even begin to tell you what a creative and gentle soul she is. I have faith in the future because of her.

JM: Please tell us a little about yourself.

HS: I am currently a junior at Gilbert Classical Academy, a college prep school.  And when they say college prep, they mean it.  I can definitely say that the amount of work that is given to college students does not faze me at all, it is the idea of the adult-like maturity and responsibilities that I will need to quickly adapt to while living by myself that is scary.  As you can tell, college has probably been the number one thing on my mind recently.  (Or at least somewhere in the top five).  I do not intend to go to school in state after I graduate.  No, it is not that I have a problem with the local schools, in fact, they’re actually not bad.  I have lived in Arizona my whole life and I almost feel that if I don’t leave when I have the chance, I will be stuck.  And plus, I want some seasons other than summer.  For college, I want to either go into the field of education or global public health…anything that has to do with helping kids.  I love kids.  After I get my BA or BS (whichever it happens to be…still in the process of deciding if I want to take a more artsy or medical route), I plan to join the Peace Corps.  From there I think I will decide if I would rather get my Masters and continue on in my field on my own or stay with the Peace Corps.  And somewhere in there, there will be a marriage and babies but that’s not necessarily something that can be planned.

That’s academic/goals side of me.  I also enjoy music; listening and playing.  I have been playing the cello for seven, going on eight years now, took bass guitar lessons for a couple years because it’s similar to the cello, I am a self-taught, amateur guitarist (don’t expect me to be a prodigy – I’m not), and recently I’ve had a fascination with trying to learn piano.  The only instrument that I can read music for is the cello.  All of my musical endeavors were started due to a sort of domino effect – the cello triggered the bass, the bass led to the guitar, the guitar led me to the piano.  And none of it would have happened without my mom.  When I was going into fourth grade, my mom told me that she had always loved cello music; loved the way the cello sounded.  She wanted to play it when she was younger, but her teacher was mean, so she quit.  And that was it for me.  That year I joined the orchestra.  And my very first year, I hated it.  At first, I couldn’t understand how to read the music and I had to learn all my songs by ear, which really frustrated me.  Of course, my mom wouldn’t let me quit.  And thank God for that, because I would have quit in a heartbeat.  It seemed unfair then, but I look back now and realize what a pivotal point that was for me.  If it hadn’t been for my mom, I would never have thought to play a musical instrument.  Ever.

So…there’s a little peek into the inner-workings of Hannah.


JM: You are a creative person. Since I’ve known you, you’ve explored music, painting, and photography. What does art mean to you?

HS: For me, art is a catharsis.  It is expressing the elements about yourself that cannot be communicated through words.  It’s my stress reliever; my hobby; It’s in my genes.  It’s always on my mind.  I view my world as a photograph – I am always trying to see the image in front of me as I would through my lens.  I want to see the objects in front of me as the finished product in my head before I even pull the camera towards my eyes or put the pencil to paper.

Art is life.  It is in everything everyone does all the time.  Everyone does things in a different way…to me, that’s art.  To take something – an essay topic, a room, a pair of shoes, a piece of paper, a website, a sandwich – and put a little bit of yourself into it is art.  People are beautiful, and to take an object and make it show the elements of your unique beauty can only be defined as art.  Art’s in everything and everyone.  It is everything and everyone.




JM: You are a social activist. What drives you to care about others when so many teens are driven by popularity and the “mean girl” culture?

HS: For me, it’s difficult to understand why anyone would be motivated by the “mean girl” culture.  It might be genetics; my parents are caring people.  It could just be the way they were brought up, and likewise the way I was brought up.  My parents always told me 1. to treat others the way I would like to be treated, 2. to put others first, and 3. would you like it if I did that to you?  Of course, this all stemmed out of the “conservative Christian” way of life that they had at the time, but the lessons are still valuable and important to me.  So naturally, I grew up asking myself if I would appreciate it if so-and-so was mean to me, and acting on those thoughts versus whether or not what I was about to do would make me happy.  I can really appreciate the example my parents set for me when the church wasn’t able to.  Some of it is just being willing to acknowledge my own hypocrisy and that of others, and trying to deal with it instead of turning a blind eye.  It’s amazing to me how a church Sunday-school can teach children songs about wanting to be sheep (followers of Jesus) versus Pharisees, yet turn out the biggest batch of Pharisees I have ever seen in my life.  It’s amazing how people can claim to follow Jesus – the guy who hung out with hookers, tax collectors, thieves, murderers and the like – yet so strongly oppose those very people – the out-casts, the different ones – that he had an explicit love for.

But back to teens…I’ll be honest, teenagers are selfish.  Possibly the MOST selfish people on the face of the earth.  American teens, that is.  Or teens from any other country as privileged as America.  And we’ll try to deny it, but it’s so obvious that the only person on our minds is ourselves.  We’ve never had to work for anything, thus automatically assuming we deserve everything, and never appreciating that which we do have.  And I think this goes for a lot of adults too.  To me…something seems amiss with this whole mentality.

Some people see activism as a negative thing, which is something that I all together do not understand.  How can the desire to help people be bad?  I may be a “bleeding heart”, but at least I have a heart to bleed from.  I don’t know…sometimes it seems that it should be common sense and common decency to treat others the way we want to be treated, to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, to care about people.  I know for a fact that if I was a little girl in Africa who had contracted HIV and I knew there was someone out there rich enough to pay for my vaccination, I would want them to do so.  I think we all need to go back to Kindergarten when we were taught to share with others, to be kind, to use our inside voices (notice how many people that get air-time are extremists?), to treat others with respect, and to be kind.  Obviously, we didn’t get it the first time.


JM: can you attach a drawing or a photo that you’ve created?

HS: Sure can!



JM: Would you like to share an internet link with us?

HS: How about…5 million links?  Just kidding, I don’t have THAT many, but I will have to narrow it down quite a bit…how about my top five?

http://www.invisiblechildren.com/about

http://www.endhumantrafficking.org/about

http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/about/aboutus-home

http://theywilldie.org/

http://www.toms.com/our-movement/
Funny story about the first link.  I was just perusing photo bucket, looking for pictures of Africa for a school project/presentation type thing when I came across a picture that said children are born with these arms (picture of arms) not these (picture of guns).  This really piqued my interest, so I typed in the web address that was in the corner (invisiblechildren.com) and read all about it…it’s incredible, really.  As an American, it’s so hard to imagine that people live like that…anyways.  You just have to check it out.  Educate yourselves…the websites for those organizations are EXPONENTIALLY cooler than Facebook can ever dream to be.



I want to thank Hannah for taking the time to answer my questions and be so open and honest. Please feel free to ask her any questions in the comments below.

“be safe”

Most people will quote these words to me as I walk towards my scooter.  Coming from another rider, it’s a friendly thing to say-there’s camaraderie in it, but coming from a car driver it can be frustrating.  I understand what they are saying-they want me to stay whole and hale.  But I wonder if their behavior has changed in response to having a friend ride.

Let me say I am safe.  I began my love affair with riding by taking a motorcycle safety course.  I am hyper vigilant.  I am always aware of my relation to cars on the road.  I never text, talk on the phone, talk to passengers, look at a map, read a magazine, put on makeup, or eat while driving.  I never even listed to music.  I only drive.  I maintain my scooter with regular services and replace the tires when they require.  I know that my safety depends on my level of attention.  Most motorcycle accidents considered the fault of the cyclist involve substance abuse.  I never drink and ride.

Which leads me to say…if a motorcyclist is involved in an accident, it is most often due to the inattention of other drivers.  I ask you: are you safe?  Do you consider the lives of others on the road as you enter your vehicle?  When you tell me to be safe out there, I hope that you are safe.  Because my life is in the hands of others.

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*update* My friend Monica took this shot

baby eleanor

baby e

Tuesday night, my friend Sarah gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. I witnessed the birth of her last baby as well, and I am always in awe of the strength and beauty of Sarah.  She is a wonderful mother, and she inspires me with what she does. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being my friend, Sarah!

MLK day

I encourage you to spend some time reading, listening, or watching videos relating to Martin Luther King Jr. today.  A friend of mine has put together a wonderful post that includes links, videos and quotes.  Please honor the significance of the day by learning something new about who Dr. King was.  He was an incerdible orator and trulyunderstood the power of nonviolence.

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate.

war is over if you want it

Today was the anniversary of John Lennon’s murder.

I was not aware of the commitment that he and Yoko Ono had to peace and non-violence.  These things are close to my heart, and I spent some time today watching a video posted on imaginepeace.com. I also printed out a small poster to hang among my Christmas cards of the season.  Their technique of using advertising is fascinating to me.  I encourage you to watch the video.  It’s a bit heart wrenching at the end, but very powerful.


WAR IS OVER! (If You Want It) from Yoko Ono on Vimeo.

holidays

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I find the holidays a little stressful.  Not because I am busy, but because I feel as though I need to “match” the level of giving.  Which is strange because I really love giving gifts, and I really don’t expect anything back, but if someone gives me something I feel as though my gift should match the value of whatever I received.  Does that make sense?  Gift giving always feels particularly out of control within my family because everyone else LOVES giving gifts.

I have been trying to prepare my handmade gifts early this year.  I usually supplement with purchased handcrafted items as well.  And I also succumb to store bought items generally reserved for the adult males in my life.  And children.  I really struggle with this.  I don’t want to be “educating” my family at Christmas time.  I don’t intend on creating any guilt during what should be a joyous and thoughtful occasion.   Meh…but then I feel guilty for the excess.

How do you handle the holidays?  Thoughts?

ballot (with update)

I finally made myself sit down to fill out my early ballot.  Ideally, I would’ve filled it out last week and mailed it.  Now I must take it to my polling station anyway in order to turn it in.

I was hoping that Arizona wouldn’t be a swing state, so I could vote third party but alas, I voted for one of the main two.

I also found this site helpful. It lists easy to understand information about the propositions.  Here’s a link to Arizona’s specific page.   I was surprised after reading many of the descriptions–the little blurb on the ballot really isn’t enough to go on.

If you are into non-violence and hippie information–this site may also be biased and helpful for advice on how to vote. (scroll down)

I encourage you to fill out your sample ballot that you should’ve received in the mail last week, so you can take it with you to the polling station on Tuesday.

I have to say that the whole process isn’t really easy, but I please vote on things that you understand.  You can always leave sections blank if you want.

**update**

A friend of mine who knows things about judicary areas of our Arizonan government recomended to me to vote no on retaining judges Buttrick, Dunevant, and Ryan.

payday loan reform

The so-called Payday Loan “Reform” Act would allow the payday lenders to bleed hard-working Arizonans with 400% interest rates. Forever.The payday lending industry doesn’t want you to know it, but when it comes to protecting your pocketbook at the ballot box this November, “no” will mean “yes.”

A “NO” vote on the payday industry’s Prop 200 will mean “yes” to capping payday loans at 36% interest once and for all.

More info here.

(h.t. Zach. I copied his text, too.  I’m lazy like that.)