I have a vast network of people in my life. They range from felons to virgins, deeply devout to strong atheist, from LA to Philly to Scotland and Thailand. I'm the kind of girl that needs a vast network and people who's brains I like to pick and who's understanding I often need to gain some perspective on my life.
Anger can be quite destructive. And yet, for this little five foot three inch girl, I happen to hang on to a lot of anger. Its comfortable for me and often extremely difficult to let it go. The times when I've let it go the most is when I found a purpose to funnel my anger through.
When I was in college, for example, two of my friends passed away. One from an accidental overdose and another from suicide. After much frustration with a lack of resources I focused my senior project on the problem and developed several programs that sought to bring awareness to mental health. The Peer Listener program was born and a chapter of Active Minds was formed. It took insane amounts of work and there were many times that I forgot what sleep was but it didn't matter. I loved what I was doing. When I love what I do my energy knows no bounds.
So within my vast network I skyped my favorite Irish atheist med student who I met in Thailand to vent about my current state of affairs. Frustrated and angry and in emotional pain and stressed from work I was in a state of annoyance. After talking for a while I finally confided in her that one of the things David had wanted to do was go on a cross-country road trip to visit friend ending in an epic flight to Hawaii. A lack of funds and time prevented the dream from becoming reality. Even if there had been time the funds weren't there and very few (if any) foundations focus on making the dreams of a 20-something cancer patient a reality.
With all that frustration off my chest I could finally see a bit more clearly. The realization struck me that if I could start several programs within a few months in the midst of my senior year in college and then raise funds and plan a trip to Thailand and work with a non-profit there and THEN return to the states and scream at doctors then perhaps starting a non-profit isn't such a hard task after all.
So the brainstorming has begun and an email has been sent to some friends who might offer some direction. But the idea right now is as such: A non-profit who's mission is to grant wishes to people who suffer from cancer or other life threatening diseases. The wish granting will focus on, not only the patient, but the patient's sibling(s) as well. Dreams can range from skydiving to road trips to Disneyland and anything else they can come up with.
In short, The purpose is to grant meaningful wishes that can aid in the development of relationships between those who are ill and their siblings or close family members.
That's MY dream now. As I begin the development stages of my new project and purpose I'll keep everyone up to speed. More will most definitely be revealed.
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