Materialistic Generosity?

Racing hurriedly out my front door to my vehicle I swing open the door and take off down the street to pick up America's substitute for sleep, coffee. Arriving at the small Drive-Thru Starbucks it comes to my realization that everyone else had the same idea. Thanksgiving Day, I sit in the long Drive-Thru line composed of stress-filled, impatient, jet-lagged individuals, I can't help but fail to realize the irony in my jittery, high-strung, stressed out demeanor in route to yoga. Life happens fast, too fast to be anywhere but in the moment. We spend most of our lives not really living, not really being present. Our minds are in 1,000 different places simultaneously, many of us are never truly immersed in our surroundings, even as you read this, Are you truly consuming each word? Are you genuinely present right now? It takes an immense amount of inner strength to be in harmony with all that lays outside ourselves. Take a minute to feel the powerful connection of words, Each word is filled with emotion, perspective, and substance. Each word is manifested from a unique individual in an attempt to share a piece of themselves with you.
    As it remains easy to fall victim to the holiday hustle and bustle it is important to remember what really matters.It is the intangible whose value remains to be the deepest; the immeasurable warmth and beauty in those we surround ourselves with. Though I am far from tempted to partake in the circus about to occur at 12AM this evening, the incalculable presence of the newly transformed population of American Barbarians is undoubtedly expected. The holidays are not about standing in line for hours outside of Best Buy to purchase a fourth flat screen plasma TV, it's about what we can all share with those around us, sharing that cannot be attained by camping outside of the mall until the wee hours of the morning. Black Friday is no joke, I stand no higher than 5-feet tall and was literally injured by an overly ambitious middle-aged man who was under the false impression that I was eying his TV. It goes without saying that was the first and last time I embraced my curiosity of the Black Friday hype. Let all of us remember today's feelings of gratitude as we engage in tomorrow's increasingly perilous Black Friday shopping spree. So today it is important to remember what we are thankful for, and keep those feelings year-round.To carry that Gratitude with us always, and be truly appreciative of the beauty that surrounds us.

"As we express gratitude, we must never forget the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." 

-John F Kennedy

Retreating slowly with overwhelming feelings of defeat through the chilly crisp November air a frail and exhausted mother continues down a menacing volatile New York City block lugging her feeble son and vast array of infant paraphernalia to the abhorrent quarters of the Martinique hotel. Walking briskly by a group of homeless huddled around a trash can seeking solace from the piercing icy air, all the while being panhandled aggressively, approached by a persistent drug dealer, and given a threatening once over by an unkempt streetwalker the mother lets out a sigh of relief as she reaches the hallway of her hotel fumbling for her keys among her material and mental disarray. Keeping a watchful eye and tight grip over her belongings fearful of becoming victim to yet another routine robbery the door finally gives and she scrambles into the meagerly inadequate hotel room overcome with a stench of rodent urine permeating the miniature space. Utterly drained from a jam-packed day of being shuffled around to various offices filling out copious piles of paperwork in hopes that she could solidify a living space of livelihood and human dignity for her and her sickly newborn baby boy, she plopped down on the rigidly uncomfortable worn mattress. After barely a moment of duration the mother is perplexed by the docile quiver of her newborn son, feeling paralyzed by her sons cries she tends to his whimpers with the warmth of a mothers embrace. Though the baby's cries temporarily subdued the mother remains perturbed as her mind races in a desperate attempt to brainstorm a way to aid the pangs of hunger overtaking her son. A sentence no human being would wish upon even their worst of enemies remains routine to a mother named Holly a resident of the Martinique Hotel in New York City. A scene as demoralizing, futile, and grim as the latter should not be a banal exhibition of human suffering characteristic of the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. What does the tolerance of such reprehensible abject poverty pervading a nation of affluence convey about our society? What does our silence disclose about the shift in our nations philosophy, a nation previously created through principles of freedom and liberty? Is America's lack of compassion our dirty little secret? With a social problem evolving into such a widespread issue plaguing such a prosperous nation it leads citizens to become skeptical of a societal structure that perpetuates such a morose reality. 

This week Social Justice League's 4th Annual Tent City is ongoing at Bridgewater State University, they are accepting donations please stop by around Bridgewater's campus behind the Rondileau Campus Center to support a homelessness simulation in solidarity with the above described grave predicament. Read about the initiative with the following link!

http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/education/x600431537/Bridgewater-State-University-students-to-shed-light-on-plight-of-homeless