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gurdonarkI am in the middle of Barbara Ehrenreich's book, Nickel and Dimed.
This is a non-fiction work in which a Key West writer takes working class jobs to see, as essentially a math problem, how
hard it is to live on a low wage. As with other books with this general theme, the book works best when she sets out the day to day story, and works least when she tries to draw broad intercalary conclusions. The whole thing has me thinking about how little I do to make a difference. I have come over the years to believe in the simple neighborhood virtues--the food bank, the friends of the library, the free park event, the no admission community concert. How much have I done to facilitate them?
Not much of anything lately, a dollar here and a nickel there.
I don't know what I'm going to do, and whatever I do I know will be inadequate, but I know I'm going to do something more than just finish the book. My parents both grew up in the Great Depression,
when being working poor was commonplace, and being just plain poor
was not at all unusual. I grew up in the 60s and 70s, in relative affluence. I went into a helping profession, and I get to help people there, but I can do more. This book has been a good
bit of inspiration, but let's see if it really turns into perspiration.
This is a non-fiction work in which a Key West writer takes working class jobs to see, as essentially a math problem, how
hard it is to live on a low wage. As with other books with this general theme, the book works best when she sets out the day to day story, and works least when she tries to draw broad intercalary conclusions. The whole thing has me thinking about how little I do to make a difference. I have come over the years to believe in the simple neighborhood virtues--the food bank, the friends of the library, the free park event, the no admission community concert. How much have I done to facilitate them?
Not much of anything lately, a dollar here and a nickel there.
I don't know what I'm going to do, and whatever I do I know will be inadequate, but I know I'm going to do something more than just finish the book. My parents both grew up in the Great Depression,
when being working poor was commonplace, and being just plain poor
was not at all unusual. I grew up in the 60s and 70s, in relative affluence. I went into a helping profession, and I get to help people there, but I can do more. This book has been a good
bit of inspiration, but let's see if it really turns into perspiration.
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Date: 2002-04-30 01:14 am (UTC)Seriously though, it is a dilemma. It is, in fact, an artist dilemma, voiced as: 'what GOOD does my art work do in this world?' and carrying with it guilt at being too 'self-indulgent.' At the point I decided to do my masters I hit a big dilemma as to whether to continue being Indulgent Artist or to push myself into a different, more 'useful' direction, i.e. like art therapy. In the end I opted for Indulgent as I thought I'd be useless as an art therapist, totally unable to switch off from people at the end of the day.
My dad was a legal man too. A lawyer and barrister. Towards the last half dozen or so years of his life he started doing a lot of what in this country is called 'legal aid' work - i.e. free work. He specialised in helping battered Asian women get divorces. It was quite a weird time, we'd get these poor, weeping young women turning up on the doorstep at any hour of the day or night. I really respect him for doing that. Oh and he also started making prison visits, though I'm not entirely sure why. Being an early teenager I didn't pay enough attention. And now of course I wish I had ...
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Date: 2002-04-30 12:36 pm (UTC)i've never been a position to give a lot of money... i have given a lot of my time for various organizations. one of the most satisfying things to do is fundraising of course, the best of both worlds and usually some sort of party is involved. it is hard to pick a good charity though, sometimes, you just don't know how your money will be spent... i'd be curious to know what you come up with :)
interesting to think about thanks for the pos
I don't know but I think....
Date: 2002-05-01 09:13 pm (UTC)has an easy solution...or if it's even a good construct....I know that you'll have given it far more thought than I. I do think, though, that it's important to keep "a hand in" the mundane things, and to supplement the Service to Humanity of Art with a bit of old-fashioned "something pragmatic I can volunteer my time to do", but then again, voluntering my time is something I don't do nearly enough of....