cultivating positivity
this week is finally over, thank the sweet lord. thursday was pretty much sheer hell. i’ve been waiting what-feels-like-forever to turn a corner on this streak of crummy luck, trying to be patient and as optimistic as possible. that doesn’t, unfortunately, make for very interesting blogging.
however, amity has tagged me – so to go along with my renewed effort to be more positive, here’s a meme.
Five things I do for myself:
1. listen to zen podcasts
2. run (which i need to start doing again)
3. spend time with friends
4. buy whimsical socks
5. write here
Five things I do for my husband:
1. make him coffee every morning
2. cook him dinner every night
3. buy him socks
4. take his glasses off when he falls asleep
5. kiss the back of his neck frequently
Five things I have done for a stranger:
1. paid the toll for a car behind me
2. stayed with someone after an accident
3. called for help for someone who was passed out
4. let someone go ahead of me in a queue
5. stood up for someone who was being bullied
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Comment by Lyle in Bangkok
15.03.2008 @ 04:55 am
Jen, I’ll say something else positive that doesn’t make up for what you’ve been through this week, but still…
I was delighted to see that your world travels have included Thailand, and just as I started checking our your posts from there, I saw that you’d heard about the pujan and that you’d discovered Lek’s elephant sanctuary. I’ve heard about both and like you, am disgusted and horrified by the former. Many times during my years here I’ve seen baby elephants paraded through the congested, dirty streets of Bangkok, and I always scold the men trying to sell me fruit to feed the poor abused creatures. Several times I’ve see tears rolling down the gorgeous ellies’ cheeks, and it breaks my heart. I tell the menin Thai, “Elephants should not be in the city! Elephants should be in countryside. Please take this elephant to the country!” and they only look at me like I’m deranged, and they move on to find a gullible tourist who wants to feed and pose with the noble beast.
Anyway, this has been a depressing comment so far, but what I’m getting at is…so far I’ve only volunteered for and donated to Soi Cat & Dog Rescue in Bangkok. I’d heard of Lek but never got my act together to get contacts for her sanctuary.
Thanks to you post, I will contact her and donate to her efforts. I will go visit some time later this year, and I will put her contact information and discuss this issue on my blog soon, with a link to your post. My blog has been down for over a year, but stats show that lots of people still visit it, and now that I’ve started up again, more people will learn of Lek and about how most of today’s Thai elephants are treated.
It’s small, but every little counts, right? So that’s something else positive. You can add #6 to your list of five things you’ve done for a stranger: You’ve helped strangers/ellies on the other side of the world, and your effort to spread the word via your blog is continuing to help them by sharing the situation with your readers.
So rock on! Whew, long comment, that.
Comment by Jen
15.03.2008 @ 13:19 pm
lyle, that’s fantastic news! i was so thoroughly impressed by lek’s elephant sanctuary when we visited in 2006. having seen it in person, it’s really wonderful work they are doing on behalf of the beautiful ellies. i’d also encourage you to read jessica and tim’s entries – they spent several months at the sanctuary and did a lot of work there.
for readers who haven’t seen it yet, here’s my account of our day at the sanctuary – it was an incredibly moving experience.