Every night after serving, our group does a reflection meeting where we “reflect” what happened that day during our volunteering and what we’re feeling in the moment and how we felt when we saw and experienced a new city. During tonight’s reflection, an interesting question was asked, “How do we make sure that our service in Indianapolis doesn’t stop here but continues on in Springfield?” ——- Silence ——- Crickets Chirping ——– It’s worth mentioning our reflection happened outside this beautiful church we’re staying at which has a prairie and creek as a backyard. Also, there was possibly a fox or wolf howling at us as we sang campfire songs. Side note over, haha. Back to reality ……
In my volunteering experience, I have had the opportunity to help multiple organizations such as Habitat for Humanity, Homeless Shelters, and Environmental Agencies. Even though all these opportunities have been rewarding, I never let my presence become habitual with any of these volunteering experiences. Breaks my heart, because I consider myself someone that has a deep rooted passion for helping others. So that brings me back to my original question. What happens when all of us return to Springfield? Is this immersion trip going to fade into a memory or will it guide us into seeking out opportunities within the community we reside in. The key word is community. We all live there and our home should be the place where we feel most safe, thrive, and relax in.
My answer? Seek out organizations that you feel are catered to your needs. While volunteer service is mostly about serving others, the time when you best serve others is when you are happy doing something you love. I LOVE TO CLEAN AND ORGANIZE! My apartment is immaculate and surprisingly it brings me peace to keep that it that way. One of the services we did today was to help organize a thrift store controlled by this fabulous organization called Wheeler House which is the biggest organization in Indianapolis serving the homeless. You can imagine, I was overjoyed. This is just some food for thought if you ever consider volunteering. That’s not to say volunteering is an impossible task to make yourself be happy and be consistent with, but it takes some searching for the right puzzle pieces. You being the puzzle of course (:
^ A glimpse into the beautiful sunset I have seen every day in Fishers, Indiana (: