Volunteering: The Itch That Doesn't Itch Until You Scratch

Hello all...

Today I am pondering volunteering.

I volunteer my time....rather copious amounts of my time....as a curator and English editor for TEDxKyoto.

For those of you who don't know what TED or TEDx is.....

1.  TED=Technology, Entertainment and Design
2.  TEDx=TED-style events that are independently organized by individual cities, organizations or
     communities.
3.  TED and TEDx=non-profit
4.  TED and TEDx=Ideas Worth Spreading
5.  TED and TEDx=bringing unknowns and knowns onto a stage and inviting them to share
     their passions/talents/innovations/great ideas/incredible talents with the world.


So there you go.  Just to whet your whistle.

I first got involved with TEDxKyoto a little over a year ago.  They were looking for people who could edit and rewrite documents in English.  Someone talked to someone else who talked to Bob who talked to me.  And soon enough I was volunteering my time  rewriting and editing.

And it was great.

And I got to put these last nearly four decades of writing poems and stories and blogs and other blather to good use.

And I got to see what I wrote printed on paper and read by a whole lot of people.



When this year rolled around, and we began planning for a new TEDxKyoto event, I somehow became a curator--a member of the team who seek out, interview, and coach the speakers and performers who will  ultimately climb the steps onto the TEDxKyoto stage, blink in the spot light, and share their hearts.


So now I am a curator AND an editor and rewriter.

Between the two of these, and teaching, and homeschooling Patrick and Aya, and keeping the house running and everyone fed and clean....well, I'm busy.

Sometimes very busy.

Sometimes VERY VERY VERY OH MY GOSH I'M GOING TO LOSE MY MIND busy.

And it is good.

For I've discovered something about volunteering.

Volunteering is about giving 100%.

It's about taking the time you are giving, and using every minute and every second.

The volunteering I do is pretty cerebral and I'm the first one to admit it.  The volunteering I do is clean and tidy, intellectual and educational and it is not for everyone.  And it is not needed by everyone.

But I promise you that whatever talents you may have, there is someone, some organization, some group...somewhere, and probably not very far away, that needs you.

And if you offer up your talents as a volunteer, I promise you that you will work hard and probably for more hours than you ever planned on working.

But I also promise you this.  You will also meet people you never would have met otherwise. You will get to know people from different cultures and  lifestyles, different belief systems and  professional fields.   You will be a part of a team working together towards a goal.

And whether you are working side by side with other people halfway around the world helping to build a school, or volunteering your time to clean cages at your local animal shelter, volunteering your graphic arts talents to put together educational materials, or helping to, say, curate  a TEDx event--you are giving something of yourself to the world for no other reward than to help make this sphere we live on a better, healthier, more loving and  more awesome place.



Now, you may not think you have anything to offer as a volunteer.
Or you may think you don't have what it takes to be a good volunteer.

Or you may think that you simply don't want to volunteer.

But as the title of all this suggests, you won't know there is a volunteer inside you until you try.


So...what are you waiting for?

Until next time....