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Social Causes

Inspiration, Social Causes

Profiles in Inspiring Youth

June 8, 2012
Ethan - Charity Ball

Earlier this week, I received an email from a lady that I haven’t spoken to in quite some time with a link to a video featuring her son, Ethan. I had a look at it and I was moved beyond words.

I originally met Ethan in the Summer of 2010 when my neighbor and I interviewed him for a photography initiative we were working on during the World Cup. When I heard about his story of providing new soccer balls to kids in Africa through his non-profit, Charity Ball, I knew he was a remarkable young man and had a lot to share with the world.

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Social Causes

Occupying Life

November 23, 2011
Jimmy Carter Quote

The original plan was for this week to be a ‘writing retreat,’ but I’m pretty far away from that goal so far. I’m sitting in my friend’s house in the suburbs while he and his family are out of town and remembering what life was like out here.

I like my loft in the city, thanks. 🙂

Despite my assurances to get back into a more frequent posting schedule, it hasn’t played out that way. Now I know why Chris Guillebeau is so militant with his post schedule.  Once you slip, it’s over.

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Social Causes

Kids of the Gulf – Be The Change

September 22, 2011

Last Spring when the BP Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, like many others I felt an immense sense of loss. Loss of life. Loss of habitat. And to some degree, a loss of faith in humanity.

I recall a friend of mine showing me photos on his iPhone just a few days after the explosion.  He was in town for his birthday and although I knew he worked on an oil rig, I didn’t know just how close to home this hit him.  He was on the rig right next to the Deepwater Horizon, and he was showing me photos of the unfolding disaster he had taken with his phone as the inferno raged a short distance across the water.

My heart ached.  And ached.  And ached some more. Continue Reading…

Social Causes

Remembrance and The BP Oil Spill

April 20, 2011
Deepwater Horizon Fire - Photo by US Coast Guard

Last Summer, I left part of my heart on Grand Isle, Louisiana. It’s hard to describe the range of emotions I felt while visiting the Gulf coast in the aftermath of the BP oil spill, and today on the 1 year anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, my heart feels heavy once more.

Nothing I have experienced in my life quite compares to the work that we did on the Gulf last summer. We saw and heard things that most people never had the chance to experience. I have not forgotten, and I am more driven than ever before to continue what we started.

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Social Causes

Goals, Giving, & Gratitude

March 15, 2011
Hunger Walk Atlanta 2010

I have this weird relationship with setting goals.  It’s not something that I do in the typical, structured way that most people do.  In fact, I tend to resist the concept at every turn. There is something in there that runs counter to my way of letting things happen and going with the flow of life.  And it’s not like I don’t aspire to things – on the contrary I have huge aspirations in my life.  I just have been resistant to putting timelines and structure around these aspirations.

Last month in Sarah Robinson’s 28 Days to Getting Your Sh*t Together blog series, I was actively engaged in every post until the one on setting goals.  I went silent. I suppose I don’t like being told that I need to set goals.  But guess what?  I do.

On Sunday afternoon, I participated in the Hunger Walk here in Atlanta, which benefits the Atlanta Community Food Bank.  I’ve been participating in Hunger Walk for several years, and I sit on the Advisory Board of the ACFB, so I definitely have to step up my game around raising money for this initiative. Continue Reading…