You may have charisma but I've got chutzpah

If you have never taken an enneagram test I suggest you do. Unlike the Myers Briggs or other personality inventory tools this one delves into your motivators, fears and desires. All of the interns here were able to take the enneagram test to figure out which parts of our personalities were the most developed and also which were the least developed. I am a type 7: the enthusiast. The description of the enthusiast from the website:

 "We have named this personality type The Enthusiast because sevens are enthusiastic about almost everything that catches their attention. They approach life with curiosity, optimism, and a sense of adventure, like kids in a candy store who look at the world in wide-eyed, rapt anticipation of all the good     things they are about to experience. They are bold and vivacious, pursuing what they want in life with a cheerful determination. They have a quality best described by the Yiddish word "chutzpah"- a kind of brash nerviness." 

"Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical they can also misapply their many talents, becoming over-extended, scattered and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with impatience and impulsiveness. At their best: they focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming appreciative, joyous, and satisfied."

Well this personality type certainly describes the overall gist of my personality but it also alludes to what motivates me; maintaining freedom and happiness, avoiding missing out on worthwhile experiences and keeping excited and occupied. Tonight we were asked to reflect and see how these characteristics may have been in play in major decisions in our lives so far. The main decision that I've made that has had a huge impact on my life was transferring schools. One of my main drives for transferring was because it was what I wanted to do. This sounds trivial and very common-sense-y but it was the first (BIG) decision I had ever made 100% on my own with limited influences from those I cared for most. This was a very tough decision to make because I knew I would be leaving my friends and family and taking a blind jump into a new world; but it was motivated by the fact that I thought I may be missing out on some other worthwhile experience- big school, new faces, new city, etc.
On the opposite end, I am really struggling in the area of the individualist. The individualist is sensitive and expressive..two things I need to work on. My cynical outlook at times has given me all but a glimmer of hope in certain circumstances. Take the public school system in any state..I have given up on the school system because I have come to the conclusion that it won't ever get any better because the solution to every problem is pouring more money into the school. When teachers are trying to teach for a test (EOGs in particular are ridiculous in my opinion) extra money won't motivate them to deeply CARE about a child. I am not saying every teacher is this way.. I am just frustrated by the fact that money seems to be the only option because it makes the most sense? I don't know. This cynical attitude has tended to lead to a gloomy outlook and a sense of helplessness in things out of my direct control.

I will work on being more sensitive! My solution for most complaints is to "walk it off". This isn't really a good solution to most problems..

Smile!

"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing."
-Mother Teresa


I have found that this is the best start of a relationship in our neighborhood. It is a nice start to any relationship really, but if you can't make someone smile chances are the relationship won't go very far. In Enderly Park, the key to the kids is making them laugh; if you can't make a fool out of yourself and laugh with them you don't have a shot. The summer is halfway over, and I am just starting to feel like all the kids are really opening up. This is making me sad and I am wishing that my time here would be a little bit longer, or that the kids were closer. But..everyone always leaves.


People here say this is where I stay; not this is where I live. It's something I've heard repeatedly since the beginning of our summer. Even if I ask where do you live they respond with I stay over here or over there. This neighborhood is very transient and always in transition. People come and go and may only stay for a few months to a year at most. Several of the kids have already asked if I am coming back next summer and I find it hard to tell them no because I am starting to see all the other let-downs they have faced. Instead of saying no, I keep saying that it depends on whether I get a job or not. One of the kids we see pretty much everyday asked me if I had to go back at the end of the summer. When I told her I did, she answered with "I hate that everyone always leaves." 


Despite all the hardships (as we middle class white folk like to say) these kids have had to overcome they are some of the happiest children I have ever met. They appreciate everything they have and when they complain it's usually about how hot it is outside. It really makes me wonder how so many people can complain about the simplest things and take so much for granted. It is frustrating! Everyone is guilty of this..including me. It has taken this summer to only just begin to realize how my "stuff" shouldn't really mean that much to me and how important relationships in this world really are. 


Which brings me back to my original intent..smile at everyone you see. It will make you feel better. It will make them feel better. And you will make the world better each time you do it.

Mission Team to the rescue

The last few weeks have been really busy and I haven't had a chance to update this thing..sorry.
Anyway, I need to backtrack a few weeks and catch up, so I'll start with the last week of June and update until now.

Last week of June
During this week, we had a mission team from Virginia come and help out. The group included two adult chaperons and about ten or so youth. All in all they were a very helpful group and we were thankful for their visit. The week was filled with kudzu-pulling, gardening, playing with our kids, and exploring a new neighborhood. When the kids got here they were a little timid about the neighborhood, as can be expected when coming from a small town. By the end of the week they were willing to walk around and say hey to our neighbors as they saw them out and about. We also did a poverty simulation dinner with them one of the nights. Each participant was given an envelope with a certain amount of money ranging from $30-500. Each food item was given a value and the participants were to eat according to their budgets. If they wanted more money they could either go to the "bank" and take out a loan, which had to be paid back in 5 minutes or they would go to jail, or they could go talk to a DSS worker with a bad New York accent. I played the part of the DSS worker and found myself quite entertaining. The youth and chaperons were great and went along with the game as well as expected, occasionally getting very frustrated because they were hungry and didn't have enough money to eat. The point of this poverty simulation was to get the youth familiar with situations that many of our neighbors encounter everyday, especially when having to deal with DSS and banks to try to get loans and are denied because they don't have an ID and can't get an ID for a variety of reasons.

 

All in all it was a good week. Wednesday we took a field trip to the Green in Uptown and the kids had fun playing in the fountain.