purpose

All posts tagged purpose

Share Today, Shape Tomorrow

Posted by melissaicd on April 21, 2014
Posted in: advocacy, social justice. Tagged: , , , .

Our Goal: To affect everyone’s tomorrow by generously giving time, attention, and material goods today.

Being good is hard work! It doesn’t take much to create a habit of generosity, but sometimes one’s personal concerns loom so large in one’s imagination that it crowds out any positive thoughts about one’s fellow human beings.

I give thanks for the people in my life who inspire and encourage me to be better. They are among those whom I admire greatly. Two of them, in fact, are people who are the driving force of a new, local nonprofit organization, Share Today Shape Tomorrow, that I had been asked to be a part. (Please see the About page of ST^2 for specifics.) I am very, very happy and proud to be part of ST^2 and to help its development along. I take this as a sign that I must be doing something right.

I have always said that I am aiming to live a life of purpose and meaning. This is also the perspective I hope both my children have come to appreciate and take on themselves. I am thrilled to further this personal goal of mine while serving others through ST^2.

Easter = Liberation

Posted by melissaicd on April 20, 2014
Posted in: culture, social justice. Tagged: , , , , , .
Image of an egg's shell that is broken open, with count marks in the inside.

Freedom Egg. Image from Serene is My Name, Not My Life!

Today is Easter Sunday 2014. Amidst the chocolate-covered marshmallows, cute, fuzzy chicks and bunnies, springtime dresses and hats, and jelly beans, I want to take a moment to consider on this blog the recent news of the Vatican’s seeming reversal on liberation theology by welcoming Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez with open arms. Huzzah!

Before I even had an inkling that Communist or Marxist points-of-view existed, I was exposed to the social teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. I had begun my formal education at a Catholic school in the Philippines, so the principles and teachings of the faith are huge influences on me. I was a teen when I became aware of liberation theology, the Communist movement in the Philippines, and the nationalist fervor that served to answer the social, political, and economic inequities in Philippine society. My drive for social justice is not fueled simply by my formative years in a poor, developing nation or by purely political or intellectual philosophies. The heart of my desire for justice is born from religion. Roman Catholicism, to be exact. Liberation theology, to be even more specific.

Like many, I try to follow the path to God, a path of love and righteousness, by following a path of social justice. Because of this, the Easter story, to me, is a story of liberation from oppression. Christ’s Resurrection is humanity’s redemption. Like Rev. Gustavo Gutierrez, I hope to live a life that embodies my Christian faith.

It’s a path that is fraught with temptations and difficulties, yes. But it is also a way of life that is full of purpose and meaning.

Happy Easter!

The Loss of Hope | Virtual Dave…Real Blog

Posted by melissaicd on March 6, 2014
Posted in: advocacy, health, librarianship, social justice. Tagged: , , .
image of a man extending his right arm. An inscription is written across the top: Per Aspera Ad Astra.

Wikipedia: Per aspera ad astra

The Loss of Hope | Virtual Dave…Real Blog.

I have made a career of calling people to service. In the classroom, on the web, on stages around the world I have tried to equip an army of the hopeful to improve society. I never made a promise to that legion that our cause was guaranteed, or easy, or simple. But I did try and give hope. That hope continues with or without my cancer, or my very life. But while I have the ability to put towards to it, I will do so with hope.

I am very proud, and hope-filled, to call myself among those who are answering your call, Dave. I will never, ever forget what you told me when I was searching for my research agenda. It was as if you knew, you knew, that what I was actually, really looking for was my life’s purpose. We are gladiators. I salute you.

The Boxer by Simon & Garfunkel

Posted by melissaicd on February 18, 2013
Posted in: art, culture. Tagged: , , , , , .
image of Cassius Clay vs. Sonny Liston, 1964, Miami Beach, Florida.

Championship fight between Cassius Clay and Sonny Liston: Miami Beach, Florida. February 25, 1964. Image from Flickr.

In the clearing stands a boxer
And a fighter by his trade
And he carries the reminders
Of ev’ry glove that layed him down
Or cut him till he cried out
In his anger and his shame
“I am leaving, I am leaving”
But the fighter still remains

~ Simon & Garfunkel

Aaron Swartz and Too-Comfortable Research Libraries – Library Hat

Posted by melissaicd on February 11, 2013
Posted in: advocacy, culture, digital, librarianship, social justice, social media, technology. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

Aaron Swartz and Too-Comfortable Research Libraries – Library Hat.

Some good questions from Bohyun Kim. Let’s answer them.

“Many academic libraries offer computers, which are necessary to access electronic resources of the library itself. But how many of academic libraries keep all the computers open for user without the user log-in? Often those library computers are locked up and require the username and password, which only those affiliated with the institution possess. The same often goes for many electronic resources. How many academic libraries allow the on-site access to electronic resources by walk-in users? How many academic libraries insist on the walk-in users’ access to those resources that they pay for in the license? Many academic libraries also participate in the Federal Depository Library program, which requires those libraries to provide free access to the government documents that they receive to the public. But how easy is it for the public to enter and access the free government information at those libraries?”

Are our academic and research libraries fulfilling their civic duty by providing access to information? Or are they too comfortable?

“Too-comfortable libraries do not ask themselves if they are serving the public good of providing access to information and knowledge for those who are in need but cannot afford it. Too comfortable libraries see their role as a mediator and broker in the transaction between the information seller and the information buyer. They may act as an efficient and successful mediator and broker. But I don’t believe that that is why libraries exist. Ultimately, libraries exist to foster the sharing and dissemination of knowledge more than anything, not to efficiently mediate information leasing.  And this is the dangerous idea: You cannot put a price tag on knowledge; it belongs to the human race. Libraries used to be the institution that validates and confirms this idea. But will they continue to be so in the future? Will an academic library be able to remain as a sanctuary for all ideas and a place for sharing knowledge for people’s intellectual pursuits regardless of their institutional membership? Or will it be reduced to a branch of an institution that sells knowledge to its tuition-paying customers only? While public libraries are more strongly aligned with this mission of making information and knowledge freely and openly available to the public than academic libraries, they cannot be expected to cover the research needs of patrons as fully as academic libraries.”

Emphasis is mine.

I expect more from our libraries. Do you?