Being Busy is Good....

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Right?

It’s always funny how much time goes by between writing blog posts. It’s the classic phenomena of feeling like it was a short yet long amount of time between events. So since I last wrote, it has felt like months and hours. The main things I’ve been focused on are my internships, working at the hostel, looking for other jobs and places to live, and making friends.

My internship has also been paradoxical, busy and yet not. We accomplish a lot of work but it feels very slow and I don’t necessarily feel like I’m doing a good job. I have two main projects. One is working on researching and writing a proposal about the role of religious groups on post-conflict development/reconstruction and their interaction with political parties. Apparently this issue hasn’t been studied very often even though religion, politics, and development are huge topics. We are looking for funding sources as well as developing the activities, research sites, background information. My other project is bringing a panel of experts together to discuss the current conflict in Kashmir. To me who is semi-unfamiliar with it I would love to discuss the different takes on the conflict and possible solutions; however, we are focusing more specifically on the role of youth in conflict and the use of social media. A lot of the mobilization efforts in the protests this summer have included the use of social media. I am hoping to bring some really top notch people (one women just completed a film played on Time’s website, another just quoted in the New York Times).

The work is really independent and challenging. Sometimes it’s too challenging because I’m afraid I have no idea what I’m doing but I’ve been learning that my life’s worth isn’t completely contingent on the success of these projects. I have been able to walk away from them at the day with the peace that I have done what I can and even if I haven’t finished everything, I can disengage. Additionally to working I have been searching for other jobs, applying online and I even attended a career fair at American University. I had to get special permission to go but I knew it’d be an important event. It was a little disappointing, many places looking for interns and not a lot of big names (big names sometimes have more possibilities to progress in the company) but it was still worthwhile. Hopefully leads from there will lead somewhere. As I talk about finding a career in DC I realize you may asking, “Does that mean she plans to stay in DC?” to which I will answer, I do for the foreseeable future. Today I realized that DC honestly feels alive with possibilities. I don’t know if it’s just been my experience so far or the city’s reputation but I know (somehow) this is where I should be and where possible leads are.

Thus, I can say, my current home is DC.

In addition to my internship, extracurriculars and work I have been taken from a possible volunteer to a volunteer coordinator for another project. The organization, Tivoli New Business Association, has been working to promote business in the Columbia Heights area, a historically not well known area. This mostly stems from the riots in 1968 after the murder of Martin Luther King Jr. Much of the neighborhood was burned down and not inhabited for decades. With the building of a metro stop and encouragement of organizations like Tivoli, the area has become more attractive and safe to people. I love to fill my plate with food, eating as much as I can a little gluttonously sometimes. The same thing happens with activities, I fill the plate a little too full. I know I can accomplish these projects but I will need to be very structured with my time.

Another aspect of life has been making friends. I attended a very interesting church this last Sunday and met a really nice pastor and girl around my age from North Carolina. The sermon was about the gift of being single. This is not normally something you hear being preached on so it was very refreshing as I am not in a romantic relationship with anyone nor do I want to be. They had the best cinnamon pull aparts I’ve ever had too. The pastor reached out to me over e-mail afterwards so I am looking forward to meeting with her in the future and discussing life, DC and faith issues. It was definitely strange to go back to a “traditional” type of church. I say traditional with quotes because it’s not necessarily very traditional but traditional in comparison to my last church where we met for breakfast at round tables, sat among the same level as the music team and pastor, engaging in discussion questions about faith. I really love that forum and doubt I’ll find many churches with such a forum so we’ll see how it goes.

Overall, my experience has been really positive. Today has been one of the hardest days as I found out some really horrific news about a good friend. There is nothing more I want than to be back in Bellingham with her, both to comfort her and to comfort myself; however, this is the first chance I have to be supportive over a long distance and I am going to work on my creativity in showing mindfulness. Busy appears to be good while knowing exercising the right to say no to some activities may need to be promoted in the future.

Wish me good luck as I go on housing “interviews” (finding good, inexpensive-ish housing is so difficult here) and open house type things and look for jobs. Thanks for being interested in my life and supporting me. Knowing I have connections back home although make it more difficult to be away some days, create a really positive feeling that I have support when I need it.

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