Reflection

As you may have noticed, I have been working on making my life mean something, look for the positive in all situations, and learning to love life without the material gain attached. I have been meeting weekly with a jesuit at Loyola, to learn about "reflection" and "meditation" and "conscious ethics." He has really opened my eyes and heart to what it means to dedicate my life to social justice. I look forward to rushing home after each session to pass on what he has taught me to Jamie and the kids. On Friday, the Jesuit and I talked about finding the soul of a person before making a decision abut them. I learned to recognize that each person has spirit. Each human being has goals, hopes, fears, dreams, and expectations. When you look past your own nose and seek to find another person's soul you open a line of communication seldom opened these days. All to often we place material and monetary value on the worth of a person's spirit. A big house, a new car, designer clothes, fine jewelry, etc. are items we place in high esteem. How often do we look for integrity, honesty, compassion, friendliness, or courage in a person before we look at material wealth? I was challenged to start my weekend off by noticing emotions, communications, and personality before noticing material when I encountered another person. And on my way home from school, I sat next to a woman on the bus who probably didn't speak much English, but smiled when I said "hi" and offered her one of the Reese Cups in the package I bought out of the vending machine. She said "Thank You, how sweet," and patted my hand with her ice-cold fingers. I never even noticed what she was wearing, or what kind of purse she was carrying, or if she had on jewelry. And when I exited the bus she said "goodbye" and I realized I accomplished my goal, but needed to keep accomplishing it everyday.

The Jesuit also shows me how to reflect on my day and what has happend to me and how I have affected others throughout the day. So I have begun to meditate nightly. It is really calming and comforting to look back on the day's events and recognize where I need to do better and where I have grown. Keeping a journal of all the things I notice now and all the things I wish to change has made me aware of how much I am changing already. I am so excited to report that life has been much less chaotic in the LaFramboise household in the past couple of weeks. We are all learning how to appreciate others' souls and recognize that we are fortunate to have the means to be persons for others.

This morning Jamie asked me to look into vacation ideas for this year. Immediately I thought of Disney World. Then I checked prices and was shocked to see that ith airfare it would be $7000 for the five of us to go for Thanksgiving. So I looked at alternatives. After surfing some of my old favorite travel agent sites I found a reat deal to Cancun, Mexico. But of course with my new outlook on life and a new family paradigm, I wondered how ethical it would be for us to go to Cancun on vacation. So I emailed my Jesuit and was very happy to learn of a program in Cancun where for 2 days of our trip we can work at a tortilla kitchen (a soup kitchen) and be of service to the community members wher the resort is located. He also reminded me that Chitzanitza (sp.?) is nearby andwould be a great educational tool for my family to learn about the ancient Mayan civilization and the hard work of the Mexican government and archaeologists to preserve the rich cultural history of the region. So with very little nudging Jamie and I decided it would be a great vacation destination. But the hardest part will be waiting until November. So we will have to think of something to do over the summer months to bide our time.

As soon as I can figure out how to get the pictures off my 35mm camera developed and put onto a flashdrive (hopefully I will learn how this week in photography class) I will post them on here. I had to take two rolls of B&W film of my neighborhood. For those of you who have not had the chance to visit us out here in Chicago, I think you will learn a lot about our little life here in the big city!

Until then I wish you peace, warmth, love and kindness.
Kelly