my first day...

when i agreed to bring my knitting needles to knit some hats... i didn't think much of where i would be and what the impact would be. knowing the idea was to have hats to give to those that would be facing the winter outdoors and the fact that i have not picked up a set of knitting needle in almost a year (i am ashamed), i knew that i needed to build up my "stock" before i showed up for the first of the 13-fridays, and so i was able to show up my first day with one completed hat.

pretty basic...
in my preparation to my time at CASS i reached out to my circle for some advice about my time at CASS... the response back was not so positive. i went into the project with the idea of doing "good" and quickly was reminded of the reality of people seeking the services of organizations like CASS. this was not for the faint of heart... so morning of i was sort of on edge about this project... but the commit was there.
9 am: i arrived at CASS for the first time. the truth is in the best situations i don't do well meeting people. this was going to be hard.

(Disclosure: Ann Morton is my mother. i am here because she asked me to be, and like she supports me on all my projects i am here to support her, not that i don't believe in why we are here, but this is not where i would naturally be.)

My mom sat with me (for a while). We took the opportunity to catch up... talk about the project. after a while a man named David sat down to talk with us. it was obvious that at first he thought he were new to the campus... as residents. he asked us how much we were selling the hats for, when we said they were free his response was, "why would you put so much time into something and not charge for it.." that would become my first truth of the day. no matter how bad i think that my situation is, i still have the time and the resources to sit for a time to knit a hat for someone else for free. i am not concerned with time and cost. and although that is something that can make me feel good, it is also a reality check.

so while I talked with David, drawing knowledge from him about how the residents see the facility... trying to figure out how a person gets here, i was thinking about how we can turn idle hands into something productive..

over all my first day good.. i will be back.

peace (out)

M