Getting by giving

Lately, I’ve been blogging about the economy.  I do this because just like many people, I’m concerned about whether or not I am “going to go under” or whether I’m destined to be a greeter at Wal-Mart.  I found that writing about the current state of the economy helps me to remain positive and keep moving forward.

As is probably true with many people right now, finding work is tough but I’m holding on okay.  When things get tough though, one thing I’ve found to be really rewarding is to give.

I’ve started giving my time once a week to a local homeless shelter called “The Open Door.” It’s located in the heart of downtown Atlanta and provides acts of service such as feeding the homeless, providing a place for the homeless to take showers, offering and participating in a foot clinic, and offering up a place of community.

When I volunteer my time, the worries I have about money and the economy seem to just melt away.  One thing that continues to amaze me when I’m volunteering is that there is always enough food.  Just the other day 5000 sandwiches were donated—we couldn’t give away enough of them!

I want to list a few benefits of what giving can do for you (or at least what it’s done for me):

* It makes you feel so good inside. 
* To help others is very cathartic.  You realize what you have and what you’ve taken for granted.
* The old saying of “it’s better to give than to receive,” holds true
* It doesn’t take much to give and what you give is huge
* Giving makes you feel human again

I’ve found that I can’t wait for Thursday mornings so I can volunteer my time at “The Open Door.” And as an added touch, volunteering my time has wiped away much of my cynicism.

So, my encouragement to you is to find a place where you can give of your time, whether it be through a church, a shelter, or a charity such as Habitat for Humanity.  There is always someone who can benefit from your generosity and there’s always time to give.  The gift you receive is the greatest feeling ever.

Hope

While doing my daily reading on the internet I ran across this article where cartoonist Mark Lynch says how companies are cutting budgets thus cutting creatives (me) from potential jobs.  I’ve already seen this happen to me as most of my illustration jobs come from magazines and newspapers. 

While the article does focus on doom and gloom there were two nuggets of joy I got from it which were:

All we cartoonists have to do, to quote of all people Rupert Murdoch, is turn a certain percentage of those eyeballs looking at that Web page into dollar signs. I’m do not like who Murdoch is, but disregarding the messenger, the message is spot on.

And, hey, everyone loves cartoons. I know I said that, but it gives me hope, so I say it again.

and

Back when vaudeville was in vogue, a comedian could make a career out of one comedy sketch. When radio came along, comedians played to the entire country, and so needed to come up with new material each week; which put a lot of vaudevillians out of work, but opened up new opportunities for writers and voice actors. Television cut into the market for voice actors, except as announcers or cartoon voices, but opened the doors for other performers and writers.

Media change, but there will always be a place for creative people. The trick is to find it, and figure out how to make a living from it.

This gives me hope and courage to try to stay on the forefront of being a creative.  I’ve switched from doing publishing work to illustrating logos and banners for the web with surprising success.  So my challenge to you creatives is to keep looking for new avenues for work.  Illustration will always hold a special place in media, it’ll just be different avenues.