Upon Reflection...

Now that I've had a bit of time to gain perspective, I'd like to reflect on my "bad" day yesterday. (And thanks to Shing for helping me to reflect during a chat late last night!)

It's really hard to think that a bad day includes buying a new iPhone, eating very good food with old friends, and sleeping at my college roommate's house in the suburbs. Relatively speaking, I had a pretty freakin' good day. Of course, it's really hard to see that when you're in the middle of it and are frustrated when nothing seems to be working out. But it really helped for me to sit on a bench right after I lost my phone and take a few deep breaths. I needed to remind myself that all that really happened was that I lost my phone (a phone I had been thinking about replacing for almost a year). I wasn't hurt, I wasn't in any physical danger, I had people and places I could go, and I had my wallet.

I know that I often take for granted what a privileged life I've had. I have been given so many advantages through the love and hard work of my parents and also through the support of good friends and family. To try to list them here would almost seem trite.

The book I am currently reading is definitely highlighting this point for me as well. It's Freedom Summer by Doug McAdam and is a recounting of the Mississippi Voter Registration project taken on in the Summer of 1964 (and before). About 1000 volunteers, primarily from elite universities went to Mississippi to get disenfranchised Blacks to register to vote. White Mississippi and the federal government were both actively opposing this activity - four students were killed (you've probably seen the movie Mississippi Burning), many others were beaten, and many buildings were bombed as a way to intimidate the volunteers and the permanent residents. What is remarkable is reading the accounts of how much the actions of these volunteers affected them personally and opened their eyes to their own privilege. Most of them had known about their privilege on an intellectual level, but it wasn't until they were actively involved that they understood it. This all reminds me of the importance of taking action and not just becoming better educated.

I would like to think that I have the strength to actually do meaningful work in making the world a better place (or in Hebrew, Tikkun Olam - healing the world) and not just sitting in my comfort zone. But in reading accounts such as these, I don't know if I would really put myself and everything on the line. I know that I am comfortable donating money for Haiti relief or for many other causes, but would I actually go into a "bad" part of a city (like I was in yesterday) and assist at a school? Tutor? Mentor a child? Would I really fight for someone else's rights as strongly as I would my own? I often have used the excuse that I don't have the time to do it, but I think it may be that I'm too uncomfortable. Am I too privileged to really go outside my comfort zone and to assist with the people who live in the worst poverty? I hope not, but I'm not sure that that is actually the case.