Give & Receive
I’ve become a strong advocate of volunteering over the past few months. As a young adult in my first full-time job, I don’t have the resources to financially support organizations I believe in. So instead, I volunteer. In a way, I think that’s a little more valuable anyway - I’m helping complete projects or provide care, something a monetary donation can’t directly do.
The Park - I’ve been signing up for work days in the park near my home. It’s one a frequently use for running, hiking, biking and dog playing. I feel like the luckiest girl when I think of how I happened upon this apartment and then agreed to a rental from states away and no walk-through. Not only is it a beautiful living space, I am surrounded by one of the largest municipal park system in the country and the discoveries in it are unending. Since I am so thankful for the preservation of the park land and my ability to limitlessly use it, I offer my time to clean it and work on projects to protect the trails or enhance the vegetation. Without fail, there are always park users who see volunteers at work and thank them. When I return to the park for a leisure activity, I know that I’ve had a hand in protecting what I am, at that moment, enjoying.
The Farm - My newest venture is being a working student at a horse farm. I spend the morning hours working - grooming, picking hooves, mucking the indoor riding ring and the stalls, changing water and helping with whatever else comes up. Some of those other tasks have included massaging a horse who had sore muscles and assisting with a horse who was having his hoof filed and leg bandaged from a sprain. It’s all a learning experience, despite having ridden for several years in the past. Afterward I get to ride and be trained to become a “horse professor” and more effectively communicate - and therefore, control - with the horses. I was surprised when I was thrown up on a Percheron my first week with just a saddle pad. That should have made me less surprised when today I was instructed to ride him bareback. The goal was to form a connection with the horse. Use my sit-bones to give him instruction and feel his movement. Before I could do that, I had to allow my body to become “jello” and rode him around the ring with my eyes closed so I could focus 100% on his movement and feel my connection to it. Such a cool experience!
