As I was reading that Discover Canada pamphlet online for the post about culture, I came across something that surprised me. Under the section called Responsibilities, it had a subheading called 'Helping others in the community,' which talked about how many Canadians volunteer in some capacity or another, and how this is an important part of being Canadian. This got me thinking about the good intentions I have that usually amount to nothing. Other than my feeling that a responsibility to volunteer might well be an oxymoron, I do really like this idea. I mean, don't you think that this is a great Canadian cultural value? Helping others? Well, I sure do. The problem for many of us is that it can be difficult to find the time. I was going to say that I wish they had included the option of making donations as another way of 'helping others in the community' but then stopped myself because they are very different things. One is time costly, and the other is pocket book costly. It made me start to wonder about the importance of getting ones' hands dirty so to speak. So dear reader, what do you think? Is volunteering more important or valuable than monetary donations? Love to hear what you think.
In the mean time I must say that I am feeling pretty darn good about myself because I have made contact with a women's shelter in my town and have found some simple ways to help out. I haven't even done anything yet but still feel pretty amazing! Second question: why does helping others just feel so darn good? Let's hear your thoughts faithful reader!
What good timing! I recently watched an episode of Friends--clearly you are not the only one behind the times--which featured a disagreement between Pheobe and Joey about altruism. Phoebe believed that selfless deeds exist, whereas Joey believed that all good deeds are actually selfish if the good deed doer ends up reaping any reward from the act--he included feelings of happiness as a reward. So I know that I am not answering any of the questions you posed in your entry, but does Joey have a point? Is selflessness a myth?
ReplyDeleteYou know, when I am faced with a deep philosophical question I often think, what would Joey do?
DeleteWhat about the selfless acts that you do that are hard to do? THey may really suck for you to do but might indirectly help someone else. Are there selfless acts that people may not see as positive or beneficial Or selfless acts that you cannot tell anyone about? (I guess with secret selfless acts, you secretly rejoice in your satisfaction of helping someone). Dang Joey!
ReplyDeleteI think that volunteering time is more valuable than volunteering money. That's my contribution.
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