all mankind are now your brothers.

the truth: i work in a spaceship and yesterday i saw that humanity is still really, really good.

the rest: let me back that statement train up a couple of weeks and fill you in on what has happened in this sweet life. summer ended (goodbye drooping 9-5 workdays that substitute summer for this lady!) autumn came (hello afternoon walks through orange and red!) and school started (for the last time, for a long time, forever!). (beautiful the way that life unfolds in such an uncomplicated sentance, right?) 

the classes that i had signed up for this quarter were the *yawns*bores*snoozes*droops*uninspiring kinds of classes. they were chunks of time that i would sit in a classroom. they were hours that i would feign interest. they were a waste. (i'm so sorry to anybody who loves to learn about the way that literature relates to patterns that could have at one point in time lined up with marx's ideas of systematic understanding, i'm really glad that you enjoy this. not my cup of tea.) certainly i could do it, pass, move on with my bad self. but really? that's how i'm going to live? come on, michelle, you're more in love with life than that passivity.

so i began to look into different options. i could drop out of school (let's be honest, the fact that i signed my graduation papers last week is just a big joke). i could start school over (might be fun?). i could suck it up. or  i could find a way to get credit for doing something outside of the classroom. bingo.

it dawned on me:  if the opportunity presented itself, i could find a way to do something that actually inspires me. i could do something that makes my heart beat in anticipation. i could do something worth-while. i could write. and help. and teach. i could do THAT! somehow i found the door, i had the key, and i opened that little thing right up.

i am currently interning at this incredible nonprofit organization, 826 Seattle. it lights up my life and fuels my soul. 

as i spent all of yesterday running around the city to different grocery stores, trying to get donations so that the children can have a snack when they come to after-school tutoring, i was struck with something i haven't seen in a long time: a gold-hearted humanity. i hate asking for money. i hate soliciting. it makes me uncomfortable and i am stubborn. but yesterday, as i trailed through the city, as i met managers and assistant managers and employees, i was blown away by the kindness i saw. they cared. and that, to me, is more inspiring than any class i will ever sit in.

life's going to change a lot these next couple of months. but for now, i revel in the fact that sometimes, in some child or some piece of writing or some grocery story manager, there is good in the world. all mankind, we're all brothers.