Sometimes – OK, oftentimes – it’s easy for me to get consumed by my own issues and to let myself sink into sorrow over what’s not going right in my own life. My mind gets tricked into thinking that the world revolves around me, and that everything should go exactly as I’d like it. But then I hear or see something that punches me in the stomach, that reminds me that my life really is pretty darn good.

I’ve been with WV for almost four and a half years now. I’ve read a lot of touching stories and seen a lot of depressing photos. I’ve cried over videos countless times. But I’ve also read stories with a neutral heart, and have looked at photos without a sorrowful tug at my soul. I’ve thought about my grocery list while seeing – without really seeing – stories of poverty on the screen. All that to say, I’m not always touched by someone’s story anymore.

Today was the last day of weeklong meetings that involved all the fundraising reps that my team serves. To start off the meeting, two people shared heartbreaking stories about girls involved in abusive labor – and neither person got through their story without tearing up. One rep talked about her recent trip to Laos. She met a 30-something woman who, at age 15, was approached by a man who offered her a high-paying job cleaning homes in Cambodia. She would make more than what she was making in Laos, and she would be able to better support her family. The man met with the teen’s family and soon, the girl was set to  make the trip to Cambodia.

Without a birth certificate or registration papers, the girl had to be smuggled over the border. She was hidden in the bottom level of a boat. When she arrived in Cambodia, she realized the man had tricked her. She would not be cleaning houses. Instead, she was sold to some people who kept her chained up like a dog in their backyard. She was basically their slave, and was abused, mistreated and humiliated. Her only hope was that each day, she would ask a boy in the house for a piece of paper. She wrote the words “Help me” on the paper, crumpled it up in a ball, and threw it over the fence hoping that someone would find her cry for help. She did this every single day. Every. Single. Day. For 15 years.

After 15 years, someone found her crumpled piece of paper and called the police. The police raided the house and rescued the girl, who was brought to one of WV’s projects for trafficked girls. Through the project, she was counseled and returned to her family. The girl – now a woman – recently went through training on how to grow mushrooms, and received materials from WV donors to start her own mushroom business. With this business, she has a safe and respectable means of earning an income.

I can’t tell the story as well as the rep who met this woman firsthand, but I’ll tell you that my heart was broken over the image of the girl, chained up, and tossing notes over the fence for 15 years, hoping for a savior. And this is only one of thousands of children who are stuck in situations like this. For some reason, child protection projects are hard to “sell” to donors. It’s not for everyone. A lot of people want something that’s easier to grasp – like clean water – which gives you instant results. With just one well, you’re impacting hundreds of people. But with child protection, the investment is for the long haul, and sometimes, you only see the impact in the life of one or two children.

But if we could help even one child, isn’t that worth the effort?

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On a lighter note, fall is here and summer has officially ended. But it’s been an amazing summer that ended with yet another full month of weekend trips and adventures. I’ll write about them one day, but in the meantime, I’ve posted new pics on my gallery.

So many books, so little time. However, one of the books that I’m currently devoting time to is called “Telling Lies for Fun and Profit,” recommended by Alonso. It’s a compilation of columns written by Lawrence Block surrounding the topic of writing – specifically fiction – but it reads more like a long letter of advice from a friend rather than a technical how-to book.

One of the chapters I just finished reading contains several suggestions for gleaning material from your daily routine. Although the tips are valuable for writers and other creative types seeking inspiration, I also believe they’re beneficial for anyone who wants to make the most of each day. Suck the marrow out of life, right?

1. STAY OUT OF RUTS. Easy as it is to get into a rut, it’s by no means inevitable, and I think it’s worthwhile to make a deliberate effort to avoid ruts. There’s a place eight blocks from my house that I walk to at least once a day, and I make it a point not to follow the same route every time. In fact, whenever I have to get from one place to another, I deliberately select an unfamiliar route, even if it takes me a slight distance out of my way.

2. LOOK WHERE YOU’RE GOING. Some routes are ruts because we stop paying attention; overfamiliarity keeps us from noticing even those things we haven’t noticed before. I’ve found that if I keep myself open to new experience, if I use my senses, I walk every path as if for the first time and invariably see something I’ve never seen previously. (MEL’S NOTE: Last week, Matt and I were driving through downtown Seattle, on Highway 99, and I commented about how I never get tired of looking at the Seattle skyline and the water. I am still amazed at the beauty of the city, and am always finding something new that I had never seen before. I take it as a good sign that, after four years, I’m still captivated by this city. I also realized that I don’t enjoy driving that much because it keeps me from staring at the passing scenery.)

3. DON’T STOP LEARNING. Recently I’ve noticed that I seem to respond to architecture in a way I never have in the past. I find myself paying attention to the shapes of buildings and various architectural details….[he goes on to talk about how he began reading about architecture in Manhattan and then enrolled in a course on architecture.]…And how will that course benefit my writing? Most importantly, by changing my way of seeing, by enlarging and enhancing my perspective. Perhaps my increased awareness will be reflected in what I write. Perhaps something I learn will lead directly to a plot or a scene or the development of a character. Perhaps, serendipity being what is is, I’ll meet someone else taking the course, or at the water foundation in the corridor, who will tell me something which will serve to springboard a future novel. I don’t know how the course will benefit my writing, and I don’t have to know, because input is a different thing altogether from research. The latter looks for answers where the former isn’t even aware of questions.

4. HANG OUT. I can’t be certain that anyone’s going to come along to broaden the base of my experience if I spend a few hours riding around in the squad car with my cop friend, or go sit on a bench in St. Vincent’s emergency room, or rub elbows with the drug dealers and the three-card-monte hustlers in Washington Square, or take in the scene at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. But I can be fairly sure nothing much is going to happen if I stay home and watch reruns of I Love Lucy. Travel’s broadening. I try to keep the fresh-eyed awareness of the traveler, not only when I’m out of town but when I walk the familiar streets of my own neighborhood. … The possibility for experiential input is infinite – as long as we remain open to it.