My "causes"

I've decided that something that makes me really happy is having a cause to work for. I have a lot of them such as:

• feminism and pro-life being equally important and possible in my life.
• anti-war action
• anti-death penalty, especially because of innocent lives taken
• fighting cancer and finding a cure (raising money for this cause, for example)
• fighting AIDS and raising awareness so a cure can be found
• acceptance of other races and sexual preferences
• poverty and racism in the South
• theater for the sake of changing the world or at least making people think
• better education, especially in public schools
• the compatiability and similarities between so many world religions and how recognizing the similarities will help bring about peace in the world.
• and finally, my newest "cause," raising awareness of the disease of depression and trying to reduce the stigma surrounding it.

I guess what I consider a cause is somthing that I believe strongly in and do whatever I can to help. I'm very vocal about all of those things listed; when someone asks me for my opinion, I'm usually pretty open about it. I also challenge people, probably obnoxiously at times, when they make ignorant remarks about those things above which I care about, such as the last post about depression.

I'm really happy in particular tonight because we had the CU planning meeting for Fall Quarter. Erica and I proposed having a night devoted to discussing depression and mental illness and there was strong support for putting it on the schedule! So on November 9th next fall, Erica and I will be leading the meeting and I know I will probably be open about my personal experiences even though there is a lot of unconscious prejudice in people. Tonight even people made some comments about "happy pills" and having this meeting later in the quarter so as not to scare freshman away with such a "depressing" subject. I didn't get very mad because I know it is not intentional in many cases. I let it go because next fall, I will be given the opportunity to speak about it and help raise awareness.

Other than that, its been a pretty uneventful day, other than getting sunburned on various random parts of my body (its amusing - the back of my calves, the tops of my arms, and a little strip on my lower back). I also spent two hours working with my Performance of Narrative Fiction group performance people trying to make really bad dirty Arabian Nights jokes slightly more humorous. Its getting there.... Maybe I'll post an example later.

Well, its off to bed I go since I have Acting at 8:15 tomorrow, 3 hours of work, then the rest of the day to study before my big Islam final exam Friday. Scary!

Goodnight