Monthly Archives: May 2015
Please Help Me Welcome My New Blog Interns
For those who know me and/or have followed Good Things Going Around, you probably know this is a project that truly comes from my heart. I want it to be a place where others can visit – either on my site or through one of my social media networks – and leave inspired, or at least to have their day brightened as a result. My problem has always been finding the time to keep up with it while also maintaining my paid work.
Interns have been invaluable to me. A few months ago I spent a day on the campus of the University of Cincinnati interviewing students to work with me. I was looking for someone who also is a positive thinker and who shares my belief that everyone has the potential for making important contributions.
I am absolutely thrilled to announce that I found not just one but two incredible students with different gifts and interests who want to make a positive difference in this world – and I am truly honored that they want to do that with Good Things Going Around as a vehicle.
Through the end of the summer you will be reading and seeing their work. Please support their energy by resharing posts when they impact you. You will find links to posts on my social media networks too so please follow Good Things Going Around on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Liza came up with the idea and name for a new Good Things project, CINspirational People!, which will spotlight a broad range of people in our community and some of what inspires them. She was so excited about it that she called me days after her interview to tell me she couldn’t stop thinking about it. It is such a wonderful idea and Liza will do a great job heading this up. Katie and I will also be contributing CINspirational People! Posts.
Why I am a Good Things Intern: Liza’s words
Words cannot describe how excited I am to be a part of the Good Things Going Around blog project. CINspirational People! is a new project that we have created to share inspirational stories and spread the positivity throughout the world! I could not be more humbled to have the chance to work with Lisa on this amazing project and hope that you will find a little bit of happiness through each one of my posts.
Please click here to read Liza’s letter of introduction with more information about her.
Katie is a very talented writer and has a passion for sharing the stories of diverse people. Through her writing she will explore many subjects, highlight human strengths and maybe even vulnerability, and inspire you to see the world from different perspectives. You will no doubt be impacted by her contributions.
Why I am a Good Things Intern: Katie’s words
When I was first searching for an internship for the summer, I was immediately drawn to Lisa’s project and its primary purpose of spreading positivity and light into the world via the written word. Too often, we focus heavily on the negative in favor of ignoring the positive. In searching for an internship, I wanted to find a position that would allow me the capacity and ability to use my writing and editing skills to implement positive change in my community, however that might be. Lisa’s blog project is just that. I have high hopes that this will be a space where I will grow both professionally in my writing, editing, and interpersonal communication skills, and personally, in my growth as an individual.
Please click here to read Katie’s introduction letter with more information about her.
Cincinnati Volunteers Raising Money For Amber Rooks Family
At 24, sweet, funny, Amber Rooks, died after a car struck her and four other utility works of the new Liberty Center retail development last month. Friends want to community to join them at a party, May 23, that Amber would have loved – to help raise money for her beloved son who lost his mother way too soon.
The Memorial Day Mixer will be 1 to 9 pm at Sharon Woods Trail, Saturday May 23. Activities will include volleyball, corn hole tournaments, balloon toss, potato sack races and more. Food will be sold and organizers ask attendees to bring their own drinks. For more details, please visit the event’s online page.
“Besides challenging the community to come together in this time of loss we want to challenge everyone to help make us all safer by creating what we hope will come to be known as Amber’s List,” said organizer Whitney Lawson. Amber’s List is platform that no one should drive under the influence and that as a family, group of friends, or an organization; we can help each other.
“We challenge such groups of people to create a list of names, phone numbers, and areas close to where they live so that if someone knows that they should not drive there is a willing community to embrace them and make sure that individual and the rest of us are safe,” said Lawson.
theChive Cincinnati is a local organization that focuses on the idea of community with the goal to make the world 10% better. theChive has pinpointed a charity model, just like that of a flash mob. A common ideology of Chivers around is. “We stand tall as individuals and as tall as Everest when someone needs us. We are small percentage wishing to change the world into the best it can be and will not back down for our values.” We invite everyone from all communities to join us for this memorial day mixer for a great cause. If you cannot attend this event there is a gofundme page set up for Dylan at http://www.gofundme.com/DylansChiveFriends.
A Life Lesson: See Closed Doors As Opportunities
Kennedy Heights Arts Center Has Student Art Show
Each spring, the galleries at Kennedy Heights Arts Center highlight the work of our area’s most up-and-coming artists. The annual Student Art Show features artwork by more than 80 youth and adult students who take class at the arts center or in one of its many outreach programs in local schools.
Paintings, drawings, photography, mixed-media collage and textured wall sculptures grace the walls of the historic building’s exhibition space. The works demonstrate the great imagination and talent of these diverse students, as well as the creativity of their skilled, professional art instructors. Kennedy Heights Arts Center offers a wide range of classes and camps for youth ages 5+ and adults in drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, print making and more – allowing people of all ages and backgrounds to express themselves creatively, hone their skills, 
or learn a brand new art form. The center’s sliding-scale fee policy ensures affordability for all people regardless of income. Outreach programs in public schools and social service organizations provide enrichment opportunities for many under-served children.
Students of all ages look forward to this exhibit every year so they can show off their hard work – and its a great chance for the public to view all the imaginative and inspiring work students have been making, and to discover what others have been learning. Participating schools include Academy of World Languages, Nativity School, The New School Montessori, Pleasant Ridge Montessori, Silverton Paideia Academy, and Woodford Paideia Academy.
The show runs through Saturday, May 23rd. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Friday, 10am to 5pm and Saturday, 11am to 4pm. The Kennedy Heights Arts Center is located at 6546 Montgomery Rd; 45213.
Andrea Francisco Shares Her Lessons Learned As My Good Things Intern
I am so very proud of Andrea Francisco, a recent Indian Hill High School graduate who has been interning with me this school year; and I am grateful for the opportunity to get to know her and all of her abilities. She is no doubt going to be going on to great things. Before then she took a few minutes to share how the experience has helped her grow.
written by Andrea Francisco
Over the past year, I have learned some important lessons on life that I want to share with you all. From my experience writing at Good Things Going Around to having a blast finishing my fourteenth year at the Indian Hill, I have had a wonderful year, perhaps my best yet, with many lessons learned along the way.
Being Grateful and the Importance of Giving Back
In the past, I always took all of my blessings for granted, and never fully appreciated the scope of how lucky I am. I live in a free country, go to an excellent school, and have little hardships compared to others. However, this does not mean that I should sit back and relax: because I have been given so much, I believe that I should give back even more. This sounded overwhelming to me at first, but I am now convinced that this is the meaning of life: to lift up and help others. Also, I am inspired by this quote from the French writer and poet Antoine de Saint-Exupery: “When you give yourself, you receive more than you give.” In other words, when you give back to others even a little bit, the joy you have inspired in them will be reflected back to you, and you will have more joy than what you started out with.
Being Joyful and Sharing With Others
The power of sharing stories and experiences with others is that it is incredibly moving; just think about the countless lives that are touched everyday by the stories in Good Things Going Around alone. Without sharing, we would be unable to connect with each other, particularly strangers whom we might be tempted to judge, in meaningful ways. Sharing improves trust and understanding between different and sometimes conflicting groups or individuals. Furthermore, I have learned that it is important to be joyful in sharing, as that joy can touch the lives of others in ways I can’t imagine. I have found that the saying “Be the change you want to see in the world” is really true, because when I am more joyful the people around me tend to be the same. For instance, I notice that when I smile around others they tend to smile back also. It’s incredibly empowering to think that if I choose so, I can influence the people around me to be joyful if I show joyfulness myself.
Balancing Life and Prioritizing
The art of balancing life is an important lesson that I have learned this year, as it is the first year in my young adult life I have felt truly balanced. Some years I would be lazier and procrastinate, while other years I would spend too much time studying and working. However, this year I have found a happy medium between the work-life balance, and part of this is because I learned to spend more time working on the things that make me more happy and fulfilled. Yes, school and work are important, and you should work hard, but always remember to find time to do the things that make you happy. In my case this includes helping others, exercising, writing, making art, cooking, and spending time with friends.
People are Truly Amazing
I am actually shocked at how amazing people are! I never knew the world had so many talented, happy, and strong people, especially in the greater Cincinnati area, previous to starting my internship at Good Things Going Around. The ReelAbilities Film festival was definitely the pinnacle of the newfound amazement I have for people with disabilities. Watching the different film trailers made me laugh and cry, and allowed me to connect with people that have disabilities in ways I never imagined. I saw the film called “Stand Clear of the Closing Doors”, a drama film about a boy with autism, Ricky, who lives in Queens and hides in the subway with Hurricane Sandy approaching, all while his family desperately searches for him. In addition, the photography work done by Rick Guidotti in his program Positive Exposure, which exposed the true beauty of those with genetic, physical, and behavioral differences, such as albinism or autism, was a real eye-opener. I don’t know a lot of people with these kinds of differences personally, so being able to see how beautiful they are in reality rather than how society tells us to think of them is really enlightening. It’s made me really realize that just because someone looks or acts different from most people does not make them inadequate or inferior, as society might lead us to think. I once heard a quote about autism from Paul Collins saying, “Autists are the ultimate square pegs, and the problem with pounding a square peg into a round hole is not that the hammering is hard work. It’s that you’re destroying the peg.” I think this can also apply to anyone that is different in some way. It teaches society that we need to stop trying to mold everyone into perfect round pegs, and instead let people be as they are, imperfect, but still striving to do their best, which is all that matters.
