The End.... sort of

My year as a Catholic Charities Service Corps Volunteer has officially been over for one week. I'm still living in the house with one of my community members for another few days.

Tomorrow, I'm picking up one of the new CCSCVs for the 2011-2012 year and driving her to orientation. I'm excited, but that might be a little bit of a strange experience since it was only one year ago that I was going to orientation.

I'm planning to write more later about wrapping up the year and my future plans (working...I hope) and staying in Buffalo (if I find a job within the next month).

For now, all I'll say is that CCSC is defiantly the best thing I've ever done in my life (I know, it hasn't been that long yet, but still...). Also, as promised at orientation, I'm forever changed by this experience and I'm certainly changed in a good way.

But, for now, I say "goodbye" to CCSC.

A good situation, but not a good story

On Thursday of this coming week, we have our fall retreat that focuses on community. I'm excited to get away and have a retreat. We've been told that in the past, many communities have started having some major issues at this point and that this retreat can be both stressful and a good chance to work out problems.

A part of me wishes I could tell you about some kind of community conflict that came up in the first two months (almost) of living together that we pulled together and talked over using non-violent communication and resolved our problem in a way that was good for everyone. I have no such story. So far, everything in our house has been going remarkably well. I'm very grateful to have housemates/community members that I really like, feel comfortable around, and get along with, but I doesn't make a very good story. Stories in which everything goes well and are happy are not interesting.

I would, of course, rather have a good community than a good story, but I'm a writer and I like stories. I also know that it's still the beginning of our year together, so a good story could be in the future. Still, as long as we keep up with the patients and honesty we've started with in our house, we may end up nipping any potential story in the bud, which will be great for the community and the mental/emotional well-being of everyone in the community, but unfortunate for my writing.

CCSC Video

This video isn't super-exciting, but it's pretty informative about Catholic Charities Service Corps and the purpose of a year of service. If you really want to find out about the program of CCSC, this video is really helpful.