Steve (and everyone), now that my last Associate’s college class is over (yay!!!) I have a moment to post some excerpts from my speech at the Ball. It was a fifteen minute speech, which was three pages long with one-inch margins in Times New Roman size 12, and I won’t repost all of that. It was a women’s history month theme, so I talked about my Grandmother, my niece, and some others. It was also a benefit for an orphanage in Djibouti, run by six or seven French nuns, and so I talked about them. I used a lot of quotes throughout my speech, and the ones outside of the excerpts I’m going to post follow:

As Erma Bombeck said, “Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.”

Joan Baez put it this way: “You don't get to choose how you're going to die, or when. You can only decide how you're going to live now.”

Ella Fitzgerald, who said, “Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong.”

And Annie Oakley’s remark, “I can truthfully say, I know of no other recreation that will do so much toward keeping a women in good health and perfect figure than a few hours spent occasionally at trap shooting”

I would imagine that the nuns may relate strongly to Dorothea Dix when she said, “In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.”

Philosopher/artist Eric Gill reminds us that "the artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist."

John Maxwell wrote, “A great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision / comes from passion, not position.”

…. And now the excerpts from the speech…… This is a compilation from different parts throughout my speech, while elaborations on women and art were interspersed between these sections. As a mini-summation of my whole speech, though, the following works quite nicely……

The theme for this year’s Women’s History Month is “Women’s Art: Women’s Vision”. We are celebrating the contributions within the art world of women throughout America’s history; specifically the fine arts, such as sculpting and drawing. Pablo Picasso once said, “There are painters who transform the sun into a yellow spot, but there are others who, thanks to their art and intelligence, transform a yellow spot into the sun."

Whether or not you feel talented in the area of visual arts, the world of art can inspire you in other areas. I’d like to challenge all of us to find new visions, or refresh those we’ve had for a while. I’d like to challenge all of us to make our lives into works of art.

What does it mean to make our own lives into works of art? If you wouldn’t mind, I’d love for everyone to close your eyes for a moment and picture your favorite piece of artwork. It may be a sculpture, painting, drawing, perhaps even a graphic arts piece made with new computer technology. Bring it to the front of your mind now, and think about what makes it so appealing.

For many of us, it may be a little hard to pinpoint. We simply LIKE it, right? Many people push aside the idea of ‘art appreciation classes’, preferring the “I know what I like” method of appreciating art. Really, in our lives, we can become appealing in this way. How many times have you heard it said of a person, “there’s just something about her. I can’t put my finger on it, but she’s just pleasant to be around.” Comments to that effect show us that in working towards work-of-art lives, we may find ourselves giving off an overall *feeling* of warmth and comfort, without necessarily having any specific, easy-to-name characteristics that others can pinpoint.

One way this can manifest itself is when we become truly comfortable with who we are. There is a trend today towards being falsely modest or overly arrogant. In between the two, there is a balance of a healthy self-esteem. Understanding how much value we each have is really important. Harlem Renaissance Writer Zora Neale Hurston knew this quite well. She is humorously quoted, “Sometimes I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me.”

I want to be one of those painters who can transform a yellow dot into the sun. I want everyone here to be such a painter. Again, I issue the challenge: Let’s find our vision, and make our lives into works of art.

------ It was a masquerade ball, and they gave me flowers and an award to say thank you, along with the wine glass everyone got with their tickets. I made my own mask, because I need more creative outlets... This was my first time having real flowers in my house here, too, so it was a really nice thank-you gift!!



……. I think the most important part of the speech is the following section: …….

When I was nineteen, I began sponsoring a child through Compassion International, now called Compassion. This is a Christian relief organization, operating all over the world to bring help in poverty-stricken areas. One source of inspiration that Compassion uses in their mission is Proverbs 31:8-9: "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. … Defend the rights of the poor and needy." They provide healthcare, education, needed goods, and religious support for over one million children in 24 countries. When I signed up on their website for whatever child had been waiting longest, they sent me the packet for an eight-year-old Ugandan child named Jovanis. Over these past several years, I have gotten to watch Jovanis grow into a young woman, quite successful in school, who wants to be a social worker when she grows up. She writes me three to five letters a year, sends pictures whenever she can, and tells me all about her life and family in Uganda. One of the most memorable letters I got from her was in response to my question about her hobbies. She wrote back, “I love to sing, read, and do my chores. I take care of my younger sister and brother, and sometimes I go into the mountains to watch the gorillas.”

(I’ll be able to send her a picture of me riding a camel this month, and I know she’ll have lots of questions after that!)

The way that Jovanis wants to help her fellow Ugandans, to return the blessings that she has received through Compassion’s Child Development Center, is certainly not for her own gain. She is not seeking to become rich or to win a prize. Instead, she wants to make a real difference in her community and leave a legacy of service. Her life has already become a work of art.