Lent Photo a Day: Seek

“Seek” is not a word that most of us use in our everyday vocabulary. “Hide and Seek,” maybe, or the Biblical quote, “Seek and ye shall find,” are two of the very few times we might use it, or we might occasionally describe something as being “highly sought after.” But most of the time, we don’t “seek” things. We just search for them. So what’s the difference?

The dictionary actually defines the word “seek” in terms of the word “search”: Seek means “to go in search or quest of.” The word “quest” is also defined in terms of “search”: Quest means “a search or pursuit in order to find or obtain something.” And one last definition: Pursuit means “an effort to secure or obtain.” So seeking is a search involving effort, for something specific that you are trying to obtain. The implication is that the object you are seeking has significant value. You search for your lost car keys; you seek a lost treasure.

So what is it that most of us are seeking in this life? What is it that holds significant value for us? What do we put effort into obtaining? 

If we measure effort by the time we spend doing something, most of us must be seeking something to do with our occupations – after all, we spend 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (and usually more) at our jobs. So is it a paycheck that we value? A professional reputation? Personal satisfaction in a job well done? Some combination of those things?

Maybe we should measure our effort not by time, but by passion. What is it that we are passionate about? What do we do that revives us, that excites us, that moves us to action? Is it a hobby? Charitable or philanthropic work? Are we seeking to challenge ourselves physically or mentally? To help our fellow man? To make the world a better place?

Or perhaps effort should be measured by our mental investment in the outcome of our seeking. How important is our quest? How concerned are we about finding or achieving it? How much does the success of our seeking matter to us? What will happen if we never find what we seek?

However it is you choose to define what you’re seeking, we’re all seeking something. Wealth, wisdom, fulfillment, a happy family, a better world, God. We all seek, and we all find, although we don’t always find what we were seeking. But sometimes, it’s just the act of seeking that’s important.

Seek.

The Play's the Thing

I love to watch my kids play.

I love to watch their minds figuring out how to use each toy, each apparatus. I love watching them approaching other children, both friends and strangers. I love watching their joy as they discover something fun and exciting and new.

A few days ago, I brought both my kids to “Bounce for a Cure,” a fundraising event hosted by some friends of mine. The day raises funds for the charity “Voices of Hope,” (www.voicesofhopeboston.org) which is a vocal and theatrical group I am honored to have been a part of for several years. The mission of Voices of Hope is to raise funds for cancer research. The group is comprised mainly of theatrical performers, most of whom have lost a family member or friend to cancer. Each of us sings in honor of someone we have lost to cancer, or in celebration of someone who has beaten cancer. Many of the members are even cancer survivors themselves. We each have a story of how cancer has touched our lives. Not only does the group as a whole put on several major performances each year which raise funds for the Henri and Belinda Termeer Center for Targeted Therapies at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, but many individuals also raise funds on their own via their own personal skills and talents, from cake decorating to jewelry making to…well, having a yard that will fit multiple bouncy houses.

For the past several years, these particular members have rented a bunch of bouncy houses and opened their yard and their home to members and friends of the Voices of Hope family. For a donation to the cause, families get not only access to a racecar bouncy house, an obstacle course bouncy house, and a basketball shooting bouncy house, they get to play with a bunch of ride-on toys including a Big Wheel, a Cozy Coupe, a miniature pickup truck, and several tricycles, they have access to a “slack line,” a tire swing shaped like a bucking bronco, a cool play structure with a slide, multiple swings, and ladders, and a play house, and they get to snack on pizza, watermelon, pretzels, goldfish crackers, popcorn, and slush, washed down with ice cold lemonade. What a way to spend the afternoon!

And that’s exactly what we did. We spent the afternoon romping around in the sunshine. I chatted with other parents; my kids chatted with other kids. They raced from adventure to adventure, stopping only to come tell me about the new fun thing they had found, or to drag me over to watch them play.

But they didn’t need to drag me, because I was already watching them with great interest. After all, if I didn’t watch them, I would have missed lots of wonderful moments. Like when a little boy who had been playing with my son clapped him on the back and said, very matter-of-factly, “I like you, dude.” And I thought to myself, “Me too, kid. Me too.”

30 Days of Thanksgiving: Day 13

Today, the cause I am thankful for is a group called, “Voices of Hope” (http://voicesofhopeboston.org/). Voices of Hope (VOH) was conceived by my friend Greg Chastain, who lost his mother in 2009 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. VOH is an organization of more than 100 local performers who donate their time and talent to raise awareness and funds for cancer research. With music as their voice, these inspirational performers, whose lives have all been affected in some way by cancer, share stories of hope, loss, and courage through, song, dance, and testimonials, allowing for an intimate and inspiring look at our collective fight against cancer.

I first sang with VOH at Symphony Hall in Boston in September 2010. It was an awe-inspiring experience for me, both because, frankly, SYMPHONY HALL!!!! And because the musical performances were interspersed with stories from various cast members of how they had been affected by cancer, either because they were cancer survivors, or because they had lost (or nearly lost) a friend or family member to cancer. I had lost my father to liver cancer in 2003, and my mother had recently been through a year-long struggle with ovarian cancer, and after two major surgeries and chemotherapy, she was healthy and able to be at the concert.

My second performance with VOH was particularly emotional for me. This performance was at the lovely Shalin Liu Center in Rockport, which looks out over the ocean, in May 2011. My mother’s ovarian cancer had recurred a few months after the previous concert, but this time it did not respond to chemotherapy and she had passed away only a month before. I was also 6 months pregnant and definitely not feeling my best. But what better place to be in that situation than doing something I loved, surrounded by those I loved, and by those who understood exactly what I was going through. I listened to the stories of love and loss with somewhat different ears that time.

The deep personal connection to the cause of cancer research is what sets VOH apart from many other fund-raising groups, in my opinion. The passion of each and every member brings a devotion to the cause that is rarely seen. And I am so thankful that they have found a way to channel that passion into a cause that is bringing us closer to a cure every day. I am thankful for Greg, who came up with the idea, for the members of the VOH board, who continually find new ways to bring attention and funding to the cause, and to all the performers who give their time and talent to make those ideas a reality.


The three things I am thankful for today are cake mixes, Costco, and car seat heaters. And yes, those three things are related!!!

Voices of Hope

Last night, I had the honor and privilege of performing at Boston’s historic Symphony Hall as part of a concert called Voices of Hope. VOH is a fundraising effort for cancer research in conjunction with the Expect Miracles Foundation and Mutual Funds Against Cancer. The first VOH concert was held last year, at a small venue in Winchester, with a cast of about 30 and an audience of about 150. This year, the concert moved to Symphony Hall, with a cast and crew of over 100 and an audience of around 1,000.

The core cast and production staff of VOH had been working for months selecting, orchestrating and choreographing numbers, rehearsing songs and dances, organizing the program order, writing and editing personal stories, and of course, fundraising, fundraising, fundraising. They held a yard sale with donated designer clothing. They made and sold jewelry. They recruited donations for a silent auction. They held fundraising sales. They sold tickets. They set up information booths in the lobby of every area performance that would let them in. They hung posters, passed out business cards, and talked up the cause and the concert at every opportunity. And all their hard work paid off. I don’t have the final fundraising tally, but the goal was $50,000 (double the amount raised last year), and if they haven’t reached it yet, hopefully they will within just a few weeks.

I’ll admit up front that I’m not a fundraising type person. I’m not comfortable asking for money, even for a good cause. And this is truly a good cause. So I’m grateful that there are so many others who are willing to speak up and speak out. And I’m grateful that I could participate in some small way by singing last night. After all, everyone can help this cause in their own way.

Some help by performing.

Some help by buying tickets and being in the audience.

Some help by creating publicity.

Some help by donating. If you, my reader, are interested in making a donation towards cancer research, you can donate $10 by simply texting the word “miracles” to 85944 on your cell phone. If you’re interested in learning more about this organization, or about other ways you can help support this important cause, please see the VOH website at http://www.singoutforacure.org/.

Oh yeah – there’s one more really good reason to support this cause. That would be so our children, and our children’s children, will never have to lose sleep worrying that cancer will take away someone that they love. And that’s the best reason of all.