FUNDRAISING GOAL
CURRENT: $5906 GOAL: $6350

Elaine, Vince, Heidi, Paul and Ethan-thank you all so much. It's getting closer and closer to my departure date and I am FIRED UP! I spent some time in my friend Erin's 2nd grade classroom on Friday...she provided me with some fun, simple math lessons and her colleague gave me a bunch of ideas about learning with rhymes and song. I have no idea if I'll actually be able to use this stuff but I figure it's good to be prepared with something. I get the sense that I'm supposed to go to Naggalame, see what the needs are and use whatever skills I have to help out. The Program Director and I will put together my schedule after I've been there for a few days.

I had an incredible experience today. I was interviewed for the Sacramento Bee. My friend met the editor and connected me with one of their writers. I met Anita at Starbucks and we chatted for an hour. She asked alot of questions and I tried to be as simple and honest as possible. It comes to me again and again that these wonderful, new experiences I've had over the past 6 months have come simply because I became willing to work towards my dreams. I feel so much more willing to listen to that quiet part of me that says 'lara, go for it.' I feel myself stretching and grasping for things that once seemed so far out of my reach...

My friend and I spoke this weekend about creating boundaries for ourselves. I realize that it has been me throughout my life, who decided that their were limits on what I could accomplish or achieve. I have been my greatest obstacle, fears and a lack of faith in myself and the Universe, kept me limited in so many ways. I feel myself shedding the fears and self-imposed restrictions daily. What a relief-to finally be free.

I love this Marianne Williams quote (later used by Nelson Mandela),


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."