Volunteering for a meaningful cause

I have been volunteering at a helpline for the past 3+ years, offering emotional support for people who feel depressed, lonely and suicidal.

I feel that it's a meaningful role where I get to give something back to society and make connections with people I would normally not be able to speak with, and to speak with them about things that would not be usually be discussed under other circumstances.

I often have to remember that these conversations are not about me and my focus should be on the caller. I suppose that over the past few years I have learnt to be a better listener and to commit my focus and attention during every minute of the call to the person I'm on the line with.

I'm hopeful that more volunteers will come on board and stay on to serve, as there is a lack of people manning the lines for this round-the-clock service.

Comments

Sony Alpha Basic Photography Workshop

Learned quite a bit on photography at the recent Sony Alpha Basic Photography Workshop held on 12th September 2009 at The Grand Continental Hotel, Jalan Raja Laut. Traffic going into the city was pretty bad, with the Hari Raya holidays just next weekend, many were in town shopping and clogging up the roads. Our trainer, John Shum, talked about all sort of photography tips and tools. It was interesting to know more about how to use the Shutter speed, Aperture settings, Manual mode, ISO, flash, exposure and so on. The attendance was at about 35 and there were 2 young lady models also present for practice shooting. In addition, invited guest Ms. Denise Chan, who has been into photography for 2 years and shoots every weekend, shared her work with the participants. I guess this is one of the advantages of being a Sony Alpha dSLR user. There will be another workshop on using Flash planned for 18th October 2009. The next lens I might look to get is the recommended SAL75300 which retails at RM...

Turned 50!

So I have arrived at a milestone and the feeling is surreal. I have much to be thankful for, looking back. I'd like to enjoy more of the present while looking forward to things that are ahead. It's hard to accept that I am "old" when I feel young, both physically and in my heart. I pray that I would be wise and live accordingly. May I find favour in God's eyes.

Probably The Last Time

This is the 3rd post about the wasp/hornet (please tell me what it is!) nest that's been progressively built at the rear of my home. I tried to get an even closer shot and selected Large, Fine & 2x Telephoto settings on my Sony A330 dSLR. Looks like the details are more pronounced this time around and the nest texture looks simply amazing. I'm sure more could be done with a macro lens (and a higher resolution sensor), but I'll have to settle with what the kit lens has to offer. For uploading to this blog, I'm trying a maximum height of 800 pixels, which matches my laptop's display resolution of 1280 x 800. See if it's a good size to post. Not wanting to encourage further nest building (I've cut them down twice), I resorted to using bug spray on them and totally removed this nest. Will this be the last of them around here for some time?

p a t c h r i s

Search This Blog