Today is my saint day. Or one of them... the one I celebrate at least. St. Catherine of Alexandria Day. (Which was my nickname at my first job after college, in Alexandria, VA)
But there is no way to live up to a martyr. Many of her attributes are things that I work on. Visit wikipedia, and you'll see that St. Catherine is said to have been highly learned (in philosophy and theology), very beautiful, sexually pure, and to have been brutally murdered for publicly stating her beliefs.
Let's pause for a moment of silence.
Okay, that was just a minute of gratitude that I will not die a painful death as a young virgin. I've missed that calling. (Phew.)
Really, the bit that is most interesting to me is the "publicly stating her beliefs" bit. I try hard to do that. Obviously, here I am.
So what do I say - that needs to be said:
- We need to take better care of one another. Bailouts for corporations are fine, maybe even necessary, but what about the working class people whose annual salaries have not increased significantly in the last DECADE?
- We need to take better care of our little girls. Women are doing better, slowly. But girls all over the world are still undereducated, underfed, and have less opportunities than their male counterparts.
- We need to be more inclusive. Racism, homophobia, ethnic fighting, and classism needs to GO. We're not helping anyone until we're helping everyone.
- We need to be nicer to our planet. We need to drive less, consume less, and downsize. We need to pay attention to our environment and share our resources. We need to reverse climate change. We need to be better.
Strap me to a wheel if you want, but you know I'm right. I am not perfect, but I am dedicated to trying to be a little better everyday. That's all I'm asking from you.
