It's less messy that way

Coming into this year as a YAV I really envisioned being moved and changed as a person because of the service, volunteering, and "helping others" of this experience. That's not really the case. For me, this year has been about the people I've gotten to know along the way. Tucson is full of really neat people doing some really neat work, and if it weren't for this year as a YAV, I probably would never have known about them, much less gotten to meet and gotten to know some of them!

I'm currently reading Prisoner of Conscience, a memoir by Ken Kennon. This book sits on our library at BorderLinks, but for whatever reason, I hadn't picked it up until I won it earlier this month! At BorderLinks' annual event earlier this month, Ken, who happens to be co-president of our board, handed me ten raffle tickets and said, "it would be inappropriate if I were to win anything, so here you go!" Among other things being raffled, there was a Mata Ortiz pot, to a home-cooked gourmet dinner, to some original artwork. I decided to stick to the two things I wanted most to win out of the 20 items, trying to better the odds I'd actually walk away with something. I ended up winning both the things I put in to win! One of them was Ken's book, and a lunch with him. We're having lunch in a little less than two hours at Maya Quetzal. I'm really excited!

I also highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book and start reading. Ken is an ordained pastor in the Disciples of Christ church, but he and his wife regularly attend Southside. In the last 8 months I've gotten to know him and his wife, Mary Ellen, both through both BorderLinks and Southside Presbyterian Church. I don't want to give away the whole book, but it's about Ken's time in Federal Prison. I bet you didn't guess that one from the title! On a more serious note, it's really moving. The book is his journal from his days incarcerated, and scattered throughout are poems he wrote. One poem, paperwork, really jumped out at me.
"May 19
I received a poem yesterday afternoon inspired by noticing a case worker through her office window poring over her paperwork. That appears to be all that we inmates are in this system.
Paperwork
No little boys here
with bloody skinned knees or stubbed toes
No little boys here
healing hugs or wiping our nose
It's less messy that way

No wounded souls here
seeking forgiveness, grieving blows
No wounded souls here
reaching out, risking other noes
It's less messy that way

We are paper men
computer punched analyzed woes
We are paper men
just numbers in digital rows
It's less messy that way

We are paper men
more blips on society's screens
We are paper men
bytes of the statistical means
It's less messy that way" - Ken Kennon, Prisoners of Conscience, 141.

(apologies English teachers and MLA fanatics everywhere- that was not cited properly).

How many things do we do in our daily lives that seem like the easy way out because "it's less messy that way."

Thank you Ken, for really making me think- about myself, relationships, work, community, love, and what we do because "it's less messy that way." My gramma says that, when you're baking, the messier the kitchen the more delicious the treat. Maybe avoiding the mess isn't really the right path.

I'm really excited about finishing the book, sitting with the words, and sharing a meal with Ken at Maya Quetzal later today.


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Ken signed the book, "Life is messy. Embrace it!"