To Live Virtuously

In today’s society, helping others and learning about other cultures has become more and more popular activities. An increasing amount of celebrities are sacrificing their time and money to help others in a variety of areas. These concentration subjects include those in third world countries, helping and supporting research for deadly diseases, and offering assistance or money to others who are not as well off as them. Walt Whitman also brings these ideas of helping people and the soul in two of his poems. He embraces the idea that to live a virtuous life, one must offer what they can to those who need it.

Walt Whitman states it perfectly in his poem “Ones-Self I Sing” in the last stanza. “Of Life immense in passion, pulse, and power, Cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine, The Modern Man I sing.” I interpreted this quote as if you live a life of passion, freedom, and of love, then you have entered the world of the modern life. Everywhere, you hear of more and more people offering money and support to people and organizations that really need it. Celebrities have set a trend and some may even say that it is a race in the world of fame to see who can give the most.

In another poem written by Walt Whitman entitled “I Sing the Body Electric”, in which he concentrates on the soul. He begins by stating his belief that the body is the soul. They are two within one and without the soul, there cannot be a body/person. Whitman lists all of the separate pieces of the body and ends with “O I say now these are the soul!” Clearly, it is his belief that the soul is the body and one must feed the soul to stay alive. What he does not make clear is how he believes one can live this kind of life.

There are opportunities surrounding everyone to give back and help out people in need. This weekend, I went home and volunteered at my town’s library. It was a life enhancing experience. We were able to work directly with unfortunate children from nearby towns. First, all of the volunteers were separated and told we would each have a group of three to four kids. We would be reading them a story and then play games with them. I was a little nervous but then after getting my reading assignment, Dr. Seuss’s “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”, I was calmed a little. This story was one of my favorites as a young child and I had practically memorized it due to the countless times I read it with my parents or by myself.

The kids arrived and I found my group finally after about ten minutes of chaos. I had three boys and one little girl. The girl seemed upset that she was not with her friends so I felt bad for her. I tried to make sure she was included in all of the activities we did. I read the story to them and they seemed to really like it. They thanked me for reading it to them and quickly asked what games we would be playing. I told them to follow me and we would find out. I started walking and when I looked behind me, the little girl was still standing there all alone. I told the boys to wait and asked her if she was okay. Looking down at the ground, she just shook her head “no”. I tried to find out what was wrong but she would not talk. I asked the person in charge if she could watch the boys for me because Anna, the little girl, had to go to the bathroom. I carried her to the bathroom and talked to her. Eventually she opened up and was laughing and talking to me! It felt so good to have this result from her. We went outside and met up with the rest of my group. For rest of the day, we all enjoyed playing Duck Duck Goose, Simon Says, and Tag, just to name a few. While we waited for the kids to get picked up, they had time to draw and color. Just as Anna was leaving, she came up to me and gave me a big hug and handed me a picture. She drew a picture of us holding hands. I told her thank you so much and that I hoped I would see her again. Then, she left.

This experience was one that I doubt I will forget. I have volunteered many other times, but this time was a little different. My previous experiences had been helping older people, especially the elderly. This time, with little kids really made the activity that much more rewarding. Volunteering is something that everyone knows about, but few actually partake in it. The first time I volunteered, I just did it so that I could make my confirmation. However, after experiences like this, I cannot help but continue to do it. The feeling afterward is a truly unique one that I believe only these kinds of encounters can produce.