Being And Doing

What are we going to do? The ways of the world that we were born into are very quickly falling apart around us. Monetary systems are collapsing, the security and benefits of a college degree are disintegrating, war and famine are taken as a given, and humanity is precipitating a modern mass-extinction of global species. Amidst all of this, continuing to advance ourselves along prescribed courses for success seems rather blind and naive. How then are we to succeed in such a volatile world? What is a definition of success that we should adhere to in making both immediate and long-term decisions?

Since social status and wealth are quickly becoming reviled as opposed to revered, we have reevaluated what it means to be a success and what goals we deem worthwhile. Success in an environment that is hostile is the ability to sustain one’s self. What, then, does sustainability mean for a human being and, therefore, for humanity as a whole? It is not merely surviving and maintaining oneself as an individual, for human beings are social creatures that live in communities; we have lived in communities since the dawn of our species. Individual maintenance is only one half of human sustainability. We must also sustain each other. We need to integrate personal responsibility with social responsibility into such a cohesion that the two are indistinguishable from one another. How is this possible? The answer is simple and it is known to everyone.

Compassion. The golden rule. Love others as you love yourself. Make every moment count not just for yourself but for everyone that comes into contact with you. In order to fully become an agent of this grand concept, however, we have realized that we cannot continue doing as we are doing. Schooling, work, the accumulation of wealth and material possessions, personal advancement: these are all things that impede our ability to be truly compassionate and understanding to all we come into contact with because, in order to succeed in such enterprises, one must always put oneself before others. That is the nature of advancement- for in order to advance one must be advancing past another.

All of this being said, the three of us have fully committed ourselves to integrating who we are with what we do. The only way to truly accomplish this goal is to separate ourselves from the world we have built around us. We must set aside our stationary lives and be mobile. We need to discover what it is that connects humanity to itself; what connects each of us to each other. When everything that we have been taught to accept as a constant collapses, what remains that is true and real? Who are we and how do we connect to the grand scheme? These are questions that we cannot answer because, as of now, we are still integrated into the way things are (although the way things are is quickly becoming the way things were).

So, in the tradition of the great humans of the past who have affected the spirituality and imagination of all of humanity, we are embarking on a great journey project. As Jesus and the Buddha put their prescribed lives behind them to discover Truth, as Socrates questioned everything, as Picasso and Magritte explored what it means to see, as Dostoyevsky and Shakespeare explored the nature of humanity, as the Mahatma Gandhi and MLK Jr. devoted themselves to the advancement of human dignity, so shall we. We are going to leave the comforts of home and society to devote ourselves to exploring, helping, meeting, loving, and sharing communal experience; and we want you to be there every step of the way.

We have entitled both ourselves and our project Being And Doing (BAD). As an organization of three people, we will be traveling the country volunteering our time, interviewing fellow men and women, and documenting every moment through visual and written material for you to experience in order to promote interpersonal compassion and volunteerism. We are utilizing the world’s greatest communication tool, the Internet, by creating a website to track and publish all that we do so that you may join us. We have been working on this project for several months and are nearing the time for it to be put into motion. However, we do need help. As we all come from families of limited means, and as individuals we do not have the ability to immediately cut our ties to our structured lives without financial repercussion, we are humbling ourselves to you and many many others.

You will be able to see the product that we put forth every day on our website. We are hoping this project will introduce us to new acquaintances, bring us close to the people that we have not seen or communicated with in years, and closer to the people that we see more frequently. We are seeking constant communication.

If you are interested and able to contribute, please make donations payable to:

Being And Doing, Inc.

1257 Nicholson Ave.

Lakewood, OH 44107

ALL OF OUR LOVE AND THANKS,

Andrew Michalko 216.798.9722 andrew@beinganddoing.org

Katie Michalko 216.849.8614 katie@beinganddoing.org

Christopher McNulty 216.410.3654 chris@beinganddoing.org