Contact DJ om acim4me@live.com
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Volunteer Week, Volunteer Management and Mr Belser
I haven’t blogged for awhile. This time I will utilise the most common Volunteer Management excuse – I have just been too busy.
This week has been National Volunteer Week in Australia (NVW ) . And for me personally it’s probably been the best in a long time. So now that it’s over I can pen a few words about my experience and impressions of the week. Personal musings as it were and I hope you can share yours too.
I need not preface this blog by saying Volunteers Week is all about the volunteers…and not volunteer management. Because both are interlinked.
Although peak bodies for volunteering do much to promote these weeks, which are celebrated at different times throughout the globe by the way, I belive that the volunteer management sector have a huge role in ensuring that these weeks are successful. Now what makes a NVW successful you may ask? Recognition of volunteers? An understanding of volunteerism? More recruitment? Just thank you? All of the above?
Sue Hine in her latest blog writes a salient piece on the marketing of volunteering and it is well worth a read. Check it out through the link on this site.
On the ground and at the coal face Volunteer managers and coordinators should be ensuring that volunteers feel valued. And during this week we put in a lot of effort through recognition, promotional and thanksgiving events. All of which must be planned for and organised. Because it is at an organisational level that volunteers should feel valued. We can sing and dance about volunteering all week until the cows come home, and get plaudits from Prime ministers and Presidents but unless this is occurring at a local level then the message and purpose gets lost for volunteers.
Another reason why peak bodies for volunteering should engage more with the volunteer management sector no? It’s just common sense to me. Some are getting it though.
I attended the One Big GLOBAL Thank You run by Volunteering Queensland on Tuesday. It was such a great event where volunteers through modern technology were able to share their inspiring stories via the web. So we had volunteers from flood affected areas in Queensland connected to volunteers from the earthquake affected Christchurch in New Zealand get together online and talk.
It was very emotional and groundbreaking stuff
Another item that really pleased me was the fact that Jelenko Dragisic, CEO of Volunteering Queensland in his inspiring speech mentioned volunteer Management and the need to support VM in the future through educational pathways such as their Cert 4 in volunteer coordination.
Finally a CEO who was linking volunteering and volunteer management. Yes the week was all about the volunteers. But the acknowledgment that volunteer managers and coordinators make a significant difference in our sectors was refreshing.
Volunteering Queensland is doing some amazing things – you only need to search out their website.Is there a possibility of them being a global leader on how volunteering peak bodies should interact with the volunteer management sector?
On a personal level it was an emotional week for volunteers I believe in Queensland. I heard people speak of the enormous contribution of volunteers during the floods. Such as the guy who owns Drift restaurant in Brisbane. Readers around the globe may recall an image from the Queensland floods of a riverside restaurant being swept away and floating down the river. This week the owner spoke of the hundreds of volunteers who turned up to help the next day. He was touched. We all were. and by the thousands who got up one morning and headed out in our community to assist.
This week I was fortunate enough to hear Fral Streit from Volunteering Queensland talk about her memories of that week. Where thousands of volunteers self mobilized. During her talk she was moved. Everyone listening to her were too.
There was an emotive touch to proceedings to volunteer recognition events in Queensland this year I believe. And in many other places too.
And although I wasn’t personally affected by natural disaster I felt that emotion.
It was probably reflected in my own address to volunteers this year. I spoke about time and the here and now. I spoke about how we often get distracted and worried about a future that is yet to come and a past that will never return. I spoke about the gifts that we miss in the here and now. The present. And how we sometimes forget to acknowledge what happens now. The gifts that people give. The gift of time. In essence the extraordinary act of volunteering. And then I spoke of Mr. Belser. The author of this piece is unknown. It resonated with me and I hope it resonates with some of you too. Thank you for taking the time to read my blog.
It had been some time since Jack had seen the old man. College, girls, career, and life itself got in the way. In fact, Jack moved clear across the country in pursuit of his dreams. There, in the rush of his busy life, Jack had little time to think about the past and often no time to spend with his wife and son. He was working on his future, and nothing could stop him.
Over the phone, his mother told him, "Mr. Belser died last night. The funeral is Wednesday."
Memories flashed through his mind like an old newsreel as he sat quietly remembering his childhood days.
"Jack, did you hear me?"
"Oh sorry, Mom. Yes, I heard you. It's been so long since I thought of him. I'm sorry, but I honestly thought he died years ago," Jack said.
"Well, he didn't forget you. Every time I saw him he'd ask how you were doing. He'd reminisce about the many days you spent over 'his side of the fence' as he put it," Mom told him.
"I loved that old house he lived in," Jack said.
"You know, Jack, after your father died, Mr. Belser stepped in to make sure you had a man's influence in your life," she said.
"He's the one who taught me carpentry," he said. "I wouldn't be in this business if it weren't for him. He spent a lot of time teaching me things he thought were important... Mom, I'll be there for the funeral," Jack said.
As busy as he was, he kept his word. Jack caught the next flight to his hometown. Mr. Belser's funeral was small and uneventful. He had no children of his own, and most of his relatives had passed away.
The night before he had to return home, Jack and his Mom stopped by to see the old house next door one more time.
Standing in the doorway, Jack paused for a moment. It was like crossing over into another dimension, a leap through space and time.
The house was exactly as he remembered. Every step held memories. Every picture, every piece of furniture... Jack stopped suddenly.
"What's wrong, Jack?" his Mom asked.
"The box is gone," he said.
"What box?" Mom asked.
"There was a small gold box that he kept locked on top of his desk. I must have asked him a thousand times what was inside. All he'd ever tell me was 'the thing I value most,'" Jack said.
It was gone. Everything about the house was exactly how Jack remembered it, except for the box. He figured someone from the Belser family had taken it.
"Now I'll never know what was so valuable to him," Jack said. "I better get some sleep. I have an early flight home, Mom."
It had been about two weeks since Mr. Belser died. Returning home from work one day Jack discovered a note in his mailbox. "Signature required on a package. No one at home. Please stop by the main post office within the next three days," the note read.
Early the next day Jack retrieved the package. The small box was old and looked like it had been mailed a hundred years ago. The handwriting was difficult to read, but the return address caught his attention.
"Mr. Harold Belser" it read.
Jack took the box out to his car and ripped open the package. There inside was the gold box and an envelope. Jack's hands shook as he read the note inside.
"Upon my death, please forward this box and its contents to Jack Bennett. It's the thing I valued most in my life." A small key was taped to the letter. His heart racing, as tears filling his eyes, Jack carefully unlocked the box. There inside he found a beautiful gold pocket watch.
Running his fingers slowly over the finely etched casing, he unlatched the cover. Inside he found these words engraved:
"Jack, Thanks for your time! -Harold Belser."
"The thing he valued most...was...my time."
Jack held the watch for a few minutes, then called his office and cleared his appointments for the next two days. "Why?" Janet, his assistant asked.
"I need some time to spend with my son," he said. "Oh, by the way, Janet... thanks for your time!"
Saturday, May 7, 2011
A Thank you speech to volunteers without mention of the words “thank you!”
Giving time is a precious thing. What you do matters. There is nothing that you do that is meaningless. Words like “you are so lovely” may be true in some cases but your contribution is far more than this. Words such as “what you do is so nice” while on some level ringing true does today not truly capture the essence of what volunteering is all about.
Applying to you are words such as skilled, dynamic, innovative, diverse, inspiring, contributing, making a difference, important, leading and part of the team.
Add appreciated, valued and respected. And knowing the difference between any lip service during National Volunteer week and true appreciation demonstrated in a myriad of ways throughout the year.
Knowing why you are here. Understanding your motivation. Embracing whatever motivation brings you here from altruism to seeking experience or seeking to gain something for yourself.
Matching your skills and personality to meaningful tasks. Inviting and welcoming your feedback and suggestions. And listening.
And telling your story.
And being proud of your efforts.
Because volunteering is a great story, a powerful movement as well as an invigorating energy for our globe and you are part of that.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
How do you become a Volunteer Manager?
Since discovering it just over 12 months ago I have to say I love blogging. For me it’s a bit of a hobby. I get to write, express a view, have some fun along the way and if I am giving encouragement to anyone then that’s a bonus.
What I find very interesting is that I am able to track a number of things such as from what counties people are visiting, what pages they read most and how they got here. I am particularly interested in how they found me through a Google search. For example I know that a lot of people find me by googling “Thank you speeches for volunteers” and others from googling “Volunteer Management jokes” Please resist your own attempt at humour there!
Other examples are Google searches for “DJ Cronin” “Volunteer Management” and “leadership” etc.
Today I found one that prompted this particular post. Someone had found my blog after googling “How do you become a Volunteer Manager”
It stopped me in my tracks really and caused a bit of introspection.
Because really, It’s quite a good question and one that I hadn’t really thought of before. For so much of my writing and advocacy work in this sector is aimed at people already in the field.
I am confident many of us are asked “How do you become a volunteer?” I know I have. Truth be known though I’ve never been asked “How do you become a Volunteer Manager?”
If you are asked this question tomorrow how would you respond?
I contemplated this question as I took the train ride home tonight. In my own state of Queensland here in Australia Volunteering Queensland offers a Certificate IV in Volunteer Program Co-ordination.
So I guess part of my answer would be to advise someone to take this educational pathway into Volunteer Management. Would that answer suffice?
This brings up many questions:
•Would you point to an educational pathway into Volunteer Management?
•Does such a pathway exist where you live?
•Are such qualifications necessary in order to become a Volunteer Manager?
•Can anyone become a Volunteer Manager?
As with other some other blogs I write I sometimes feel that a book could be written on these matters!
Stay with me as I try my own googling experiment. What happens if I Google “How to become a Volunteer Manager” I got 10 Results! And guess what?? All of these results come from the same website! Out of interest – when I googled “How to become an HR Manager” I got 9,300 results! Hello? “How to become a volunteer coordinator” got me 7 results by the way.
And what type of results did I get when I googled “How to become a Volunteer Manager/Coordinator”?
Interesting. To say the least.
Employment Crossing, a website in the US, which appears to be a job site, gives over a full page under the title “Volunteer Manager Jobs – How to Become a Volunteer Manager”
http://www.publicinterestcrossing.com/article/640067/Volunteer-Manager-Jobs--How-to-Become-a-Volunteer-Manager/
Here’s an excerpt:
“The volunteer manager jobs are full of challenges. This is because it requires interfacing with different kinds of people doing pro bono work in a non-profit organization. Volunteerism is a noble act and although all of us are called to do voluntary work at one point in our life or two, only few among us are blessed to be given the chance to actually become a volunteer. Volunteer manager careers are also varied depending largely on the organization but in general, volunteer managers are the ones responsible in the recruitment, training, recognition, and support of volunteers in an organization.”
I see.
I could argue a few things here but might save it for another blog or wait to see some of your own comments.
They go on….”Some organizations may prefer to hire volunteer managers that have an undergraduate or graduate degree in non-profit management or someone with extensive experience in marketing or maybe someone who has exceptional communication and people skills.”
I get some of that but not all. And finally
“Qualifications needed for volunteer manager jobs include experience volunteering, managing a volunteer database, team leading personality, and knows how to choose volunteers. Being involved in the program will result to volunteers respecting your volunteer work and urge them to work harder.”
Huh?
So this is the only information available on the World Wide Web for someone who Googles “How to become a Volunteer Manager” Don’t even bother searching the “How to become a volunteer coordinator?” You’ll get nowhere.
Because of the title of my post and my several references to “How to become a Volunteer Manager” I expect that many more people who Google that question will get to this blog. Simply because there is hardly anything else there.
Is this a good reflection on our field, on us?
In our echo chambers, as we debate this and that about our profession and this and that about volunteer definitions etc, do we forget that there might be people looking into our goldfish bowl as we swim around with our issues, who think “I wonder what’s going on in there?”
The lady or gentleman who googled “how do I become a Volunteer Manager’?” would be no wiser after that search. There’s something a little sad about that. What does that say about us? And what can we do to rectify that situation?
And what would you say to anyone who asks you “how do you become a Volunteer Manager?”
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Does it pay to manage volunteers?
I had an email from someone a few weeks ago saying that they felt they were not being paid enough. To help their cause they wanted to benchmark the industry on pay rates.
My thoughts are that this in fact could be counterproductive.
The fact is that no one knows what people leading volunteer teams should be paid.
We’ve had many debates over the years on this and related items for example “should a person managing 100 volunteers be paid differently to someone managing 15” that’s just one. However I’ve also noticed that we are most uncomfortable talking about such matters.
Let me straight out, from the start, inform you that I am talking about Paid Volunteer Managers. I have to say this because there are “volunteer” volunteer managers out there. I run into them at talks I give on Volunteer management.
I have to always emphasize that just because they are unpaid doesn’t mean they have the skills to do the job. People miss my point.
However we are unique as a sector that such people exist. We won’t hear too much about Volunteer HR managers for example. I won’t see too much of volunteer marketing or finance managers within organisations. And yes I do know that people provide services pro bono.
But over the last few years I have noticed a discomfort with pay and volunteerism. I think it even affects thought within the volunteerism industry.
This is a little elephant in the room and I will come back to it later.
“I am not in it for the money”
This is something I hear from quite a few in our sector. And that’s all well and good for those who perhaps have no desire for advancement of a professional sector.
This is where our huge conundrum lies – striking a balance between advocating for better and fairer remuneration in an area that engages people who do not get paid.
And therein lays our biggest failure of thought in my opinion when it comes to volunteerism and introduces our elephant: If we equate volunteering to saving money or economic value then we take from volunteering itself.
Please read Jayne Cravens blog on these matters.
Volunteering is NOT ABOUT MONEY! Volunteering is not UNPAID WORK! Volunteering is many dynamic things but not these.
I’ve had to say to audiences I’ve spoken to - “is it wrong to have a volunteer management role that helps pay my mortgage?” Good grief – we would not hear this in other sectors!
If a volunteer Manager states that they do what they do to be financially secure is this so bad?
Some of the best consultants on volunteering and volunteer management and not for profit governance I believe are ignored by certain high profile sections in volunteering because they try to make a living out of what they do.
As though that’s a sin.
Again, there is little discussion by volunteer management associations on this topic. I again and again wonder what exactly their brief is. I mean, is this not a bread and butter issue? Some will say that it is not. Some will think I am barking up the wrong tree again and say “what are you on about DJ?”
But there are those reading this blog who know exactly what I am talking about.
How terrible is it to find yourself with a huge responsibility for managing volunteers within your organisations and not to be fairly compensated for the huge role you undertake.
You know who you are. Take heart. There are a few of us trying to do something about this.
Because we believe you do an amazing job.
You need to believe it yourself too! And be fairly paid for what you do!
Monday, April 25, 2011
An inspiring and validating sound in Volunteer Management
In my most recent blog post “The sound of silence in Volunteer Management” I bemoaned the fact that our sector is so reticent to engage social media and develop a voice – a voice that should and must be included in the volunteerism narrative.
The quality of responses merits a blog post of its own.
I believe Jayne Cravens has the best blog on volunteerism and related matters in the globe. Jayne emailed me this response:
"Volunteer managers will say so much in a workshop, but online, the silence is deafening.
I think a lot of the silence comes from a culture volunteer managers have created for themselves, a culture that requires us to be nice, to be team players, to be safe, to be non-confrontational and to never, ever rock the boat. I've met volunteer managers who are so terrified of saying the "wrong" thing in writing that they won't write emails to volunteers, let alone respond to a blog post!
I'd love to blame others for this culture. I'd love to say its senior managements fault. Or donor pressure. Those groups have played a role, but the reality is that volunteer managers have done it to themselves. They self-censor. They hold back. They say, internally, or to me in the bar at a volunteer management conference hotel, "I don't want to sound stupid. I don't want to get into trouble. I don't want to make a public misstep. If one person disagrees with me, I'll be crushed."
I take heart in this: in the early days of OzVPM and UKVPMS, debates were rare. Rob and Andy were practically begging for people to post something, ANYTHING. Now, conversations and debates *do* happen. As more volunteer managers are connected to these groups (I still think they are woefully under-publicized), more will be connected to blogs - and I hope the evolution will continue and volunteer managers will DARE TO COMMENT.”
Dave had some great responses to my blog:
“So, DJ, perhaps the lack of response to the high profile volunteering gurus such as Martin Susan, Jayne and yourself is not really the sound of silence. If you listen closely, you'll hear the echoes in the sounds of volunteering and volunteer support takes place at a local level.”
In another post he went on to say “Every time I talk to or read something by a volunteer manager, I learn or re-learn something. This is as true for my conversation with a volunteer in a village-based organisation here in South Derbyshire as it is when I read a blog by someone who have become nationally and internationally known through their willingness to share their experience and ideas about volunteering.
I hope that I never stop learning, and I promise never to stop expressing my views.”
Now that is inspiring!
Wendy joined the conversation and had this to say “I also took a great leap of faith to start participating in online forums, hot topics and start commenting on blogs. In fact my first venture in commenting on a post on I-Volunteer was inspired not by a volunteer management guru per se, but by a person who I related to, a “newbie” to blog posting. I was inspired by her openness and honesty and willingness to give it a go. I just had to respond to congratulate her on her post and for her frankness. This was the start for me. I had taken the first big step.”
You sure did Wendy and now people reading this can be inspired by you.
Well done!
Another respondent, Carey, had a powerful message for us all:
“Truth is a powerful thing that can often liberate silence- as you have so affectively done with your post here. You have many comments because being validated can do wonders to empowering people to speak their truth. I believe that volunteer administrators are not too busy to speak up, they are in reality fearful of what will happen if they speak up. Just look at the comments on my first article. One person used a fake email and name. The other is out of her old position, like me, and now has liberty to be honest.
People yearn to feel free, and have the catharsis to speak up- but do not always have that privilege.
SO THANK YOU for writing this and empowering people to comment. Thank you for helping to validate this profession and the experience of our community"
Thank you Carey for expressing this so beautifully. Your words are powerful and will resonate with many !
Martin J Cowling practiced what he preaches and responded whilst also pointing to his own informative blog:
“So, I read the blog post which was excellent and I am posting as reply....now I have a blog...I am convicted to practice what I preach...one sentence is enough (I am going to have multiple sentences!)
While I am here, let me point to my blog post on the Volunteering Queensland submission re the flood volunteers in Queensland. See The Cowling Report: Friday Facts- No Follow through. The Post has been up for a week and already is the second most read blog post @The Cowling Report! (and only has your comment DJ!)
http://cowlingreport.blogspot.com/2011/04/friday-facts-no-follow-through.html”
I received another email with an inspirational message from a Volunteer Coordinator today which links in beautifully with this post:
“In ancient times, a King had a boulder placed on a Roadway. Then he hid himself and watched to see if Anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the King's' wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by And simply walked around it.. Many loudly blamed the King for not keeping the roads clear, but none did Anything about getting the stone out of the way. Then a peasant came along carrying a load of Vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed
a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the King indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. The peasant learned what many of us never understand!
Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve our condition.”
When we find our voice we find we have a lot to say. Because we are the difference makers. We are at the forefront of a movement that changes lives.
We need to get rid of our fear of validation.
Because……
You are great.
Now if you haven’t done so already click on the heading of this post. The short movie “Validation” is only 16 minutes long. But it will be the best 16 minutes of your day today!
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The sound of silence in Volunteer Management
***“And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence”
Martin J Cowling in his blog “The Cowling Report” asks “How do I get comments on my blog posts? I know people are reading them but I would love some comments here!” The irony here is there is no response to this blog so far. At the end of my post at least there will be one.
Sue Hine writes a great blog and is linked here.
A snippet from her blog:
“The worst indictment I have ever seen is the case of the Manager of Volunteers who ‘owns’ the volunteers. They are never ‘my’ volunteers, as I wrote in this blog months ago. Management of Volunteers is about running a service or programme for your organisation. What you do with volunteers in all the training and support and communication and relationship stuff is Leadership (another story, another time).
If you don’t get this, then you get the kind of stand-off between staff and volunteers that can lead to a (metaphoric) pistols-at-dawn shoot-out.”
I commented on this blog. But there has been nothing else.
Andy Fryar is the Founder and Director of OzVPM - a resource, consultancy and training company specializing in volunteerism - particularly as it relates to the Australasian region.
Andy is a past President of Volunteering Australia (2002 - 2004). He is also a past Board member of Volunteering South Australia (1996 - 2003), serving as Chairperson for a total of 5 years. In 1998, he was responsible for convening the working party that evolved into AAVA - the Australasian Association for Volunteer Administrators – the Australasian region’s first and only professional association for volunteer managers.
I mention the above because his is a voice that matters.
In His current Hot Topic on his site Andy writes
“In short - break your inertia and voice your opinion. If we as a volunteer management community are not speaking up on behalf of our sector as these new initiatives start to be discussed and implemented, you can certainly guarantee no-one else will speak up on our behalf ...and at the end of the day, when we all begin to cry foul, the government will simply say 'we consulted and no-one said a thing!'
So let's hear from you
•What trends have you noticed that we should be addressing?
•Do you have tips about how to get active?
•Any ideas how we encourage each other to become more active?
•What role should our peak bodies play in all of this?
•What are YOU going to do? “
There has been absolutely no response to this article as I write.
The OZVPM Newsgroup site states
“OzVPM is a moderated forum where you can ask questions, share resources and get into some healthy debate so that we might progress volunteerism in Australia, New Zealand and right throughout the broader Australasian region together!
A recent posting reported:
“QUEENSLAND'S peak volunteer organisation says the vast majority of people who registered to help clean up following the floods and cyclone Yasi backed off at the last minute.
Volunteering Queensland's submission to the Queensland Floods Commission of
Inquiry also found that 30 per cent of callers were people in distress who
needed to "chat" and weren't in a state to volunteer.
After a huge spontaneous surge in people coming forward to volunteer following the disasters, most opted out when it came to getting their hands dirty, the submission showed.”
There was very little comment from the Volunteer management community on this. Why is that? Shouldn’t we have something to contribute?
As much as I am a huge fan of The Australasian Retreat for Advanced Volunteer Management I have to say I am eternally disappointed by the invitation-only Retreat graduate online community “not just 50-not just 3”
Sorry folks
How about “Not just working – not just talking”
Apart from talking about the next retreat or a few weeks of excitement after a retreat this narrative becomes non existent and its facilitation needs to be really reviewed and examined. So there’s a challenge for the Retreat in NZ!
Let’s move on to e – volunteerism. Are the editors happy with the amount of responses to their articles even though they have revamped their site?
I regularly read this fine journal. I am disappointed by so little comment on it.
13 years ago…yes…13…Susan J Ellis wrote “My reputation for nagging people to WRITE about what they do is probably unparalleled. But too many of us are so busy "doing" that we won't make time for reflection, new learning, and sharing with others. True professionals keep themselves informed. And career ladders are built by gaining recognition through published articles.”
Have we moved on since then?
A whole article could be written on why our sector is so quiet on matters pertaining to their profession.
We’ve heard it all before
•Too busy
•Not my role or job
•Not interested in the politics
•Not sure what you’re talking about in the first place
•Were not a sector anyway
•It’s about volunteers not us
•Too busy
•Too busy
•Too busy
Jayne Cravens writes a fantastic blog.Check out the link. Many read. Few respond.
And you know what? I get the lurkers. Those who read articles and don’t respond and are volunteer coordinators or managers. Many just want to look after the world that they inhabit – their organisational needs. They may not believe that the bigger picture of sector development merits their contribution. And they get alot from those who do post.
But of all the non respondents the most who disappoint me are some of the major stakeholders in volunteerism:
•the organisations that engage volunteers
•the professional associations of volunteer managaement
•the peak bodies for volunteering
•Government
It beggars belief that there is not more of a coherent narrative between these parties on Volunteerism and Volunteer Management.
It is a constant source of disappointment to me that people, involved in these arenas are refusing or not willing to be invloved in the forums, Hot Topics or discussions that some are trying to foster for the development of our various sectors.
Board members from every association of volunteer management globally should be seen…and heard.
Peak bodies for volunteering must have members of their organisations involved in Volunteer Management forums so that they can respond to ongoing discussion.
The fact that they are not or are not seen to be is simply poor performance in this day and age.
More people must have more input and views on the whole volunteerism sector
Petty politics must be put aside. No one owns volunteering.
Volunteering demands and deserves better.
And for that to happen the relative silence needs to end.
***
"Fools said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence"
***Source More lyrics: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/s/simon+and+garfunkel/#share
Sunday, April 17, 2011
PLEASE VOTE FOR MY BLOG! CLICK HERE! THANKS!
I was delighted that this blog was nominated for the Best Australian Blogs 2011 Competition.
There is also a People's Choice Award and this is
where I am seeking your vote.
By clicking on the header of this post you will be taken straight to the voting page. Just scroll down to DJ Cronin :-)
Thanks for taking the time to vote and please spread the news!
There is also a People's Choice Award and this is
where I am seeking your vote.
By clicking on the header of this post you will be taken straight to the voting page. Just scroll down to DJ Cronin :-)
Thanks for taking the time to vote and please spread the news!
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