Life can be a gigantic rush. From one point to another, it is so very easy to be pushed around by all responsibilities. Many many years ago, I encountered a book titled Slow Down, Life Is Elsewhere, don’t remember much of the content nowadays anymore, but still occasionally got struck by the name, especially when my life seems to be in a rush and I am at the edge of burning out.
Slow down, lie is elsewhere. I interpreted as to be open and consciously be susceptible to distractions that are good for your heart.
Since May this year, two major projects at work made me very much intense all the time. Then here came two big corporate volunteering service events co-managed by Pittsburgh Cares. One is Deloitte’s IMPACT Day, the other is American Eagle’s Service Day. I happily joined Pittsburgh Cares’ staff team to assist the two events, representing Pittsburgh Cares in various projects while also doing some volunteering work myself.
With Deloitte, we claimed a small town minutes outside downtown Pittsburgh called Millvale and did all kinds of projects from weeding community garden, moving art boards of a mural, to painting, and cleaning, to beautify the community. With American Eagle, many projects were organized around the city, but I was with the sub-group that worked on camp improvement at Camp Guyasuta.
Through services, not only our mind got relaxed, but also our body became very active and healthy. When not being pressured by responsibilities that are immediately related to our livelihood, people tend to be happier. Volunteering is a great example of pursuit of happiness in such a fashion.
Another type of distraction that is good for our heart is friendship. Sending out a birthday card, talking on the phone occasionally, having a dinner together after work, or just stopping by for a visit and catch up on life’s developments. Few days ago, I did exactly all of them, which eased my stress level and recharged my mental horsepower.
One visit to a friend’s place in North Hills was especially a treat. From some online materials summarizing uniqueness of Pittsburgh, I learned that Pittsburgh is very Hilly. Watched an episode on WQED called “Dirty Dozen” showcasing an annual bicycle event and got a sense of hilly Pittsburgh. But driving from Lawrenceville to North Hills was the first time I actually experienced this side of Pittsburgh and how hilly it really is. Nevertheless, it was a fun drive only if I hadn’t encountered so many people beeping their horns to each other. Drivers in North Hills seem to be less patient to others as if if the car in the front fails to start immediately after lights turning green, their cars will fall off the hill. So in order to not fall, they got to beep the horn, make a fuss and be in a hurry.
While we were having dinner at an Indian Restaurant, I even bumped into the teaching assistant of Evaluation class that I loved very much during my CMU years. This is just very interesting. Pittsburgh is really a small place, you just may not be able to avoid the fact that you can almost bump into familiar faces wherever you go! After the dinner, we chatted a little bit and reminisced the past and our friendship, then I took off and headed back home in Leechburg.
The GPS took me again through those hilly roads. After many ups and downs and turns, I seemed entered a familiar place. Then I saw a building with a mural. That particular mural told me the place was called Millvale and I was looking at the mural Deloitte folks helped to move during the IMPACT day. It was then and there that I felt life is a Mega circle. No matter how rushed we might be, how many ups, downs, and turns we might take, at some point of this journey, we would witness our own work from the distance. Even only it means being part of it, it can be interesting and sweet. After all, life is a mega circle and we are all part of something. Just like, I have considered myself part of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh part of my journey, my journey part of the world, the world part of the planet, and the planet part of the universe, the universe part of time and space, and time and space part of eternity.
When thinking this way, I feel small, humbled, able to slow down and relax, yet still have a drive to be grand.
Beer winning trivia @ North Hills, Millvale, Camp Guyasuta
1. North Hills is a term generally used to collectively describe the northern suburbs of Pittsburgh. It includes 38 independent suburban municipalities, and 12 school districts.
2. February 13, 1868. With the help of schoolteacher M.B. Lyon, Millvale Borough is incorporated from parts of Shaler Township and Duquesne Borough and named after its industry and location—mill and valley. With a population of 668 in 1870, it quickly expanded after the Civil War and prospered upon connection with Lawrenceville via Ewalt Covered Bridge and a narrow gauge railroad that would become part of Pittsburgh’s famous trolley system. By the turn of 20th century, Millvale had annexed the Third Ward from the Shaler Township and had three schools, three breweries, an opera house, a grocery store, a candy store, and a Masonic lodge.
During the depression in 1930s, Millvale took advantage of the government initiated Works Progress Administration to fortify Girty’s Run Creek and assisted the war efforts proudly with through both its manufacturing businesses and its residents. Many businesses still seen today come from this era, including Daniels’s Electric, Esther’s Hobby Shop, Haser Trucking, Grant Bar, Lincoln Pharmacy, Vecenie’s Beer Distributor and Jerry Kitman’s Fine Furniture.
Though Millvale underwent a fantastic boom after the war, expanding the police force and fire department we know, America’s energy crisis and the downfall of both the manufacturing and steel industries hit home. As Millvale Centennial came and went, the number of residents began dwindling down to the few but fiercely proud of Millvale.
Millvale’s streets were redone and a riverfront park that gave residents access to Allegheny River and featured a pavilion, a bike trail, a boat launch and a skate-park. With development of the riverfront for recreation as well as business, Millvale surpasses similar peers in its county. Although Girty’s Run left parts flooded in fall of 2004, the community survived and grew closer and continues to strive on to a prosperous future today.
3. Named after a great Seneca warrior, Camp Guyasuta is operated by the Greater Pittsburgh Council of the Boy Scouts of America. The warrior Guyasuta probably served as a scout for young George Washington in 1753, though he played a role in defeating the Braddock Expedition in 1755, and sided with the French in the French and Indian War. Guyasuta was a major player in Pontiac Rebellion—indeed, some historians once referred to that war as the Pontiac-Guyasuta War.
At the outset of the American Revolutionary War, the American revolutionaries attempted to win Guyasuta to their cause but he sided with the British. After the war, the aging Guyasuta worked to establish peaceful relations with the new United States. In Pittsburgh, he is honored, along with George Washington, in a large public sculpture called "Point of View", which overlooks Point State Park.
ID@ Deloitte, American Eagle
Where is American Eagle’s headquarter located in Pittsburgh?
Where is Deloitte founded? and Where is its Global headquarter?
