but how do we know what our diamond is?

Lynn Ruth, you have always struck me as someone who is driven and knows what she wants to do in life. You know your diamond, yet making it shine is not always the easiest part...
At 41 I still don't quite know what my diamond is and while I think I want to write and be read, I do have other talents too that I do not explore because I write, work and have to take care of my family. Writing sometimes feels too self-indulgent and violates the social being I want to be. Making a difference in the world, doing something for someone that they will remember the rest of their lives, being completely selfless...I am not sure my generation knows what that is. When I help out in kitchens that serve meals to the homeless, I am struck by the fact that there are so few people of my age/generation there. When I was helping out with the White Cross Memorial in Lafayette one Sunday, there were some high school kids but once again, no one my age (except for my husband). What does my generation really care about? What drives us? What's our diamond? How will we contribute to the world? How can we make a difference and how much of our lives and times should we give unconditionally? Can we make the kinds of sacrifices our parents may have made and how do we teach our kids to be engaged with the world, to do something sometimes that does not serve oneself but helps others? Does altruism still exist? I know it does when I look into the eyes of my Berkeley students and that gives me hope, but at the same time, they are a minority where they could have been the norm. I would like to think we progress and become more enlightened but sometimes it seems we're moving closer to the dark ages where diamonds can't shine altogether.

BTW Do people still read this blog or are Lynn Ruth and I floating aimlessly in cyberspace?