Baking my way to Tucson

I do not by any means think that the trip I am about to embark on is a resolution, much less the only appropriate resolution to current U.S. immigration issues. I'll have to borrow someone else's words to help me explain:

"People make the mistake of regarding commitment as solely political. A writer is committed to trying to make sense of life. It's a search. So there is that commitment first of all: the commitment to the honesty and determination to go as deeply into things as possible, and to dredge up what little bit of truth you with your talent can
express." --Nadine Gordimer

I don't fancy myself a writer, but I do know that I am committed to understanding important issues experientially. I do not wish to base my understanding of important issues solely on what I read or hear through the media or from others.

As a developing human being, I am committed to putting myself in difficult, undesirable, or unpopular situations if necessary in an attempt to understand what someone else's life is like.

I am committed to understanding compassion and if there is an ethics to compassion.

I am deeply committed to speaking from a place of as much personal experience as possible, even though I know I cannot possibly know every side of an issue.

I am deeply committed to being of service to others as I make these discoveries. Sadly, there have been times when I've discovered that what I thought was "helping", wasn't. I am open to that possibility each time I start out. And even though it can lead to a sort of heartbreak, it is none-the-less a worthwhile learning experience, and the only way I know to gain even a modicum of wisdom.

My trip to Arizona, much less my bake sale, has sparked controversial comments from strangers and friends. Fortunately one of my longtime favorite quotes is, "If you are not criticized, you may not be doing much." -- Donald Rumsfeld

I suppose I could just stick to baking, but what sort of life would that be? What sort of person would it make me if I chose not to involve myself more deeply in the world around me?

To those of you who placed orders and to those of you who simply expressed an opinion: Thank you, thank you, thank you.