Dorothea
Attitude & Gratitude

Attitude:    There is not a single part of my life that is not affected by my attitude. My future will definitely be influenced by the attitude I carry. It colors every aspect of my life. It’s like the mind’s paintbrush -- It can paint everything bright, or it can paint everything dark and dreary.

It is your true self, its root is inward but its fruit is outward
It is your best friend or your worst enemy
It is more honest and consistent than your words
It is your outward look based on your past experiences
It is what draws people to you or repels them
It is never content until it is expressed
It is the librarian of your past, the speaker of your present, and the prophet of your future

Gratitude:    One of the most powerful forces in life is gratitude. Just simply having a spirit of gratitude can make great things happen in your life. I’m grateful for the power to secure my future as I try to show respect and gratitude for everyone in my life today. I am building my foundation to repair my name. One day, I would like for my name, “Dorothea,” to be synonymous with integrity. By exercising this powerful force of gratitude each and every day, I know I will achieve any goal or dream. The favors given in life will come back ten-fold.

 
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Eden
How Do I Feel?

I have been thinking about the sounds that have given me joy -- I can remember the cooing of my children’s voices that always came along with a smile, or the first time I hear them say, “Mama.” I have 6 children and they were always different in personality, laughter and tears. -- The Beauty of Sound

There have been other things in my life that have brought a soothing to my spirit -- The sounds of a deep dense forest which has no sound, maybe only the rustling of the trees when the branches and leaves rub together in the soothing breeze and the birds chirping is all that’s heard. Try to leave behind all the movements and close your eyes and listen. Can you sense the surroundings, experience the energy? -- The Sensation of Sound

Some sounds are deafening, like the crashing of the ocean or the booming of thunder when the weather is at its angriest. To me, this loudness is great in its entirety. It has supremacy to command, it has power to injure or destruct. At one moment the sound of destruction can also become the sound of stillness and quiet, still just as bold and magnificent. -- The Immenseness of Sound

These things I have heard at one time or another have brought meaning to my life. Soft or loud noises have different effects when I take a seat and pay attention. Whether I observe or close my eyes, I make the selection of what my ears capture, my mind understands and what my body feels. This is when the discovery of sound at last is felt. -- The Freedom of Sound 

 
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Colette
Simple Pleasures

Going to the beach with your kids, taking a cruz to the country side, it could be just going out for an ice cream cone with a loved one. It really doesn’t have to be something that takes a lot of time or money. It only takes your acknowledgement and your gratefulness to appreciate a simple pleasure. Today, talking on the phone with my children is a simple pleasure. Going to Sunday church service is a simple pleasure. Receiving a letter from family and friends is a simple pleasure. A lot of times we take for granted the simple pleasures life has to offer us and we become caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday living.

 
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Noelani
Going Back to School

I am from Hilo on the Big Island, I have three children (one son and two daughters), and I've been incarcerated eight years. I had one year of college (a typist certificate) when I arrived here at TJ's. Now I can proudly say that I'm in my third semester at Honolulu Community College, I’ve made new friends and gained the respect of the younger generation, and I was recently selected Student Body President.

It was a long, winding road getting here, especially to get the financial aid, but I got a lot of help from my employment counselor and places like DVR and Alu Like. There are so many resources available out there – but not too many that women know about when they leave prison.

To all of you who are thinking about it - don't pass up the opportunity to go back to school! The workforce out there is so competitive. When you go for a job interview, they will see the part that you were incarcerated, but they’re also going to look at the other part – that you went back to school to improve yourself and further your knowledge.

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Cherry
Community Placement

Through Community Placement, I was given an opportunity (a blessing!) to be able to transition home and still get support from the staff at TJ's. Without that support, I would have felt stressed, frustrated, and not known where to begin. Fortunately, I didn't get thrown out of prison without someone to talk to when I get frustrated or confused.

Community Placement is helping me because I'm out there - going home from work, making meals for me and my daughter, fulfilling my responsibilities as a parent and as a functioning person. And I still come back to TJ's to go out on community service with the women there. I actually look forward to doing it because I learned a lot leaving TJ's and going out into the community to see what challenges I face. The good thing about it is that I don't face it alone. It's like training wheels; without guidance from someone, I will fall.

I feel afraid of thinking of all the other women who did not have the opportunity to have the support I have had, and am still having, from the TJ's staff. It's true support, guidance, compassion, and love from people that truly care and want others to succeed and help save another's life.

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Dayna
Community Service

I feel honored to have been a part of the Adopt a Bus Stop program at TJ's. Twice a month, we gather rakes, brooms, cleaning and painting supplies, put them in our cart, and wheel them off to the bus stops in our area to clean and paint over the graffiti. At first, I thought it would be a good way to accumulate community service hours, even though it meant breaking a sweat in the early morning sun. It became so much more.

I found a sense of community purpose and began to look at myself differently. I began to see where I, together with the help of my peers, could make a difference. Instead of just saying the words “becoming a part of the solution instead of a part of the problem,” we were actually living it. It makes me so happy to see the small smile of a passerby, or the nod or thumbs-up from a car making its way past. The ultimate compliment was when we were approached by a group of women who informed us that because they had been inspired by our efforts, they too had Adopted a Bus Stop!

I learned that activities like this were their own reward. It wasn't about taking credit for our efforts; it was about how our efforts made us feel.

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