The philosophy school I’ve been attending for almost three years runs almost completely on volunteer service. The tutors who teach class, the people who serve refreshments at break time, the secretaries who take attendance, the people who run the retreat weekends etc. are all giving their time for exactly Free Dollars. This astounded me when I first found out about it because that school runs in the most beautiful harmonious way and I was all, wait, nobody’s getting PAID to act like this!?!?

The tutors have been asking for a long time if any of us in class were interested in service but I could never seem to commit to giving up a weeknight or a Saturday morning for twelve straight weeks, which was the requirement. I volunteered elsewhere and kept a pretty hectic schedule so I figured (as most in my class did) that others would pick up the slack. Then of course, things changed.

First off, I got super fed up with NY Cares. It’s a great organization, don’t get me wrong, but approximately FORTY BAJILLION PEOPLE belong to it and as soon as the monthly volunteer schedules go up, EVERY SINGLE EVENT gets booked up except walking dogs in Brooklyn at 5 am and I get very sad because UGH WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS WINNING AT VOLUNTEERING, PEOPLE!? To make it more irritating, the little music program I used to volunteer for down in the projects vanished and I can no longer sing and dance with kids in the ghetto and you have NO IDEA how much joy that used to bring me. (LOTS.)

Secondly, towards the end of last semester, the suggestion to serve was brought up again because enrollment in the School had suddenly gotten OUT OF CONTROL. I contribute this to the recession and people walking around NYC all depressed, searching for meaning, blah blah, who knows. It’s wonderful though but completely overwhelming as the volunteers can’t seem to keep up with the volume right now.

And so! When one of my classmates wanted to know if he could split a service session with someone else and alternate weeks, I jumped at this idea. Probably because I’m selfless and ever-loving.

Sort of.

It was probably really because 1) volunteering always helps me out of that narcissistic ALL ABOUT ME acting funk and B) Alternating weeks seemed like the perfect fit for my schedule, allowing me a test run of philosophy service while not dominating EVERY SINGLE TUESDAY NIGHT until Spring.

I headed over to the School last night, dragging my feet. I was tired. I’m still a little sniffly. I was cursing the part of me that was all, YEAH YEAH I WILL TOTALLY VOLUNTEER, I LOVE VOLUNTEERING, SERVING OTHERS ROCKS!

I mentally started whining about how I wanted to go home and take a nap. Or order some Thai food. Or stare at the wall and blink for no reason.

But I remembered what everyone at the school said about service. I remembered my classmates’ stories about how good they felt helping others, how they were always always served in return, without ever setting out to be. I told myself that I would probably undergo a vast transformation of both character and attitude.

I thought I would write you all a poetic, inspirational post afterwards, telling you how I looked into each person’s eyes and saw God. How I doled out hot chocolate and coffee with a bright smile and how I was permanently changed. How I stayed present in the Now and guided those weary new students toward bodily refreshment, thanking them sincerely, touching their arms gently, telling them that they MATTERED, that I was there to HELP and LOVE them, fully and unconditionally.

Instead…

HUGH FREAKING JACKMAN SHOWED UP TO CLASS.

And I was all, DAAAAAAAAAAAAAMN! Serve and be served, INDEED, y’all!!!!

I CANNOT WAIT FOR NEXT WEEK.

**You can read more about Hugh’s participation in the School of Practical Philosophy in this interview or on his Wiki page. BOO YAH.