Slow down, take a seat

Our communities have always been the basis for our connections to one another,as a way for family units and individuals to be connected to a greater network of others. But these days for many people through necessity or circumstance there is an increased sense of isolation. This is one of the biggest determining factors in people's social and emotional well being (in my opinion). There is so much suspicion, fear, isolation and loneliness even in towns and cities where people live and work in such close physical proximity.

After living for seven years in a city I have gone through periods of time feeling very aware of how isolated I am, even amongst so many people coming and going in my life. It is only when two people can take the time or make the time to connect in some way that these feelings of isolation can be diminished.

Building these relationships and networks are generally challenging at the best of times, particularly for those disadvantaged or challenged by disability, physical or language barriers and distance. This is one of the reasons why as I've grown in my experiences and confidence I have come to fully appreciate the power of connection. Not just with those who would be a usual choice of social contact but even taking a second to share a smile or say hello to someone in passing. Having these moments with different people can be a very enlightening and enriching experience, as shown in the video above.

It is not likely that any of those individuals will see each other again but the potential (positive) impact of that brief meeting are infinite!

We need to go back to working and living in ways that recognize our mutual humanity. As cool as this experiment/tool is, this sort of behaviour should be the rule, not the exception. The world would be a more loving and connected place if we did.

A bit of effort

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment" - Emerson.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the free thinkers of his time, writing essays and hosting lectures on his views and the associated teachings. He was all about the infinite potential for human achievement and how every person had an element of the divine in them, meaning all life should be respected. Many of his writings show his objections to power inequalities that existed in the world of his time, such as slavery and the dictatorial influence of church leaders. (I hope I have understood his biography correctly).

Having come across this mans words recently I was struck by how very true they are, in a world that tries to influence everything about who we are and how we live it seemed very relevant. Life seems to be a constant barrage of messages about what we should like, what we should eat/not eat, what we should look like and how we should act. It seems like the greatest voice of influence comes from media and the marketing industry that drives it.

Being a member of a society that has all these messages and 'advice' on how to live well it is no wonder so many people spend a lot of time feeling confused or inadequate in some way. That is why I grab on to such words of inspiration as Emerson wrote, to give me comfort that I don't have to be anyone other then who I am. All I need be the best, is to be the best me that I can.

Taking on that perspective involved shutting out the messages that are unhelpful and learning which ones are. It has also involved a bit of soul searching and making some promises to my self. To live this way and be the best me I can be involves; being genuine and truthful with myself and in my connections with others; being courageous when the opportunity arises; to take action or speak out to better myself or others situations; and finally (this the toughest one), to accept that I am good enough to be where I am and do what I do at any given time.

It isn't always easy to live that way, so I keep on striving for those things which I promised myself. With the aim of being the greatest me I can be, in order to have that freedom and peace of mind heart and spirit that comes from knowing I am enough.
"Nobody can bring you peace but yourself." - Emerson

Summer Bounty

Every face shines with a summer glow
Ripe and glossy, bursting with flavour
My garden that overflows
encouraging generosity and neighborliness with its bounty.

A joyful palette of colours
Some on display others mysterious and
wily in shadows
Keen eyes needed to spot the prize.

Adventures in the jungle of generous nature provides
food for thought,
for heart,
and for soul.

Not easy, but worth it

I have to remember that the trail often gets harder before reaching new levels. But I don't long for ease. I crave challenge. #2013 - These are words of wisdom from an actor, philosopher and poet I admire, Curt Mega. The sentiment has been shared and voiced by many others in various ways. But I wanted to take it on and add it to my own life story.

It is the perfect time for a reminder like this as it is that time of year where we all assess what our ambitions and direction will be for the coming year. It is a time when I see the year ahead as being full of possibility and my optimism is at its highest. But in addition my anxiety is also very strong. The recognition that so much of what is ahead is unknown.

I think that those feelings fit perfectly with this saying. As the act of getting my year of goals underway is one of the biggest challenges, just as the journey to achieving those goals is a challenge. But the effort and the challenge always seems to make the achievement that much sweeter.

So it is with this in mind that I put my goals and ideas for the emerging year on paper and send them out into the universe in the hopes that I will find others who share similar ambitions and who want to share or be inspired by the challenging but ultimately rewarding journey.

             1. Participate in a Disability Leadership course - (scared witless by the unknowns of this but so excited by the possibilities of things I will learn, people I will meet and places it might take me.)
             2. Direct a play for the 2013 Fringe Festival or Hamilton Summer Gardens Festival - (less unknown but many challenges including finding collaborators, thinking of doing retelling of NZ childrens stories.)
             3. Working with a local organization to manage or start a food redistribution service to reduce waste from retailers - (not too scary, working with already existing networks. But very scary but exciting challenge would be to create such a service mirrored on Kaibosh in Wellington if there isnt an equivalent in the Waikato/Hamilton.)
             4. Continue working on writing my original fiction novel. - (exciting and enjoyable challenge)

Proceeding forward into this new year I will hold on to my hope, optimism and excitement as a motivation for when the trail gets steep or rough. I know from my past and from others comforting words that every rise has its peak and the steeper and longer the climb the greater the view.

A new day, a new beginning

Waking up this morning and seemingly having survived the "Mayan Apocalypse" I feel I have had a wake up call. It is time to start making some new goals and putting them into action. I find myself wanting to go out and collect rubbish and plant trees and save the planet in some way.....

It may seem a bit ridiculous to take on such a project, but it is something I know needs to be done. Having always been interested in the environment and nature in some way I have done small things to support projects working toward this aim but now I want to find a way to be more of a part of this work. Such a huge problem can only be managed by everyone doing as much as they can, and just like with the rest of my life I want to be part of the "everybody" in a positive way.

 Making a difference is not easy when almost everything we do in modern society has an environmental impact. This is totally reinforced and made worse by everything about the way our society makes us live. The marketing of products that you use a few times and throw away, plastic packaging, fossil fuels, chemical sprays......the list is long. It is a daunting prospect and one that is ultimately a bit depressing to think about. But as I sit looking out at a gorgeous vista of harbour, mountains and bushland it confirms for me both the rightness of this conviction and how much needs to be done.

I may feel like one voice alone right now and one who is not in the best physical position to go and save rainforests and free captive wild animals in all reality, but I know there are others out there who can do those things and more! So although I may be one voice right now, sitting at a desk in the early hours of the first day of a new era, I will use my voice to speak as loud and as long as I can on behalf of this place that we ultimately have taken for granted for so long, but which we call home, Earth!!

The Spirit of a Freedom Seeker or Disillusioned Deserter

Again my Facebook wanderings have presented me with a gem, in the form of a bloggers entry presented as a letter to their homeland in critique of its rejection or ignorance of its diverse population.

Here is the link if you are interested:
http://youdonthavetoagree.wordpress.com/2012/09/02/letter-to-singapore/#comment-263

I was fascinated by both the bloggers entry and the multitude of varied responses it received. It so intrigued me that I was inspired to leave a response myself, which is below.

"It is not just the young of Singapore who may feel the pull to explore the places where “the grass is greener” or where adventure and new opportunities are offered, those are qualities shared by many people around the globe. That spirit to explore, experience and have freedom is what moved human society from where it began to where it is today. It is what sent the explorers out into the unknown to find other strange and wonderful places and what continues to drive our exploration of this planet and outer space.

By exploring and travelling people have learned new skills and been inspired to create new things. They have gone back and shared these things with their home countries in most cases. So I think that all those who leave their homelands, whether it is to travel or emmigrate, they are not abandoning their country to remain in a static state but continue to add to the system.They will be in some way playing a part in the cultural shift or status quo by feeding ideas in their communities and spawning conversations which could spark change.

I agree that this young writer is romanticizing their experience, but they have admitted that themselves. This doesn’t make the points they have raised any less worth considering. It seems like the main point is not just that this person has become disenchanted with the preoccupations of their home country but by the way in which that effects the greater society. The experience of not being accepted is the quickest way for a society to lose people. 

Shutting out those who are too old, too strange or don’t fit in some other way is only creating lost opportunities of finding new ways to do things or understand things. If an individual is only kept in the work force when/if they are at their peak ability both physically and mentally then we are losing the wisdom of the elders and the creativity and energy of the young. Also the traditional views of those with disabilities being unable to contribute means the abiliities of these individuals is left untapped.

I don’t say these things with the view that inclusion and acceptance is something to be pushed because of its economic value but rather its social value. Our communities would be richer by having greater diversity and the prevalence of social issues such as crime and poverty would concievably be reduced. These things aren’t based on idealism, there are case studies to support it.

The perspective that Singapore is protectionist and unwilling or unable to change due to perceived threats from outside and inside its borders is probably quite true, but what isn’t is the assumption or implication that Singapore is the only country like that. The fact is that many other nations around the world have some variety of this stance as well. It is this self perpetuating fear or suspicion of the “other” and its associated greed that is holding us all back from being able to make the big changes that will benefit all communities globally. 

It is only when we stop our process of seeking, exploring and challenging that our cultures will stop changing. I fervently pray that such a day never comes, as that will be the day we lose our ability to adapt. And as things are and will continue to be in the future in terms of need and limited resources our adaptability will be even more critical to our existence, in a world that I hope is still worth being part of."

This really jumped out at me as an example of what many countries and communities are dealing with, what is our identity?, where do we go in the future?, how do we get there? and many other such questions. But not all countries are taking into consideration how to get everyone into the future. This is where those of us that can need to speak up and work toward making our communities somewhere that we can all participate and contribute. Because it should not just be what we can get from our communities and what they 'owe' us, but what we can give and do for them.

Questioning the questions of the everyday

In my daily meanderings of Facebook I came across a brief but brilliant video....

 This guys (Taylor Mali) speaks simply and powerfully about the increasing uncertainty in the way we communicate and connect with each other. I have written and talked before about the power of communicating and connecting as part of our growth and development as individuals. The sharing of stories, opinions and knowledge is also critical for the development of our communities and countries as things are shared with the next generation. But it seems that although many people still recognize the importance of stories and orating in this process, it seems that somewhere along the way, certainly in developed Western countries, our communication has become jumbled and fragmented. Somehow reminiscent of a jumble of binary code that scrambles the contents of a computer file.

 I know it is the very nature of language and culture to adapt and change. That is how as a species we have survived. But I cant help think that the trends in language, these -isms, that are becoming more common are having a significant and potentially negative impact on the eloquence and intelligence with which we communicate.

This may just be me but I would swear that peoples IQ drops by a point every time they add an unnecessary 'like' or 'totally', or other such fillers to their sentences.The same effect applies if they add a question mark to what would otherwise be a statement, though that suggests more a lack of certainty or confidence. It just seems to me that the person either; hasn't thought through what they want to say; they are trying to talk too fast and their thoughts cant keep up with their mouth or they simply don't understand or don't believe enough in what they are saying. I say this while completely owning up to the fact that I have also picked up some of these habits, at times worse then others, as well as the fact that my vocabulary on an everyday level has reduced. But seeing this video has reminded me of why I want to make an effort to stop myself from replicating these mannerisms of speech.

It seems important to do this because communicating, particularly when it comes to expressing an opinion is key to how our lives run. Right from the day to day small things, all the way to our participation in political discussion and contribution to how our communities function. This is especially true for people who are disadvantaged in the eyes of the crowd because of being different in some way, like a disability. That in itself can lead people to misunderstand or judge, so it is my mission to make myself as eloquent and well spoken as possible. Hopefully this will be some encouragement to the next generation of orators, who will take our place as the voice of our communities in the future. So I urge everyone to take a second the next time you want to express yourself and think about the things you want to say and what effect it will have on those to come.