Go! Fly a Kite!

I LIKE THAT one of the talents we gathered in China was kite flying. It’s not considered child’s play in the Orient; the adults take “Feng Zheng”, contending with the wind, very seriously. Admirably, grown men and women gather at parks with their hand-fashioned kites made with plastic and paper and fastened with bamboo sticks. A large reel is spun by hand or by a crank and the kite is fluttered gently to catch the wind and released into the sky. There is no running with your kite in China. The aptitude for the kite flier is to cajole the wind force to take the kite up as far as the string length will permit. Some of the high soaring kites we watched flew well above the tallest buildings and some ventured beyond the clouds.

            If you want to feel like a kid again and hone your skill to a talent, go fly a kite!

Kite flying with the professionals

Kite flying with the apprentices

Kite flying - Step 1

Kite flying - Step 2

Kite flying - Step 3

Don't Engage in a Power Struggle

Susan steps lightly up and down the narrow aisles between the fifty-nine desks that fill her classroom in Yichang, China. Most of the students are chattering to each other in their foreign language, and a few are looking through magazines. The veteran English as a Second Language instructor stops in the aisle and speaks to one of her students.

“What class is this?” Susan says.

The student looks up at her and blinks. His face is expressionless.

“English class,” the student says.

“What book should be open on your desk?” Susan says.

The student slams his Chinese book closed and opens his English textbook.

“Thank you,” Susan says.

The teacher moves to another desk and asks the same question. The student stares at her but does not move a muscle. Susan repeats the question. The student still does not answer and Susan’s mind drifts to the advice she had received from her sister-in-law, a teacher and councilor at a high school in Vancouver Canada. ‘Don’t engage in a power struggle with the kids, especially teenagers, you will always lose.’

Susan stands in front of the class, smiles at her audience and says, “Welcome to English class.”

http://www.trafford.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000131605

Clean Living Initiative

I LIKE THAT three like-minded friends joined Frank and me for the first Clean Living initiative.

Nancy Colberg, Hilda Chudy, Ray Chudy and I gathered on the steps of The Madison Apartments and held plastic garbage bags donated by Campbell River Council member Andrew Adams. We grabbed a trash picker each donated by Graham Stewart of the City Works Department and began our trek along Dogwood Street on the 300 block picking up as much trash as we could in a one-hour time frame. Frank filmed the event and I've edited the video down to 3:33 minutes. We hope you enjoy viewing our excursion as much as we enjoyed the challenge of cleaning up the streets of Campbell River one block at a time. The next one-hour Clean Living event will take place on Thursday, May 26 from 4 to 5 p.m. We would be happy to have you join us.

WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW COULD HURT YOU

I innocently handed out a flyer to a few of the group members at a meeting that is supported by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Respectfully, I cannot mention the organization’s name because the one decree that I do know about the group is the, “What is said there, stays there” rule.

            The group coordinator and his assistant punished me verbally for expressing religious ideas through the language on the flyer. In the title, I had included the phrase ‘A Baha’i Initiative’, and also a tag line, ‘Cleanliness is highly spiritualizing.’ Two weeks earlier, I had forwarded the flyer to the coordinator and asked specifically for the exact procedure to follow in order to submit my request as a meeting agenda item. No one in the group thought it practical to contact me directly to express their concern about the wording.

            What I didn’t know hurt me. At the meeting, in front of my peers and my boss, the coordinator and his assistant barked out reprimands and chastised me for presenting such a strange request. I wasn’t offered the opportunity to explain my plan to clean up the city one block at a time by gathering volunteers to help with the project. Instead, I found myself apologizing to the group for having offended them and expressed my ignorance of any rule that does not allow the language I used in the flyer.

            That night, I fell asleep dreaming about barking dogs.

Clean Living Initiative

How some people explain themselves.

Exploring Akka

I LIKE THAT Frank, my husband, and I travelled to Israel for pilgrimage to the Baha’i World Centre. Part of our excursion included exploring Akka, a once penal colony surrounded by high city walls, located approximately 28 kilometers north of Haifa.

Our group of five pilgrims, led by our guide Julie, was searching for the barracks where Baha’u’llah was held prisoner for twenty-four years. We zigzagged through narrow, cobblestone streets, past the scent of men smoking tobacco from a hookah, the sound of young children skipping away from us, and the flat thud rhythm of a few women beating thick rugs with what looked like tennis rackets.

We followed Julie’s sweeping arm over the threshold into the prison. Excavation was taking place which revealed layers of history as far back, so far, as the Christian Crusaders. We walked a narrow path to the deep dungeon where the Master was held. We stood, staring, wordless, into His Most Great Prison. I felt the energy of Baha’u’llah in Akka. Our search had satisfied all of us in so many ways.

Exploring Akka, Israel

Akka is north of Haifa

Home Visits

I LIKE THAT the Universal House of Justice promotes home visits. The Universal House of Justice today guides the activities of the global Bahá'í community. A home visit is a practical way to gather with friends, family and even someone you just met. Visiting a person in his or her home is so well known to some that it seems odd to them that they'd have to call in advance.

            My husband’s home visit’s history in Saskatchewan consisted of unannounced drop ins to other farmers and towns people. He told me that you just showed up and you were always welcomed with food and drink. “We never called ahead,” he said.

            In my family background, we did call ahead. My mother would never have allowed herself to show up at even her family’s homes without first warning them of our arrival. As a result, our family did not experience the ‘drop in’.

            Today, people's lives are very busy and the spontaneous drop in may not be welcomed. However, your spontaneity shouldn’t prevent you from picking up the phone and making plans to have a home visit with family, friends or even someone you just met.

            Give it a go! Connect with someone today through a face-to-face home visit.

P.S. We welcome your ‘drop in’.

Home visit for the fun of it!

A Clean Living Initiative

I LIKE THAT my mother brought me up to be a person who recognizes the power of clean. When my body is clean, I’m in good spirits. I love soaking in fresh bath water. When my immediate surroundings are clean, I’m in a good state of mind. I love the look of a sparkling counter top and the welcome feeling I get from a tidy living room. When the grounds outside my home are orderly, I have feelings of inner health. I like that my husband takes immaculate care of the property that surrounds the building where we live these days.

            I’m taking my passion for clean living to the streets. I’ve initiated a Clean Living plan that calls on all citizens in Campbell River and surrounding communities to join me on Thursday, April 28, 2011 to clean up the sidewalks and boulevards in Campbell River. The starting point for the infinite project starts at my home. For one hour I will pick up rubbish around the block, put the trash into garbage bags and leave them for pick up by the City garbage collectors. I hope that other volunteers can join me.

Whistle while you work.