This is about the third incarnation of a post on Halloween - yes I am aware it's a month away yet, however, it's been on my mind all week. Been thinking about ideas for decorating for (hopefully) all the little trick or treaters who usually come around. Wondering how many there will this year since last season was the lowest count in the 6 years we've been here - about 50% lower than previous years. We do get a high turnover of residents here since these are rental properties, and the vast majority of kids here are newer than we are, many new this year. Wonder how many of them are going to trick or treat, or even celebrate Halloween?
In the schools it's orange and black day, not Halloween, at home it's Halloween and the Witch's New year - don't ask lol That's just how it's known around here. That or Easter - slip of someone's tongue many years ago ;)
On the plus side there's Boo at the Zoo on the weekend before and both local malls will be handing out candy and treats to kids in costume.
There will be decorating and dressing up and handing out of candy and possibly partying. Possibly. Maybe. Perhaps. There will be pumpkins lit and candles and haunted trees - which if anyone looked REAL close also carry the names of those who have passed over. But no-one except me looks that closely and they make great decorations! There will be hats and bats and a big spider, a magical clock and a cauldron of plenty.... what else what else? Still working on it....
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Showing posts with label children. Show all posts
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Livin' in the 'Hood 2
Got home from school, took the dogs outside for a pee and the little neighbour girl was over the road waving at me. She's a sweet thing, no more than 3 yrs olds, and unfortunately mostly unsupervised when outside just like most of the other around here. There's more than one 2 yr old who runs around playing outside in the parking lot, green space and roadway with minimal if any adult supervision. It's a miracle none have been hit by a car yet or had something equally bad happen to them.
Something like the potential accident I ran into on the way home from school. Walking down the alleyway (back road) - which I may have mentioned serves 4 schools in one small area - when I noticed something on the ground. Then another. Some kind of pill, no idea if they were OTC or prescription but they sure shouldn't have been lying on the road. Probably went out with the trash and ended up not in the trash can, just waiting for some little kid like the aforementioned girl to come along and pop it in their mouth thinking it was candy.
Stupidity like that just annoys me, big time.
People, dispose of stuff properly - pills, glass, everything! Last week it was condoms in the alleyway, this week pills. What next? A needle, a knife? People this may be the 'Hood but it's our "Hood, we live here, can we at least TRY and take care of it and the people in it?
Something like the potential accident I ran into on the way home from school. Walking down the alleyway (back road) - which I may have mentioned serves 4 schools in one small area - when I noticed something on the ground. Then another. Some kind of pill, no idea if they were OTC or prescription but they sure shouldn't have been lying on the road. Probably went out with the trash and ended up not in the trash can, just waiting for some little kid like the aforementioned girl to come along and pop it in their mouth thinking it was candy.
Stupidity like that just annoys me, big time.
People, dispose of stuff properly - pills, glass, everything! Last week it was condoms in the alleyway, this week pills. What next? A needle, a knife? People this may be the 'Hood but it's our "Hood, we live here, can we at least TRY and take care of it and the people in it?
Livin' in the 'Hood 1
School year is under way and that means spending more time hanging around outside school, waiting to go in or waiting for ids to come out, and THAT means more time hanging around with or listening to my neighbours and all the other mums at the school doors. Never underestimate what you can learn at the school door if you pay attention.
I may not know all of them, by a long way, but they're all my neighbours in that we all live in the same "Hood - that's why our kids go to that school. In fact we live in half the 'Hood since that's one of two elementary schools that serve the area.
People have laughed at me for saying I live in the "Hood unfortunately it often feels like it's true. More than that, it often feels like here in Calgary when you say "I live in the "Hood," the next question off the listeners lips is "Which one?"
As "Hoods go ours isn't too bad, in some ways. In others.... Demographics are interesting - we have a higher than average immigrant population, more visible minorities, higher ESL and more poverty than many areas. We also have a high percentage of rental properties and therefore a correspondingly high turnover of residents as people move in and out. Pretty sure I've mentioned that before. We do NOT have a higher than average crime rate even though there is a perception that we do - as has often been said the fear of crime often outweighs the reality.
Yet it often feels as though we are one of the forgotten neighbourhoods, that we're too difficult? too transient? to new and fresh? to be worth bothering with. Pretty sure I've said that before. We do have our share of homeless, drunks, panhandlers and wannabe gangsters who hang around the strip malls in groups trying to intimidate anyone and everyone who walks past.
Oddly we had three people killed by the C-train here in the space of ten days recently - two a block north from me and one a block south. And we did have a guy shot to death last year in the next door bar - rumour has it that it was a hit.
We do have our resident drug addicts and dealers and boosters - someone should tell them that conversations in the parking lot carry around here dude.
We have, just in our apartment complex, more than one guy who did/does beat his wife, (RCMP came to see him) one who beats his dog, (humane society came to see him), a teenager who is under investigation for stalking a 15 yr old girl, and two teenagers (as yet unidentified) who thought that they could make sexual and inappropriate comments to 9 and 11 yr old girls.
Yet these are all the things that neither officialdom nor the media seem to notice or care about. It's like, what do we expect when that's where we live? Yet many of us have been here for a long time. This is our home, for whatever reason. Yes a lot of us might move elsewhere if we had the option but for many of us there is little or no choice right now due to the circumstances of life.
Why ever we are here, this is our home, this is our 'Hood and we are raising our children here. They, and we, deserve the best "Hood that we can have/create. Not one where we're intimidated when walking down the street or worried about being mugged if we're out alone. Maybe it's time for us to take back our streets and our "Hood and make it our own again.
I may not know all of them, by a long way, but they're all my neighbours in that we all live in the same "Hood - that's why our kids go to that school. In fact we live in half the 'Hood since that's one of two elementary schools that serve the area.
People have laughed at me for saying I live in the "Hood unfortunately it often feels like it's true. More than that, it often feels like here in Calgary when you say "I live in the "Hood," the next question off the listeners lips is "Which one?"
As "Hoods go ours isn't too bad, in some ways. In others.... Demographics are interesting - we have a higher than average immigrant population, more visible minorities, higher ESL and more poverty than many areas. We also have a high percentage of rental properties and therefore a correspondingly high turnover of residents as people move in and out. Pretty sure I've mentioned that before. We do NOT have a higher than average crime rate even though there is a perception that we do - as has often been said the fear of crime often outweighs the reality.
Yet it often feels as though we are one of the forgotten neighbourhoods, that we're too difficult? too transient? to new and fresh? to be worth bothering with. Pretty sure I've said that before. We do have our share of homeless, drunks, panhandlers and wannabe gangsters who hang around the strip malls in groups trying to intimidate anyone and everyone who walks past.
Oddly we had three people killed by the C-train here in the space of ten days recently - two a block north from me and one a block south. And we did have a guy shot to death last year in the next door bar - rumour has it that it was a hit.
We do have our resident drug addicts and dealers and boosters - someone should tell them that conversations in the parking lot carry around here dude.
We have, just in our apartment complex, more than one guy who did/does beat his wife, (RCMP came to see him) one who beats his dog, (humane society came to see him), a teenager who is under investigation for stalking a 15 yr old girl, and two teenagers (as yet unidentified) who thought that they could make sexual and inappropriate comments to 9 and 11 yr old girls.
Yet these are all the things that neither officialdom nor the media seem to notice or care about. It's like, what do we expect when that's where we live? Yet many of us have been here for a long time. This is our home, for whatever reason. Yes a lot of us might move elsewhere if we had the option but for many of us there is little or no choice right now due to the circumstances of life.
Why ever we are here, this is our home, this is our 'Hood and we are raising our children here. They, and we, deserve the best "Hood that we can have/create. Not one where we're intimidated when walking down the street or worried about being mugged if we're out alone. Maybe it's time for us to take back our streets and our "Hood and make it our own again.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Kindergarten catch up
Yes I'm trying to play catch up!!
Kindergarten Pt1
So what else is new? Spent a week camping in our new (new to us anyway) trailer on the in-laws' acreage in BC - with awesome weather. Had a great, relaxing time - just wish I wasn't so damn tired since we got back! Yet again it's 8.45 and I could easily go to bed and sleep. Sadly that isn't happening, the guys are out partying and won't be home til late, or sober.
Neighbours are moving out in droves, and certain neighbours have as much drama as ever in their lives - I've said before - it's not that I don't like the woman but dayum she can be hard work.
School starts day after tomorrow - first day at kindergarten for someone around here!! And anyone who thinks that means more time to myself is wrong - by the time I drop him off and walk home it'll be an hour or so until it's time to leave to walk down and pick him up again lol And in between will still be dogs, dishes, laundry, supper, lunch, etc! Need more hours in the day.
Kindergarten Pt2
School's in and Spawn has had his first few half days, full day kindergarten is about to begin. Can you say tired child? lol He thinks Mrs S walks on water, like most 5 yr old boy she has a crush on his kindergarten teacher ;) And yep there is the usual rush of notes, newsletters and forms, alongside requests for money and extra stuff. $65 for fees and supplies and $295 for lunch time supervision - not a meal just supervision - if they're staying for lunch all year. In other words $29.50 per month.
Next on my list is a second pair of shoes for him to keep at school and wear there, indoor shoes. Did kindergarten orientation part 2 - basically a repeat of the one in June with a few added/altered details. Pretty sure less people turned up for part 2 than did for part 1 mind you. And of course the usual requests for volunteers and for people to attend parent council meetings. There will be fundraising, there will be selling of SU ticket packs, all the usual good stuff.
42 kids in his kindergarten - split into 2 classes. Apparently the CBE allocates enough money that each kid can go on at least one field trip per year, parent council tries to raise enough money to make it more than one, and to provide special lunches, events, etc. Apparently I'm being drawn into going to the parent council meeting next week - we'll see how that works out! I'd like to. We all know that budgets everywhere, not just in the CBE, are being cut back at the same time as the cost of everything is rising. Seems like once upon a time fundraising was more for the extras and the frills, these days it's an essential part of school. And everywhere else.
Kindergarten Pt3
So, we just finished the first two full days of kindergarten, and yep, it kicked his ass AND he has a cold. Surprise! Beginning of school has always been a prime time to share every cold and bug out there lol There are still a few tears - his, not mine - sometimes but on the whole he's says it's "Great!" and he does "Everything!". Even if he was less impressed at having the story of 'Who ate all the cookie dough?' AGAIN the other day lol (Answer btw is baby kangaroo did)
Kindergarten also means spending a lot of time hanging around outside the school doors waiting, and talking to other mums, and in some cases getting to know people who have been neighbours for a long time a lot better. Amazing what you can learn in a week about your 'Hood, but, that's a whole other blog post.
Kindergarten Pt1
So what else is new? Spent a week camping in our new (new to us anyway) trailer on the in-laws' acreage in BC - with awesome weather. Had a great, relaxing time - just wish I wasn't so damn tired since we got back! Yet again it's 8.45 and I could easily go to bed and sleep. Sadly that isn't happening, the guys are out partying and won't be home til late, or sober.
Neighbours are moving out in droves, and certain neighbours have as much drama as ever in their lives - I've said before - it's not that I don't like the woman but dayum she can be hard work.
School starts day after tomorrow - first day at kindergarten for someone around here!! And anyone who thinks that means more time to myself is wrong - by the time I drop him off and walk home it'll be an hour or so until it's time to leave to walk down and pick him up again lol And in between will still be dogs, dishes, laundry, supper, lunch, etc! Need more hours in the day.
Kindergarten Pt2
School's in and Spawn has had his first few half days, full day kindergarten is about to begin. Can you say tired child? lol He thinks Mrs S walks on water, like most 5 yr old boy she has a crush on his kindergarten teacher ;) And yep there is the usual rush of notes, newsletters and forms, alongside requests for money and extra stuff. $65 for fees and supplies and $295 for lunch time supervision - not a meal just supervision - if they're staying for lunch all year. In other words $29.50 per month.
Next on my list is a second pair of shoes for him to keep at school and wear there, indoor shoes. Did kindergarten orientation part 2 - basically a repeat of the one in June with a few added/altered details. Pretty sure less people turned up for part 2 than did for part 1 mind you. And of course the usual requests for volunteers and for people to attend parent council meetings. There will be fundraising, there will be selling of SU ticket packs, all the usual good stuff.
42 kids in his kindergarten - split into 2 classes. Apparently the CBE allocates enough money that each kid can go on at least one field trip per year, parent council tries to raise enough money to make it more than one, and to provide special lunches, events, etc. Apparently I'm being drawn into going to the parent council meeting next week - we'll see how that works out! I'd like to. We all know that budgets everywhere, not just in the CBE, are being cut back at the same time as the cost of everything is rising. Seems like once upon a time fundraising was more for the extras and the frills, these days it's an essential part of school. And everywhere else.
Kindergarten Pt3
So, we just finished the first two full days of kindergarten, and yep, it kicked his ass AND he has a cold. Surprise! Beginning of school has always been a prime time to share every cold and bug out there lol There are still a few tears - his, not mine - sometimes but on the whole he's says it's "Great!" and he does "Everything!". Even if he was less impressed at having the story of 'Who ate all the cookie dough?' AGAIN the other day lol (Answer btw is baby kangaroo did)
Kindergarten also means spending a lot of time hanging around outside the school doors waiting, and talking to other mums, and in some cases getting to know people who have been neighbours for a long time a lot better. Amazing what you can learn in a week about your 'Hood, but, that's a whole other blog post.
Monday, June 6, 2011
BetterYYC, Starhawk, and.... Stuff
To create a #betteryyc we need to engage the next generation, the children. Not just with special one off events - although those are good too - but also on a daily basis, both singly and in groups. Always remembering that they learn by example, by copying what they see us doing and not by what we say if our actions don't match our words. In order to encourage them to help create a #betteryyc we need to let them see us working towards the same goal, no matter on how large or small a scale.
Alone I cannot change the world but I can cast out a stone that will create ripples. (Or something like that!)
@BetterYYC - Do one thing today towards creating a #betteryyc
Reading an anthology recently - Storming Heaven's Gate - I ran into a piece called "Street Trees" by Melody Ermachild Chavis, taken from her book Altars of the Streets. In it, she too talks about involving the children in hopes that they will grow up with a sense of community, of belonging, of being a part of something worth being proud of and taking care of instead growing up apart from their home and community.
Btw insanely jealous of @JacqMulyk not only for attending the City Repair workshop in Portland, but also for meeting Starhawk there! Jealous, much lol. Pretty sure that I've mentioned before the influence that Starhawk's work has had on me, both in life and in my path. And I believe the site in Portland is also the one Starhawk talks about visiting in The Earth Path. Not that I would know what to say if I ever met the lady anyway, except possibly "I'm not worthy!" ;) Side note, no surprise either that Z Budapest ( @zbudapest ) has also been a considerable influence, as has Christopher Penczak ( @Penczak ) to mention a couple.
In the Earth Path it is pointed out that to create community requires a place to congregate. That, at least, we have in my immediate neighbourhood - in my pocket neighbourhood. Yeah I know I'm taken with that phrase, but it sums up our apartment complex perfectly-ish - a cluster of houses or apartments surrounding a central shared space. Not that we can do much with it, don't think the landlords would like it, but at least unlike the complex a block over we ARE allowed to play and congregate here. Not kidding, next complex over has large signs saying No playing, running, balls or games of any kind, please use the public parks provided elsewhere. (Paraphrased sine I forget the exact words - should take a photo lol) Let's see, public park? That would be the park that is now two fenced baseball pitches ;)(yeah I know, bee in my bonnet!)
Seems like every year's crop of children, some the same as previous years, some new faces, are drawn to0 me - probably because if my son is out there I have to be out there too. They know my name, they know we have sidewalk chalk, and bubbles, and whatever else we might have outside that day and we share. they come to me to fix their bikes, their scraped knees and their feuds. And it's good, even if there are some days I'm just not in the mood, in which case Spawn and I go off somewhere else - not because I quit believing in being there for them or in fostering community, just because I'm only human and sometimes I need a day off!
So speaking of a #betteryyc it seems that someone seeded the beds by our rental office with sunflowers - that's sure what they look like to me! And no, this time it wasn't me ;) Here's hoping they're allowed to grow and don't get weeded away - not likely given the incomplete job the guys round here do whether it's clearing snow, picking up litter, weeding or cutting grass. If they did a proper job, I wouldn't be picking up broken glass from the playground as many times as I have done over the years we have been living here. And yes, the playground in the middle of our green space IS part of their area. How do I know it wasn't glass that got broken their after their morning rounds? Because 9 times out of 10 it's alcoholic glass, and even here5,6 and 7 yr olds aren't drinking in the playground and leaving empty beer/cooler/vodka bottles behind. Pet peeve. But since I don't want my kid cutting himself on it, or anyone else's, I pick it up. Found a knife once too - in our playground - not a small one, a large kitchen knife! And people wonder why I say I live in the 'Hood?!
Alone I cannot change the world but I can cast out a stone that will create ripples. (Or something like that!)
@BetterYYC - Do one thing today towards creating a #betteryyc
Reading an anthology recently - Storming Heaven's Gate - I ran into a piece called "Street Trees" by Melody Ermachild Chavis, taken from her book Altars of the Streets. In it, she too talks about involving the children in hopes that they will grow up with a sense of community, of belonging, of being a part of something worth being proud of and taking care of instead growing up apart from their home and community.
Btw insanely jealous of @JacqMulyk not only for attending the City Repair workshop in Portland, but also for meeting Starhawk there! Jealous, much lol. Pretty sure that I've mentioned before the influence that Starhawk's work has had on me, both in life and in my path. And I believe the site in Portland is also the one Starhawk talks about visiting in The Earth Path. Not that I would know what to say if I ever met the lady anyway, except possibly "I'm not worthy!" ;) Side note, no surprise either that Z Budapest ( @zbudapest ) has also been a considerable influence, as has Christopher Penczak ( @Penczak ) to mention a couple.
In the Earth Path it is pointed out that to create community requires a place to congregate. That, at least, we have in my immediate neighbourhood - in my pocket neighbourhood. Yeah I know I'm taken with that phrase, but it sums up our apartment complex perfectly-ish - a cluster of houses or apartments surrounding a central shared space. Not that we can do much with it, don't think the landlords would like it, but at least unlike the complex a block over we ARE allowed to play and congregate here. Not kidding, next complex over has large signs saying No playing, running, balls or games of any kind, please use the public parks provided elsewhere. (Paraphrased sine I forget the exact words - should take a photo lol) Let's see, public park? That would be the park that is now two fenced baseball pitches ;)(yeah I know, bee in my bonnet!)
Seems like every year's crop of children, some the same as previous years, some new faces, are drawn to0 me - probably because if my son is out there I have to be out there too. They know my name, they know we have sidewalk chalk, and bubbles, and whatever else we might have outside that day and we share. they come to me to fix their bikes, their scraped knees and their feuds. And it's good, even if there are some days I'm just not in the mood, in which case Spawn and I go off somewhere else - not because I quit believing in being there for them or in fostering community, just because I'm only human and sometimes I need a day off!
So speaking of a #betteryyc it seems that someone seeded the beds by our rental office with sunflowers - that's sure what they look like to me! And no, this time it wasn't me ;) Here's hoping they're allowed to grow and don't get weeded away - not likely given the incomplete job the guys round here do whether it's clearing snow, picking up litter, weeding or cutting grass. If they did a proper job, I wouldn't be picking up broken glass from the playground as many times as I have done over the years we have been living here. And yes, the playground in the middle of our green space IS part of their area. How do I know it wasn't glass that got broken their after their morning rounds? Because 9 times out of 10 it's alcoholic glass, and even here5,6 and 7 yr olds aren't drinking in the playground and leaving empty beer/cooler/vodka bottles behind. Pet peeve. But since I don't want my kid cutting himself on it, or anyone else's, I pick it up. Found a knife once too - in our playground - not a small one, a large kitchen knife! And people wonder why I say I live in the 'Hood?!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Random Weekend Thoughts
Been a lot going through my mind this weekend - or not, depending on how you look at it. Demon has been in BC attending a funeral and I've been alone with my thoughts - well as alone as it gets with a 5 yr old, two dogs and a room mate - especially since I woke to pouring rain this morning which killed our original plans for today. Of course, the sun was shining brightly by 4pm but that was too late for any of our plans. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.
Anyway, firstly I was reading a lot of web pages last night and discovered that there is a name for places such as where I live - 'a cluster of houses/apartments clustered around some sort of shared open space'. Apparently I live in a "pocket neighbourhood". Nice - can ya tell I kinda like that name? lol And I found two new books to add to my MAJOR wish list - Pocket Neighbourhood, and The Great Neighbourhood Book. I think they make my top ten wants, might have to add them as a separate post.
Secondly, found this from @EarthActivists on Twitter - As #EarthGuardian you can help document your city... where are the dangerous places for children?... your mayor should intervene.
The sentiment is certainly one the provides food for thought and only adds to the ongoing thoughts stirring in my brain about talking to neighbours about our neighbourhood, about what they like, don't like and would want to see changed, removed, improved or included.
Also found this, or at least we re-reminded of it.
"The commons is everything that we inherit or create together and must pass on, undiminished, to future generations." the Commons
Thirdly, was reading about the decline in organized religion - and that therefore Canada is becoming a nation of atheists. "Canadians are increasingly identifying as religiously non-affiliated, suggesting that organized religion may be on the decline."
Guess I'm missing something - including the original question as it was phrased - because I don't see that just because increasing numbers of people are no longer affiliated to (I presume) mainstream organized religions, necessarily means that they are all atheists. Or am I missing something? Usually an question of religion considers the mainstream faiths, and the obligatory "other" category. Or I guess in this case "none". Yet I'd have to check "none "if given the choice between mainstream religions and none and yet I most certainly don't consider myself an atheist. Colour me a little confused by the logic applied and the extrapolation that a decline in adherence to mainstream religion equals Canada becoming a nation of atheists. Just seems to me that it's a little too much of a stretch of the data :/
I don't doubt that mainstream and even organized religions may very well be on the decline, we all know minority religions, non mainstream religions and personal spirituality - not sure you can call it "religion" per se when it's a person's personal path - are on the increase. Even here, "census data suggests that organized religion is heading for extinction in nine western democracies." But is that just mainstream religion, organized religion, or religious beliefs of any kind? Damn I hate sweeping statements that bother my warped sense of logic!
Oh and of course now Adobe wants to update my flash player, I swear it did that once already this weekend lol
Now where was I? Thirdly, was just checking some of the blogs on Circle of Moms faith based poll and the centre of their own controversy as to whether or not Pagan blogs count as 'faith' blogs - duh!
According to Dictionary.com
faith
–noun
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in god or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
And before you ask, Dictionary.com defines god thus
God
–noun
1. the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe.
2. the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute: the God of Islam.
3. ( lowercase ) one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.
Notably, in the definition of Faith it is "god" lowercase. Anyway, semantics aside, Faith Blog does not mean Christian Blog people, no matter what you might think of those of us other faiths, be they Judaism, Islam, paganism, Hinduism, worship of the great flying spaghetti monster or whatever. Too late on a saturday night to go off on THAT particular tangent.
Ok I got sidetracked - while reading a pagan blog I ran into this
"he stopped my hand and said "Mom, I want to learn to spell my favourite word... Namaste!"
For those who are unfamiliar, 'Namaste' translates to mean that there is a light in you, there is a light in me and we bow in honour of one another's light.
I asked my child why 'Namaste' is his favourite word and he replied "because if everyone has a special light inside, then we are all shiny together." Yes friends, a humble reminder from a preschooler!"
Out of the mouths of babes.....
Ok there's more but let's end that on a happy note :)
Anyway, firstly I was reading a lot of web pages last night and discovered that there is a name for places such as where I live - 'a cluster of houses/apartments clustered around some sort of shared open space'. Apparently I live in a "pocket neighbourhood". Nice - can ya tell I kinda like that name? lol And I found two new books to add to my MAJOR wish list - Pocket Neighbourhood, and The Great Neighbourhood Book. I think they make my top ten wants, might have to add them as a separate post.
Secondly, found this from @EarthActivists on Twitter - As #EarthGuardian you can help document your city... where are the dangerous places for children?... your mayor should intervene.
The sentiment is certainly one the provides food for thought and only adds to the ongoing thoughts stirring in my brain about talking to neighbours about our neighbourhood, about what they like, don't like and would want to see changed, removed, improved or included.
Also found this, or at least we re-reminded of it.
"The commons is everything that we inherit or create together and must pass on, undiminished, to future generations." the Commons
Thirdly, was reading about the decline in organized religion - and that therefore Canada is becoming a nation of atheists. "Canadians are increasingly identifying as religiously non-affiliated, suggesting that organized religion may be on the decline."
Guess I'm missing something - including the original question as it was phrased - because I don't see that just because increasing numbers of people are no longer affiliated to (I presume) mainstream organized religions, necessarily means that they are all atheists. Or am I missing something? Usually an question of religion considers the mainstream faiths, and the obligatory "other" category. Or I guess in this case "none". Yet I'd have to check "none "if given the choice between mainstream religions and none and yet I most certainly don't consider myself an atheist. Colour me a little confused by the logic applied and the extrapolation that a decline in adherence to mainstream religion equals Canada becoming a nation of atheists. Just seems to me that it's a little too much of a stretch of the data :/
I don't doubt that mainstream and even organized religions may very well be on the decline, we all know minority religions, non mainstream religions and personal spirituality - not sure you can call it "religion" per se when it's a person's personal path - are on the increase. Even here, "census data suggests that organized religion is heading for extinction in nine western democracies." But is that just mainstream religion, organized religion, or religious beliefs of any kind? Damn I hate sweeping statements that bother my warped sense of logic!
Oh and of course now Adobe wants to update my flash player, I swear it did that once already this weekend lol
Now where was I? Thirdly, was just checking some of the blogs on Circle of Moms faith based poll and the centre of their own controversy as to whether or not Pagan blogs count as 'faith' blogs - duh!
According to Dictionary.com
faith
–noun
1. confidence or trust in a person or thing: faith in another's ability.
2. belief that is not based on proof: He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact.
3. belief in god or in the doctrines or teachings of religion: the firm faith of the Pilgrims.
And before you ask, Dictionary.com defines god thus
God
–noun
1. the one Supreme Being, the creator and ruler of the universe.
2. the Supreme Being considered with reference to a particular attribute: the God of Islam.
3. ( lowercase ) one of several deities, especially a male deity, presiding over some portion of worldly affairs.
Notably, in the definition of Faith it is "god" lowercase. Anyway, semantics aside, Faith Blog does not mean Christian Blog people, no matter what you might think of those of us other faiths, be they Judaism, Islam, paganism, Hinduism, worship of the great flying spaghetti monster or whatever. Too late on a saturday night to go off on THAT particular tangent.
Ok I got sidetracked - while reading a pagan blog I ran into this
"he stopped my hand and said "Mom, I want to learn to spell my favourite word... Namaste!"
For those who are unfamiliar, 'Namaste' translates to mean that there is a light in you, there is a light in me and we bow in honour of one another's light.
I asked my child why 'Namaste' is his favourite word and he replied "because if everyone has a special light inside, then we are all shiny together." Yes friends, a humble reminder from a preschooler!"
Out of the mouths of babes.....
Ok there's more but let's end that on a happy note :)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Community Spirit
Yet again I find myself thinking about the spirit of community in my neighbourhood, or rather the lack thereof. And about trying to create a #betteryyc, a better stronger, more vibrant and connected community.
Even the president of our local community association, in their most recent newsletter, called for volunteers to "build up the spirit in the community". So I'm not alone in feeling that there is something missing.
There are obstacles, this is a highly diverse neighbourhood, with almost half the population belonging to 'visible minorities' ( not sure pointing such things out helps create unity - aren't we all supposed to be Calgarians?) and almost as many have English as a Second Language, which can make communication less simple than it might be in some instances. At least one third of the properties here are rental properties, leading to a high immigrant population and one which is by nature transient and ever changing. Further, over one third of households here live at or below the officially designated poverty line. None of this makes it easy to instill a spirit of community in a population that changes as often as this one does or has as many difficulties with basic day to day life.
We also, as a neighbourhood, have our own issues. Like everywhere else we have our share of crime, both reported and recorded, and unreported. Yes it's highly likely that anything that isn't nailed down will be stolen, most often by people passing through the neighbourhood and being opportunistic as opposed to by people who actually live here. More importantly, there is a fear of crime that is out of proportion to the actual incidence of crime and that fear is an instant killer to community spirit.
Crime map
People look at their neighbours and expect the worst, focusing too much on the differences between us and not seeing all the ways in which we are the same. We all live here, this is our neighbourhood, and only we can make it our home. They fear the panhandlers and homeless - though I've yet to have a problem with any of our "regular" ones. They fear the teenagers and wannabe gangsters who hang around the strip mall and try to intimidate people passing by. They avoid those of different cultures, or races or religions, seeking comfort with their own and not realizing that this is actually lessening the sense of community spirit, community safety and cohesion, not increasing it.
I don't believe that any of our issues are untackleable, or any of our obstacles insurmountable. No one of us alone can change things by themselves, but I believe that together we can accomplish great things simply by each doing our own small part. As @Zarquil said on Twitter, it's not about creating a #perfectyyc, it's about creating a #betteryyc.
Community, and a #betteryyc, begins with each of us making that first small move. With getting out there, using our local stores and local spaces, meeting and greeting people and getting to know our neighbours. It starts with finding out what there is and what's happening in our neighbourhood, using it, taking care of it and enjoying it. It's about seeing what is missing, what might enhance it and boost community spirit, and then looking into ways of making those things happen.
I'm lucky that our apartment complex (yes, I rent) has a green space where the children (and there are many) can and do play, and some of the mothers gather there too. The children have little trouble getting along regardless of racial, language or cultural barriers, the adults have a slightly harder time of it. I'm actually a minority amongst those mothers, not because I'm a witch, pretty sure that's a given, rather because I'm white and English is my first, and best, language. (My french is a little rusty.) It's an interesting experience to feel like an outsider in your own neighbourhood. I'm seriously thinking it's well past time we had some sort of community event in our complex, be it a yard sale, a fund raiser, a pot luck/BBQ or even a scavenger hunt for the kids. I know they'd enjoy it.
I do firmly believe that any attempt to create community and make a #betteryyc must include and engage the children - they are the future, our future, the city's future, and it's well known that they learn best by example. Telling them to be community minded does no good at all if we fail to walk the walk ourselves.
I would love to see people using our local park but other than the playground it's fenced off in two ball pitches now, that are almost never, if ever, used. (I'd also like not to be picking up broken glass every time I visit the playground but that's a whole other gripe.) Personally I would love to see a community garden here if there were a space for one anywhere. That would be a win on so many levels it'd be a huge boot for the neighbourhood. (At least, as a side note, I just found out we have a Good Food Box centre here now, which I shall have to check out in the next day or two.)
This is our neighbourhood, let's each take one step each day towards taking it back and making it ours again, a place we want to live, work and play, and a place we can be happy to raise our children. One step at a time towards a #betteryyc.
As the saying goes - "Be the change you want to see in the world."
P. S. Makes me want to go out and ask people What do you like about our neighbourhood? What don't you like? What would you like to see brought in or taken away?Might just do that.....
Even the president of our local community association, in their most recent newsletter, called for volunteers to "build up the spirit in the community". So I'm not alone in feeling that there is something missing.
There are obstacles, this is a highly diverse neighbourhood, with almost half the population belonging to 'visible minorities' ( not sure pointing such things out helps create unity - aren't we all supposed to be Calgarians?) and almost as many have English as a Second Language, which can make communication less simple than it might be in some instances. At least one third of the properties here are rental properties, leading to a high immigrant population and one which is by nature transient and ever changing. Further, over one third of households here live at or below the officially designated poverty line. None of this makes it easy to instill a spirit of community in a population that changes as often as this one does or has as many difficulties with basic day to day life.
We also, as a neighbourhood, have our own issues. Like everywhere else we have our share of crime, both reported and recorded, and unreported. Yes it's highly likely that anything that isn't nailed down will be stolen, most often by people passing through the neighbourhood and being opportunistic as opposed to by people who actually live here. More importantly, there is a fear of crime that is out of proportion to the actual incidence of crime and that fear is an instant killer to community spirit.
Crime map
People look at their neighbours and expect the worst, focusing too much on the differences between us and not seeing all the ways in which we are the same. We all live here, this is our neighbourhood, and only we can make it our home. They fear the panhandlers and homeless - though I've yet to have a problem with any of our "regular" ones. They fear the teenagers and wannabe gangsters who hang around the strip mall and try to intimidate people passing by. They avoid those of different cultures, or races or religions, seeking comfort with their own and not realizing that this is actually lessening the sense of community spirit, community safety and cohesion, not increasing it.
I don't believe that any of our issues are untackleable, or any of our obstacles insurmountable. No one of us alone can change things by themselves, but I believe that together we can accomplish great things simply by each doing our own small part. As @Zarquil said on Twitter, it's not about creating a #perfectyyc, it's about creating a #betteryyc.
Community, and a #betteryyc, begins with each of us making that first small move. With getting out there, using our local stores and local spaces, meeting and greeting people and getting to know our neighbours. It starts with finding out what there is and what's happening in our neighbourhood, using it, taking care of it and enjoying it. It's about seeing what is missing, what might enhance it and boost community spirit, and then looking into ways of making those things happen.
I'm lucky that our apartment complex (yes, I rent) has a green space where the children (and there are many) can and do play, and some of the mothers gather there too. The children have little trouble getting along regardless of racial, language or cultural barriers, the adults have a slightly harder time of it. I'm actually a minority amongst those mothers, not because I'm a witch, pretty sure that's a given, rather because I'm white and English is my first, and best, language. (My french is a little rusty.) It's an interesting experience to feel like an outsider in your own neighbourhood. I'm seriously thinking it's well past time we had some sort of community event in our complex, be it a yard sale, a fund raiser, a pot luck/BBQ or even a scavenger hunt for the kids. I know they'd enjoy it.
I do firmly believe that any attempt to create community and make a #betteryyc must include and engage the children - they are the future, our future, the city's future, and it's well known that they learn best by example. Telling them to be community minded does no good at all if we fail to walk the walk ourselves.
I would love to see people using our local park but other than the playground it's fenced off in two ball pitches now, that are almost never, if ever, used. (I'd also like not to be picking up broken glass every time I visit the playground but that's a whole other gripe.) Personally I would love to see a community garden here if there were a space for one anywhere. That would be a win on so many levels it'd be a huge boot for the neighbourhood. (At least, as a side note, I just found out we have a Good Food Box centre here now, which I shall have to check out in the next day or two.)
This is our neighbourhood, let's each take one step each day towards taking it back and making it ours again, a place we want to live, work and play, and a place we can be happy to raise our children. One step at a time towards a #betteryyc.
As the saying goes - "Be the change you want to see in the world."
P. S. Makes me want to go out and ask people What do you like about our neighbourhood? What don't you like? What would you like to see brought in or taken away?Might just do that.....
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
RAOK, Christmas and Operation Magic
I've always been a big believer that a little more kindness, compassion and community would be a good thing for this world, not least here in the middle of big ole cowtown. Random Acts Of Kindness, RAOK, can only be a good thing, surely? Anything that brings a smile to someone's face or a moment of joy can only be a good thing, right? Even when the person doing the act receives no tangible reward for doing whatever they did, nor even any acknowledgement if they did it anonymously.
My problem, as ever, is being perpetually broke and so many of the suggested RAOK or those performed by other people are simply out of my reach no matter how much I would love to be able to do them. Now before you say it, I know there are a lot of suggestions out there for things you can do that don't cost anything, yet a number of those are things that I do anyway - smiling and talking to people, holding doors open, sharing cookies with the neighbours - you get the idea.
Luckily with Christmas coming it's a little easier to think outside the box. So since I believe that Christmas is a time for a little magic and love, kindness and compassion, Operation Magic has been born. Last year I carried a handful of signed sealed Christmas cards in my pocket and gave them to people we saw all year, such as the lady in the ice cream store, just because. This year I'm going to expand that to people all over, people in stores, neighbours, including ones I don't, or barely know, the flier guy, and some of the other people who I see all year around. Gonna leave candy canes in neighbour mailboxes, share cookies when I start seriously baking cookies for cookie season - ok I bake cookies all year but not in quantity since someone in this house is diabetic and not SUPPOSED to eat cookies - unfortunately he LIKES cookies lol So the only time I make large batches is Christmas, and why not share?
Christmas cards, cookies, candy canes, messages in the snow - a little experimenting showed a way to colour the snow in much the same way as in the summertime I and the local kids drew pictures all over our sidewalks - nothing exciting or expensive or important, but maybe it'll raise a smile here or there. And that's really what it's all about.
Also going to register a handful of books with Bookcrossing and release them around the area and deliver stuff to the local Salvation army, and anything else I can think of. Suggestions are always welcome.
I wish I could buy coffees and sandwiches or hand out gift cards or whatever, it's just beyond my means, so I'll do the best I can with what little I have to bring a little Christmas magic to my part of Rundle and Sunridge this year.
Merry Christmas Calgary. May there be plenty of RAOKs this year - all year long. Here's to a #BetterYYC #YYC #RAOK
Colour me crazy, as long as that colour is purple.
My problem, as ever, is being perpetually broke and so many of the suggested RAOK or those performed by other people are simply out of my reach no matter how much I would love to be able to do them. Now before you say it, I know there are a lot of suggestions out there for things you can do that don't cost anything, yet a number of those are things that I do anyway - smiling and talking to people, holding doors open, sharing cookies with the neighbours - you get the idea.
Luckily with Christmas coming it's a little easier to think outside the box. So since I believe that Christmas is a time for a little magic and love, kindness and compassion, Operation Magic has been born. Last year I carried a handful of signed sealed Christmas cards in my pocket and gave them to people we saw all year, such as the lady in the ice cream store, just because. This year I'm going to expand that to people all over, people in stores, neighbours, including ones I don't, or barely know, the flier guy, and some of the other people who I see all year around. Gonna leave candy canes in neighbour mailboxes, share cookies when I start seriously baking cookies for cookie season - ok I bake cookies all year but not in quantity since someone in this house is diabetic and not SUPPOSED to eat cookies - unfortunately he LIKES cookies lol So the only time I make large batches is Christmas, and why not share?
Christmas cards, cookies, candy canes, messages in the snow - a little experimenting showed a way to colour the snow in much the same way as in the summertime I and the local kids drew pictures all over our sidewalks - nothing exciting or expensive or important, but maybe it'll raise a smile here or there. And that's really what it's all about.
Also going to register a handful of books with Bookcrossing and release them around the area and deliver stuff to the local Salvation army, and anything else I can think of. Suggestions are always welcome.
I wish I could buy coffees and sandwiches or hand out gift cards or whatever, it's just beyond my means, so I'll do the best I can with what little I have to bring a little Christmas magic to my part of Rundle and Sunridge this year.
Merry Christmas Calgary. May there be plenty of RAOKs this year - all year long. Here's to a #BetterYYC #YYC #RAOK
Colour me crazy, as long as that colour is purple.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Ancestors
Inspired by Tanila's comments about ancestors and ancestor photos I had to go find this. Samhain is coming, time to remember those who came before.
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It's not just our personal past we should remember for it's part in making us who and where we are now. We should also remember the people and the generations who have gone before us, our parents and grandparents and the many generations beyond them, lost now to the haze of history. They each had their part to play in how we came to be who and where we are now.
Most people don't think too much about their ancestors, and most people don't need to. It does seem though that there really is at least one born into every generation who does care, who is driven to find and document them and to rediscover them before they are lost to obscurity forever. Driven to put names, places, faces and dates together, to piece together some parts of their stories, be they happy, sad, tragic or heroic, for each of them did have their own story.
Perhaps it's the modern day equivalent of being the storyteller, the one who preserved for the next generation the tales of myth and legend, the stories of hardship and celebration, and shared them with everyone else during long winter nights huddled together around the fire. Maybe those who are driven to uncover family history are simply the modern day incarnation of an ancient tradition.
There will always be skeletons hidden away that some would prefer be forgotten, there will be heroes and homemakers, adventurers, rascals, scoundrels and simple hardworking men who did nothing more remarkable in their lives than toil day in and day out to keep their families housed and fed. They are all a part of our past and deserve to be remembered.
"Putting together a family tree is like weaving an intricate multi-dimensional tapestry without knowing anything about the final design, because that final design doesn't exist."
Peter Baltensperger - Roaming in Ancestral Cycles.
Some people will always be little more than names and dates, the rest of their story already forgotten. Others will carry more colour, the sadness of children lost in infancy, the joys of children surviving to adulthood and producing offspring of their own. Still others come to life in faded photographs, or put a name to previously anonymous face, or turn out to be the grain of truth behind an old family anecdote.
Better that someone collect and record the fragments so that it remains available for the next generation than for their stories, great or small, to be lost, for once they are lost they might be gone forever.
Some families lived generations in the same place, working the same land, facing the same struggles to raise their families. They deserve to be remembered too, or do we want to forget the Audoires, French descended farmers raising generations on rough farmland on a tiny windswept island? Like Jane, who raised thirteen children there before her eldest son, Peter Henry, inherited the farmland and sold it off, using the proceeds to buy her the 'first real house' she had ever lived in.
Do we want to forget the Patton boys of Grayson county, Virginia, who left behind wives and children to fight for the Confederacy, in defence of their homeland and for what they believed was right? Leftwich and Creed Patton, close as brothers could be, grew up together, enlisted to fight together, forever torn apart when Leftwich was killed at the Battle of Middle Creek. Creed fought on, leading his company through the rest of the war before he finally returned home.
Or should we forget the women they left behind to hold home and family together not knowing when or if they would see their menfolk again? Or the Patton sisters, Cynthia and Martha, who devoted years to helping raise Leftwich's children after he was killed in the War Between the States, four small children who never had a chance to know their father.
The same goes for the Guernseymen who volunteered to fight a war they could not drafted into because they believed it was right. Many marched away to the Great War and a lot of them never returned home, and many of those who did return were never the same again. Should we forget the women and families they left behind? Or the babies who died, as so many did in times past, before they ever had a chance at life?
Perhaps we should forget the women like the two Nancy Patton's, of different lines and generations, who each defied society, convention and church to raise the children they bore outside wedlock, and whose children each married and raised large families of their own. Or the Guernseman who stood before God and congregation on his wedding day and declared that the child his new wife held in her arms was his? Was it? who knows, it doesn't matter, his declaration is forever recorded immediately below his marriage in the church register and it would have taken a brave man to call it other than truth.
Perhaps we could ignore the quarrymen, like Thomas Smith Brown, who did nothing more than work long back breaking days quarrying granite in Guernsey, a world away from their native Devon and Cornwall. Or maybe immigrants like the Aeicheles who came from Russia, Poland and Germany, halfway around the world in search of a better life in Canada and America?
Maybe the Whalleys and Kays from Lancashire, who were 'only' miners and weavers, the very backbone of life in the north of England. Maybe the interestingly mis-transcribed "card loom worker" who was listed as the much more mysterious and exotic sounding "card Room Worker" when one census was released. Or perhaps the Scottish tenant farmer, William Murray, a man of obvious means, who late in life married the innkeeper's daughter and raised a large family.
Could we forget Cornish born Susan Jane who literally married the boy next door, then followed him to Canada with their children, suffering the loss of one child before she even reached Manitoba? Or Cecil, who was invalided out of the Great War, and had to wear his silver discharge badge so as to avoid being accused of cowardice? One war wasn't enough for him, for he also endured four long years of his island home being occupied by invading German forces, separated from the wife and child he had evacuated to safety in Rochester, and facing the same near starvation as everyone else who remained behind on the island, a starvation only alleviated by the ships of the Red Cross.
They all have a part in the story of our past, they are our roots, they are part of the foundation on which we can build our future, without any one of them we wouldn't be here. And for that, they deserve to be remembered.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
It's not just our personal past we should remember for it's part in making us who and where we are now. We should also remember the people and the generations who have gone before us, our parents and grandparents and the many generations beyond them, lost now to the haze of history. They each had their part to play in how we came to be who and where we are now.
Most people don't think too much about their ancestors, and most people don't need to. It does seem though that there really is at least one born into every generation who does care, who is driven to find and document them and to rediscover them before they are lost to obscurity forever. Driven to put names, places, faces and dates together, to piece together some parts of their stories, be they happy, sad, tragic or heroic, for each of them did have their own story.
Perhaps it's the modern day equivalent of being the storyteller, the one who preserved for the next generation the tales of myth and legend, the stories of hardship and celebration, and shared them with everyone else during long winter nights huddled together around the fire. Maybe those who are driven to uncover family history are simply the modern day incarnation of an ancient tradition.
There will always be skeletons hidden away that some would prefer be forgotten, there will be heroes and homemakers, adventurers, rascals, scoundrels and simple hardworking men who did nothing more remarkable in their lives than toil day in and day out to keep their families housed and fed. They are all a part of our past and deserve to be remembered.
"Putting together a family tree is like weaving an intricate multi-dimensional tapestry without knowing anything about the final design, because that final design doesn't exist."
Peter Baltensperger - Roaming in Ancestral Cycles.
Some people will always be little more than names and dates, the rest of their story already forgotten. Others will carry more colour, the sadness of children lost in infancy, the joys of children surviving to adulthood and producing offspring of their own. Still others come to life in faded photographs, or put a name to previously anonymous face, or turn out to be the grain of truth behind an old family anecdote.
Better that someone collect and record the fragments so that it remains available for the next generation than for their stories, great or small, to be lost, for once they are lost they might be gone forever.
Some families lived generations in the same place, working the same land, facing the same struggles to raise their families. They deserve to be remembered too, or do we want to forget the Audoires, French descended farmers raising generations on rough farmland on a tiny windswept island? Like Jane, who raised thirteen children there before her eldest son, Peter Henry, inherited the farmland and sold it off, using the proceeds to buy her the 'first real house' she had ever lived in.
Do we want to forget the Patton boys of Grayson county, Virginia, who left behind wives and children to fight for the Confederacy, in defence of their homeland and for what they believed was right? Leftwich and Creed Patton, close as brothers could be, grew up together, enlisted to fight together, forever torn apart when Leftwich was killed at the Battle of Middle Creek. Creed fought on, leading his company through the rest of the war before he finally returned home.
Or should we forget the women they left behind to hold home and family together not knowing when or if they would see their menfolk again? Or the Patton sisters, Cynthia and Martha, who devoted years to helping raise Leftwich's children after he was killed in the War Between the States, four small children who never had a chance to know their father.
The same goes for the Guernseymen who volunteered to fight a war they could not drafted into because they believed it was right. Many marched away to the Great War and a lot of them never returned home, and many of those who did return were never the same again. Should we forget the women and families they left behind? Or the babies who died, as so many did in times past, before they ever had a chance at life?
Perhaps we should forget the women like the two Nancy Patton's, of different lines and generations, who each defied society, convention and church to raise the children they bore outside wedlock, and whose children each married and raised large families of their own. Or the Guernseman who stood before God and congregation on his wedding day and declared that the child his new wife held in her arms was his? Was it? who knows, it doesn't matter, his declaration is forever recorded immediately below his marriage in the church register and it would have taken a brave man to call it other than truth.
Perhaps we could ignore the quarrymen, like Thomas Smith Brown, who did nothing more than work long back breaking days quarrying granite in Guernsey, a world away from their native Devon and Cornwall. Or maybe immigrants like the Aeicheles who came from Russia, Poland and Germany, halfway around the world in search of a better life in Canada and America?
Maybe the Whalleys and Kays from Lancashire, who were 'only' miners and weavers, the very backbone of life in the north of England. Maybe the interestingly mis-transcribed "card loom worker" who was listed as the much more mysterious and exotic sounding "card Room Worker" when one census was released. Or perhaps the Scottish tenant farmer, William Murray, a man of obvious means, who late in life married the innkeeper's daughter and raised a large family.
Could we forget Cornish born Susan Jane who literally married the boy next door, then followed him to Canada with their children, suffering the loss of one child before she even reached Manitoba? Or Cecil, who was invalided out of the Great War, and had to wear his silver discharge badge so as to avoid being accused of cowardice? One war wasn't enough for him, for he also endured four long years of his island home being occupied by invading German forces, separated from the wife and child he had evacuated to safety in Rochester, and facing the same near starvation as everyone else who remained behind on the island, a starvation only alleviated by the ships of the Red Cross.
They all have a part in the story of our past, they are our roots, they are part of the foundation on which we can build our future, without any one of them we wouldn't be here. And for that, they deserve to be remembered.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Today, sunflowers, bubbles and chalk
Today we went to the North Pole aka the park to play, blowing bubbles, drawing hopscotch with sidewalk chalk and planting sunflowers. This world could always use a little more magic in it. Ok so International Sunflower planting day might have been a little over a week ago but we've had two snowstorms in the last fortnight so..... We'll see what happens. But I'm making food and I have an hour or so, theoretically, of peace - relatively speaking, so this could be the time of random postings. Well I did warn you that posting could be erratic, random and usually less than coherent ;)
Partly that is because as always there are many thoughts running through my head in tandem, all vying for their turn at 'top spot'. You'll see - or you can run away now.
"Many women today feel a sadness we cannot name. Though we accomplish much of what we set out to do, we sense that something is missing in our lives, and - fruitlessly - search 'out there' for the answers. What's often wrong is that we are disconnected from an authentic sense of self." Emily Hancock.
And that doesn't just apply to women, especially in terms of some of the thoughts that have been chasing each other through my head lately and showing up in conversations with a friend or two. Anyway I told a friend I'd try and get some of my stray thoughts and scribbled notes into something resembling sentences - not coherence - just sentences for now. So that is what I'm going to try and do, on a variety of topics. Be afraid, be very afraid he he
Partly that is because as always there are many thoughts running through my head in tandem, all vying for their turn at 'top spot'. You'll see - or you can run away now.
"Many women today feel a sadness we cannot name. Though we accomplish much of what we set out to do, we sense that something is missing in our lives, and - fruitlessly - search 'out there' for the answers. What's often wrong is that we are disconnected from an authentic sense of self." Emily Hancock.
And that doesn't just apply to women, especially in terms of some of the thoughts that have been chasing each other through my head lately and showing up in conversations with a friend or two. Anyway I told a friend I'd try and get some of my stray thoughts and scribbled notes into something resembling sentences - not coherence - just sentences for now. So that is what I'm going to try and do, on a variety of topics. Be afraid, be very afraid he he
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Life stuff and stray thoughts
Well I never did promise sanity, sense, coherence or anything else remotely related. Just adding in a few older posts while I try and figure out what I'm supposed to be doing this afternoon - and then figure out what I'll actually do lol
Weather is too crappy for another trip out so that'll have to wait... might have to call another buddy who's having a 'shit happens' week. Life can be a really... interesting thing sometimes - not always in a good way even when things happen that are probably for the best in the long term - they still aren't any fun at all in the short term. Sucks to be going through it and I feel for her, I really do. Sometimes in life there is no "right" answer, no "correct" solution, only better or worse, or a lesser evil, or dealing with what comes, somehow, as best you can.
No-one round here knows her, and no-one knows who I'm talking about except me and her and that's how it'll stay. Imagine being single, less than young, and finding out you're pregnant, and knowing abortion is not a choice you want to make - although like me she firmly believes that abortion should always be a legally available option for any woman - her personal choice is not. So that's out, yet, on the other hand, all practical considerations aside, and all of us with kids know there are PLENTY of those, you also know that if you carry this child, there's every chance you'll get as sick as last time, and in fact you were warned that you shouldn't have any more children as being pregnant again would pose a high risk of killing you. I remember how sick she was last time. When life happens, it happens good and hard! Love you girl.
Life seems to happening a little too much to several of my friends lately - for starters I'll be glad when Mercury retrograde is over! Relationships starting, ending, going pants - for umpteenth time.... not to mention all the rest of the crap going on. Life may be what it is, but sometimes it seems to happen hard and fast.
Anyway.... "Every action comes with a price, be prepared to pay that price and then do what you will." Elspeth Sapphire (hope I remembered that correctly!)
Weather is too crappy for another trip out so that'll have to wait... might have to call another buddy who's having a 'shit happens' week. Life can be a really... interesting thing sometimes - not always in a good way even when things happen that are probably for the best in the long term - they still aren't any fun at all in the short term. Sucks to be going through it and I feel for her, I really do. Sometimes in life there is no "right" answer, no "correct" solution, only better or worse, or a lesser evil, or dealing with what comes, somehow, as best you can.
No-one round here knows her, and no-one knows who I'm talking about except me and her and that's how it'll stay. Imagine being single, less than young, and finding out you're pregnant, and knowing abortion is not a choice you want to make - although like me she firmly believes that abortion should always be a legally available option for any woman - her personal choice is not. So that's out, yet, on the other hand, all practical considerations aside, and all of us with kids know there are PLENTY of those, you also know that if you carry this child, there's every chance you'll get as sick as last time, and in fact you were warned that you shouldn't have any more children as being pregnant again would pose a high risk of killing you. I remember how sick she was last time. When life happens, it happens good and hard! Love you girl.
Life seems to happening a little too much to several of my friends lately - for starters I'll be glad when Mercury retrograde is over! Relationships starting, ending, going pants - for umpteenth time.... not to mention all the rest of the crap going on. Life may be what it is, but sometimes it seems to happen hard and fast.
Anyway.... "Every action comes with a price, be prepared to pay that price and then do what you will." Elspeth Sapphire (hope I remembered that correctly!)
And in a similar vein since I was reminded by the current snowfall...
It's snowing again, big, soft, fluffy flakes that cover the dirty ridges of refrozen slush left from earlier falls with a clean white blanket. Christmas card beauty is restored, sound is muffled, the world seems calmer and less frantic. Of course, cars are slipping and sliding, losing traction and getting stuck, drivers cursing as their wheels spin helplessly. People pass by walking fast, hands in pockets, hoods pulled high over their ears, intent only on reaching their destinations with maximum speed. A few stop to help the stranded drivers, gloved hands pushing against snow covered cars, trying to move them clear of trouble.
In the midst of all the cold chaos, a boy, almost three, falls to his knees in the soft snow and laughs. His nose is already red, his cheeks rosy, snow covers his pants and collects in the tops of his boots. He doesn't care. His eyes shine as he rolls in the snow. The snow is soft and white, his toes are warm and dry deep inside his hand-me-down boots, his fingers are snug inside striped gloves. Padded jacket and pants protect him from the weather and he is having fun. To him, the boots and pants are new wonders, the key to exploring a magical world of whiteness that he doesn't remember from the winter before. To him, it's all new.
Climbing to his feet, his eyes sparkle as he looks up briefly.
"Jump!" He jumps over another ridge of snow and giggles. "One more time!" and falls to his knees in the snow again.
The innocent, timeless joy of a child for whom time doesn't matter. There is no duty, no responsibility, no reason to hurry, no deadline, all are foreign concepts to him, expectations for other people. The only thing that is important to him, the only thing that matters, is this moment, and the snow.
As Rita Mae Brown is quoted as saying, "I finally figured out that the only reason to be alive, is to enjoy it."
If there is no time to enjoy any part of it, then there's something not working in your life. All too often people forget that life isn't one big thing, it's lots of little things all joined together. And they're not joined together in any neat, compartmentalized pattern where each has its own separate place where it belongs and will stay, they're all tangled together in one seemingly chaotic mess, touching together, tangling, merging, twisting and joining without obvious order or even meaning. Yet as a whole, this tangled, barely organized chaos works. Or it should do.
People who view life as one big thing that they have to 'get right' will always find themselves disappointed. there will always be something that could be better, bigger newer or more abundant, there will always be something missing.
Those who view life as being made up of many small pieces all joined together have more chance of getting the overall balance, the bigger picture, 'right'. Whatever 'right' means for them. There will probably always be parts that they wish were better, bigger, newer, shinier, not so dull or boring, or just plain wrong. However, hopefully there will be enough parts that are right, good, fun and exciting to balance them out and in the end make the good parts outweigh the bad parts when taken as a whole. That, is what makes a good life, not your bank balance, what car you drive or how many pairs of shoes you have.
Looking at life as a collage of smaller pieces, snapshots, there will be some that stand out and almost seem to glow with a life of their own, those are the moments and memories that have the power to make the whole of life a little brighter and better. Of course that does mean it's necessary to actually take the time to notice those moments in the first place, as they're happening, and not simply later as a good memory. Remembering a time when you were happy and enjoying life is one thing, realizing it at the time, as it is happening, is another. It requires time, something too many people don't make, to grab, enjoy and savour those moments - like playing in the snow, stopping to smell freshly bloomed roses, pausing to listen to the wind and the birds in the trees or letting warm summer rain fall on bare skin and savouring the feel of grass between your toes rather than simply hurrying to get from A to B as quickly as possible.
So it took us a little longer to get to the store and back in the snow that day, so what? Did it matter? Not in the slightest in the scheme of things. There was nothing that was so important that a small boy couldn't have the time to enjoy what, for him, was perfect moment.
In the midst of all the cold chaos, a boy, almost three, falls to his knees in the soft snow and laughs. His nose is already red, his cheeks rosy, snow covers his pants and collects in the tops of his boots. He doesn't care. His eyes shine as he rolls in the snow. The snow is soft and white, his toes are warm and dry deep inside his hand-me-down boots, his fingers are snug inside striped gloves. Padded jacket and pants protect him from the weather and he is having fun. To him, the boots and pants are new wonders, the key to exploring a magical world of whiteness that he doesn't remember from the winter before. To him, it's all new.
Climbing to his feet, his eyes sparkle as he looks up briefly.
"Jump!" He jumps over another ridge of snow and giggles. "One more time!" and falls to his knees in the snow again.
The innocent, timeless joy of a child for whom time doesn't matter. There is no duty, no responsibility, no reason to hurry, no deadline, all are foreign concepts to him, expectations for other people. The only thing that is important to him, the only thing that matters, is this moment, and the snow.
As Rita Mae Brown is quoted as saying, "I finally figured out that the only reason to be alive, is to enjoy it."
If there is no time to enjoy any part of it, then there's something not working in your life. All too often people forget that life isn't one big thing, it's lots of little things all joined together. And they're not joined together in any neat, compartmentalized pattern where each has its own separate place where it belongs and will stay, they're all tangled together in one seemingly chaotic mess, touching together, tangling, merging, twisting and joining without obvious order or even meaning. Yet as a whole, this tangled, barely organized chaos works. Or it should do.
People who view life as one big thing that they have to 'get right' will always find themselves disappointed. there will always be something that could be better, bigger newer or more abundant, there will always be something missing.
Those who view life as being made up of many small pieces all joined together have more chance of getting the overall balance, the bigger picture, 'right'. Whatever 'right' means for them. There will probably always be parts that they wish were better, bigger, newer, shinier, not so dull or boring, or just plain wrong. However, hopefully there will be enough parts that are right, good, fun and exciting to balance them out and in the end make the good parts outweigh the bad parts when taken as a whole. That, is what makes a good life, not your bank balance, what car you drive or how many pairs of shoes you have.
Looking at life as a collage of smaller pieces, snapshots, there will be some that stand out and almost seem to glow with a life of their own, those are the moments and memories that have the power to make the whole of life a little brighter and better. Of course that does mean it's necessary to actually take the time to notice those moments in the first place, as they're happening, and not simply later as a good memory. Remembering a time when you were happy and enjoying life is one thing, realizing it at the time, as it is happening, is another. It requires time, something too many people don't make, to grab, enjoy and savour those moments - like playing in the snow, stopping to smell freshly bloomed roses, pausing to listen to the wind and the birds in the trees or letting warm summer rain fall on bare skin and savouring the feel of grass between your toes rather than simply hurrying to get from A to B as quickly as possible.
So it took us a little longer to get to the store and back in the snow that day, so what? Did it matter? Not in the slightest in the scheme of things. There was nothing that was so important that a small boy couldn't have the time to enjoy what, for him, was perfect moment.
Kids
So it's May and it's still snowing but at least the winds ahve died down somewhat. So demon gave us a ride and we made it to the mall for Stuff-a-Plush - and now we're home with an adorable duck christened Quacker. Still snowing out there mind you.
Children grow at their own pace and no amount of wishing, commanding or trying to force them will change that. Be realistic, keep your expectations real, and remember that they will grow out of almost everything eventually. the more you stress and struggle to make them into something they aren't ready to be, the harder it will be on everyone concerned.
Kids are only young once, they grow up way too fast so enjoy them while you can. Don't waste precious time that could be spent enjoying them by wishing it away wanting them to be something they aren't. If you don't enjoy them as they are now, whatever that now is, all too soon you'll find they've grown up and are moving away from and into lives of their own, leaving you wishing you could turn back the clock and do it again.
And that isn't going to happen.
Don't miss their childhood by always being focused on reaching the next step, the next goal, the next milestone. Don't aim so hard for that next step that you always miss the ones they're taking right now. Every day is full of things that are new to them, and each day that passes is one that you can never get back again.
Take time, stop and watch the robin hunt for worms, blows bubbles in the bath, make dandelion wishes in the sunshine, make snow angels or just stand still and feel the icy soft touch of snowflakes on your face.
There is already way too much hurry up in this world. The basics of life, work, mundania, will wait a little while, children won't. Far too soon they'll be living their own lives, with their own friends and interests, away at school all day and they won't want us to be a part of their world in the same way. And then, it'll be too late for anything except regrets over the times we missed out on as we hurried them through their childhood.
The best thing we can give our children is time, time to simply be children, time to discover the world as they see it, and time with us. The best thing we can give ourselves is time with them while they are still being children.
No parent ever went to their deathbed thinking "I wish I had spent more time at work and less time with my children."
Childhood is finite, don't waste theirs wishing it away. Once it's gone, you can never get it back, and then you have the rest of your life for regrets.
Children grow at their own pace and no amount of wishing, commanding or trying to force them will change that. Be realistic, keep your expectations real, and remember that they will grow out of almost everything eventually. the more you stress and struggle to make them into something they aren't ready to be, the harder it will be on everyone concerned.
Kids are only young once, they grow up way too fast so enjoy them while you can. Don't waste precious time that could be spent enjoying them by wishing it away wanting them to be something they aren't. If you don't enjoy them as they are now, whatever that now is, all too soon you'll find they've grown up and are moving away from and into lives of their own, leaving you wishing you could turn back the clock and do it again.
And that isn't going to happen.
Don't miss their childhood by always being focused on reaching the next step, the next goal, the next milestone. Don't aim so hard for that next step that you always miss the ones they're taking right now. Every day is full of things that are new to them, and each day that passes is one that you can never get back again.
Take time, stop and watch the robin hunt for worms, blows bubbles in the bath, make dandelion wishes in the sunshine, make snow angels or just stand still and feel the icy soft touch of snowflakes on your face.
There is already way too much hurry up in this world. The basics of life, work, mundania, will wait a little while, children won't. Far too soon they'll be living their own lives, with their own friends and interests, away at school all day and they won't want us to be a part of their world in the same way. And then, it'll be too late for anything except regrets over the times we missed out on as we hurried them through their childhood.
The best thing we can give our children is time, time to simply be children, time to discover the world as they see it, and time with us. The best thing we can give ourselves is time with them while they are still being children.
No parent ever went to their deathbed thinking "I wish I had spent more time at work and less time with my children."
Childhood is finite, don't waste theirs wishing it away. Once it's gone, you can never get it back, and then you have the rest of your life for regrets.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Abortion
“I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.”
Rebecca West
Abortion is always a contentious issue - everyone has an opinion - even when they say they don't. In some places, like America, it's an even more heated debate, and one for which each of us should reach our own personal decision. It is also one on which many people, myself included, are very passionate.
Bottom line is that while I, personally, could (probably) never have an abortion because it goes against my personal beliefs, I will always be pro choice because I believe that the right to a legal, medical abortion is a necessity in any civilized society that gives half a damn about the health, mental and physical, of women and children.
Banning abortion does not stop people from wanting terminations, it simply sends them to back street abortionists and underground clinics where they don't get the care or treatment they need. Banning abortion simply results in an increase in unnecessary deaths and injuries from illegal abortions and an increase in unwanted pregnancies and abandoned babies. It also has a negative effect on prenatal health, infant mortality, and maternal health - and on the physical and emotional health of the unwilling mothers who feel coerced into having a child they cannot cope with or do not want.
Pregnancy and childbirth is the leading cause of death, worldwide, for young women, so why add to that number by denying them access to safe, clinical, medical terminations?
Thanks to certain factions it's immensely complicated in America as it varies by state. And freedom of speech means that we have to allow people to give voice to their opinion even when we disagree with them - I may completely disagree with your point of view but I will defend your right to say it - even when it sucks! Which also means I have a right to say that I think legal abortion is a necessary thing. Deal.
Free speech against abortion - ok
Protesting against those who perform or permit abortion - ok
Lying to vulnerable women to persuade them to carry a pregnancy to term - not ok
Killing doctors who perform medically safe abortions - not ok
Bombing clinics and/or harassing staff - not ok
The specifics that got me so irritated the last few days? How is it fair or just or moral to tell someone who was raped, or the victim of incest, that they cannot terminate? How can forcing them to carry their pregnancy to term somehow "empower them" and help them recover from the trauma that they have been through? Especially when that person was raped by their stepfather - someone they should have been able to trust? And especially when that victim is only ten years old? HOW can forcing a child to carry a baby to term ever be considered "The right thing to do" ?
http://www.feministing.com/archives/020866.html
Whatever happens as a result of the alleged incest and rape charges against her stepfather, the girl is past the point at which she is permitted a legal abortion anyway. She has to carry to term - gods willing, and may the Goddess protect her - she needs it. She is TEN for crying out loud. No ten year old should be becoming a mother for any reason, least of all this one. And it's not as if she's an isolated victim. It happens all too often across the world.
I don't promise coherence, but I stand by what I believe, and I believe that for many different reasons, legal, medical abortion should be an option. For ten year olds who shouldn't be pregnant in the first place by whatever means, for rape victims, for those who consider it their best, or only, option, for teenage girls who made a mistake.
Rebecca West
Abortion is always a contentious issue - everyone has an opinion - even when they say they don't. In some places, like America, it's an even more heated debate, and one for which each of us should reach our own personal decision. It is also one on which many people, myself included, are very passionate.
Bottom line is that while I, personally, could (probably) never have an abortion because it goes against my personal beliefs, I will always be pro choice because I believe that the right to a legal, medical abortion is a necessity in any civilized society that gives half a damn about the health, mental and physical, of women and children.
Banning abortion does not stop people from wanting terminations, it simply sends them to back street abortionists and underground clinics where they don't get the care or treatment they need. Banning abortion simply results in an increase in unnecessary deaths and injuries from illegal abortions and an increase in unwanted pregnancies and abandoned babies. It also has a negative effect on prenatal health, infant mortality, and maternal health - and on the physical and emotional health of the unwilling mothers who feel coerced into having a child they cannot cope with or do not want.
Pregnancy and childbirth is the leading cause of death, worldwide, for young women, so why add to that number by denying them access to safe, clinical, medical terminations?
Thanks to certain factions it's immensely complicated in America as it varies by state. And freedom of speech means that we have to allow people to give voice to their opinion even when we disagree with them - I may completely disagree with your point of view but I will defend your right to say it - even when it sucks! Which also means I have a right to say that I think legal abortion is a necessary thing. Deal.
Free speech against abortion - ok
Protesting against those who perform or permit abortion - ok
Lying to vulnerable women to persuade them to carry a pregnancy to term - not ok
Killing doctors who perform medically safe abortions - not ok
Bombing clinics and/or harassing staff - not ok
The specifics that got me so irritated the last few days? How is it fair or just or moral to tell someone who was raped, or the victim of incest, that they cannot terminate? How can forcing them to carry their pregnancy to term somehow "empower them" and help them recover from the trauma that they have been through? Especially when that person was raped by their stepfather - someone they should have been able to trust? And especially when that victim is only ten years old? HOW can forcing a child to carry a baby to term ever be considered "The right thing to do" ?
http://www.feministing.com/archives/020866.html
Whatever happens as a result of the alleged incest and rape charges against her stepfather, the girl is past the point at which she is permitted a legal abortion anyway. She has to carry to term - gods willing, and may the Goddess protect her - she needs it. She is TEN for crying out loud. No ten year old should be becoming a mother for any reason, least of all this one. And it's not as if she's an isolated victim. It happens all too often across the world.
I don't promise coherence, but I stand by what I believe, and I believe that for many different reasons, legal, medical abortion should be an option. For ten year olds who shouldn't be pregnant in the first place by whatever means, for rape victims, for those who consider it their best, or only, option, for teenage girls who made a mistake.
People......
So in what seems to be a run of 'issues' in America, the mayor of Chicago is so concerned about the crime rate in his city that he is asking why he can't have the National guard, who have been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and effectively restoring law and order there, come and help out his police force in their home state. Good question.
And in an issue that spans country borders, in America a man who was wounded defending a woman from an assailant dies from his wounds as passers by ignore - or worse - watch him.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36788569/ns/us_news-life/
While in Canada a man is stabbed and nobody helps him.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/04/24/13708516.html
Some things are apparently the same no matter where you are, says me, who lives right in the sector of the city where last week three men in a car assaulted and robbed a pedestrian at knife point, and then assaulted and robbed, or attempted to rob more pedestrians including 10 and 12 year old children. Fortunately no-one was hurt and police apprehended three suspects in a car that was found to contain a knife. Still, the world definitely isn't becoming a better place to live right now.
And in an issue that spans country borders, in America a man who was wounded defending a woman from an assailant dies from his wounds as passers by ignore - or worse - watch him.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36788569/ns/us_news-life/
While in Canada a man is stabbed and nobody helps him.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2010/04/24/13708516.html
Some things are apparently the same no matter where you are, says me, who lives right in the sector of the city where last week three men in a car assaulted and robbed a pedestrian at knife point, and then assaulted and robbed, or attempted to rob more pedestrians including 10 and 12 year old children. Fortunately no-one was hurt and police apprehended three suspects in a car that was found to contain a knife. Still, the world definitely isn't becoming a better place to live right now.
Women's rights, human rights.
So I wrote about this once before http://purplerahk.blogspot.com/2007/11/zip-code-of-death.html but it seems that things aren't changing nearly enough - parts of Memphis, TN, still have one of the highest infant mortality rates going.
http://blackgirlthinking.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/memphis-tn-highest-infant-mortality-rate-in-the-nation/
Then again, when you consider this
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/black_women_three_times_more_likely_to_die_in_childbirth
it shouldn't be that surprising. And no it's not because, as one commentator said, they live in third world undeveloped countries - we're talking women in America. There shouldn't be such a disparity based on where you live or what colour your skin is. In this day and age we should be doing anything and everything we can to reduce the rate of infant mortality or death in childbirth in every country - especially those in the so called civilized western world.
So currently worldwide maternal and child health is under discussion at the G8 talks in Halifax.
http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/canada/article/512765--maternal-child-health-in-poor-countries-leads-g8-talks-in-halifax
Whatever the answer is, something definitely needs to be done to secure the health of mothers and infants worldwide.
http://www.vancouversun.com/gives+thumbs+Harper+maternal+health+project/2962545/story.html
You know what though? Talking and agreeing is wonderful - what would be even better - stop talking and start doing. Seriously, we all know there's a problem, and now you all agreed you need to do something about it - so enough with reports and talking, let's start doing. Any improvement would be a good thing.
One statistic that stuck in my mind is that pregnancy and birth related problems are the leading cause of death among girls 15-19 - worldwide. Not least because so many girls across the world are forced, coerced, persuaded or drawn into marriage, and therefore inevitably childbearing, at very young ages for a variety of reasons.
Which leads to this
http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/preteen-girl-wins-divorce-from-80-year-old-husband/
and she's one of the lucky ones. She found a way out. Many others aren't nearly so lucky.
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/top_ten_ways_to_make_a_difference
"When we are free, we speak the unspeakable and think the unthinkable." Starhawk - Truth or Dare.
http://blackgirlthinking.wordpress.com/2010/03/02/memphis-tn-highest-infant-mortality-rate-in-the-nation/
Then again, when you consider this
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/black_women_three_times_more_likely_to_die_in_childbirth
it shouldn't be that surprising. And no it's not because, as one commentator said, they live in third world undeveloped countries - we're talking women in America. There shouldn't be such a disparity based on where you live or what colour your skin is. In this day and age we should be doing anything and everything we can to reduce the rate of infant mortality or death in childbirth in every country - especially those in the so called civilized western world.
So currently worldwide maternal and child health is under discussion at the G8 talks in Halifax.
http://www.metronews.ca/calgary/canada/article/512765--maternal-child-health-in-poor-countries-leads-g8-talks-in-halifax
Whatever the answer is, something definitely needs to be done to secure the health of mothers and infants worldwide.
http://www.vancouversun.com/gives+thumbs+Harper+maternal+health+project/2962545/story.html
You know what though? Talking and agreeing is wonderful - what would be even better - stop talking and start doing. Seriously, we all know there's a problem, and now you all agreed you need to do something about it - so enough with reports and talking, let's start doing. Any improvement would be a good thing.
One statistic that stuck in my mind is that pregnancy and birth related problems are the leading cause of death among girls 15-19 - worldwide. Not least because so many girls across the world are forced, coerced, persuaded or drawn into marriage, and therefore inevitably childbearing, at very young ages for a variety of reasons.
Which leads to this
http://www.care2.com/causes/womens-rights/blog/preteen-girl-wins-divorce-from-80-year-old-husband/
and she's one of the lucky ones. She found a way out. Many others aren't nearly so lucky.
http://womensrights.change.org/blog/view/top_ten_ways_to_make_a_difference
"When we are free, we speak the unspeakable and think the unthinkable." Starhawk - Truth or Dare.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Afghan schoolgirls
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/04/201042663711279658.html
No, I don't know for sure what happened but why wouldn't it surprise me if certain people were trying to stop girls getting an education, to stop women from climbing out from beneath their male 'protectors' and claiming something resembling equality? IF, and it's a big if, though it's not the first instance of poisoning happening to girls in school in Afghanistan, that is what happening then it seems to me that someone (using the term loosely) is running scared, afraid of the idea of women gaining control of their own lives and destinies. Seems like IF it is the case them someone is tying to keep women in their place.
"Attacks on girls schools have increased in the past year, particularly in the east and south of the country. Last year a group of schoolgirls in Kandahar had acid thrown in their faces by men who objected to them attending school. "
http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3717796/Afghan-girls-poisoned-at-school.html
http://www.rferl.org/content/Illnesses_At_Afghan_Girls_Schools_Prompt_Poisoning_Fears/2024984.html
This was a year ago.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE54A1IR20090512
given what they go through to go to school, and that as recently as 2001 it was forbidden, one has to wonder. And, those of us who took going to school and getting an education as an often dull and annoying right, have to consider ourselves lucky to have been able to do so and be bored with it.
This is the same climate that allowed this to happen
http://purplerahk.blogspot.com/2007/11/english-can-get-you-killed.html
and in all cases, no-one was doing anything other than trying to get an education and improve the lives of themselves, their families and those around them. Something most of us would consider a worthy goal.
No, I don't know for sure what happened but why wouldn't it surprise me if certain people were trying to stop girls getting an education, to stop women from climbing out from beneath their male 'protectors' and claiming something resembling equality? IF, and it's a big if, though it's not the first instance of poisoning happening to girls in school in Afghanistan, that is what happening then it seems to me that someone (using the term loosely) is running scared, afraid of the idea of women gaining control of their own lives and destinies. Seems like IF it is the case them someone is tying to keep women in their place.
"Attacks on girls schools have increased in the past year, particularly in the east and south of the country. Last year a group of schoolgirls in Kandahar had acid thrown in their faces by men who objected to them attending school. "
http://www.welt.de/english-news/article3717796/Afghan-girls-poisoned-at-school.html
http://www.rferl.org/content/Illnesses_At_Afghan_Girls_Schools_Prompt_Poisoning_Fears/2024984.html
This was a year ago.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE54A1IR20090512
given what they go through to go to school, and that as recently as 2001 it was forbidden, one has to wonder. And, those of us who took going to school and getting an education as an often dull and annoying right, have to consider ourselves lucky to have been able to do so and be bored with it.
This is the same climate that allowed this to happen
http://purplerahk.blogspot.com/2007/11/english-can-get-you-killed.html
and in all cases, no-one was doing anything other than trying to get an education and improve the lives of themselves, their families and those around them. Something most of us would consider a worthy goal.
Friday, November 16, 2007
English can get you killed.
Taliban kill Afghan boy
He was 16, all he did was teach his friends and classmates how to speak English, and for that he was dragged out of school and shot. Dead. Not because he was doing anything illegal but because he was doing something religious leaders didn't like. And they aren't even theoretically in charge of the country.
It's just wrong.
Actually he is probably one reason to have hope that there might be a more peaceful future out there for Afghanistan, while his death is one more reason to consider that a forlorn hope. I could almost wish that for every person who suffers his fate for similarly hopeful reasons, two more take his place. Be it girls learning to read or wanting to be doctors, or boys teaching their friends English.
He was 16, all he did was teach his friends and classmates how to speak English, and for that he was dragged out of school and shot. Dead. Not because he was doing anything illegal but because he was doing something religious leaders didn't like. And they aren't even theoretically in charge of the country.
It's just wrong.
Actually he is probably one reason to have hope that there might be a more peaceful future out there for Afghanistan, while his death is one more reason to consider that a forlorn hope. I could almost wish that for every person who suffers his fate for similarly hopeful reasons, two more take his place. Be it girls learning to read or wanting to be doctors, or boys teaching their friends English.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Children are not Collateral Damage
All around the world children carry on dying, not just from disease or malnutrition or more normal causes, but also from war.
Somali children
And it seems like too many people simply don't care, don't pay attention, don't look, don't listen, because it's not THEIR children dying, so why should they care?
Children shouldn't be collateral damage, innocent victims, accidental casualties. They shouldn't be afraid to sleep or play because of the things going on around them, because of the things they have seen. children should be more than another statistic nameless faceless on a chart. They have a right to sleep and play, a chance to be able to go to school, they deserve a safe place to do those things just like they have a right to air to breathe and food to eat. children should be able to sleep, eat, go to school and play, they deserve a childhood.
We expect no less for our children, why should they be any different?
Somali children
And it seems like too many people simply don't care, don't pay attention, don't look, don't listen, because it's not THEIR children dying, so why should they care?
Children shouldn't be collateral damage, innocent victims, accidental casualties. They shouldn't be afraid to sleep or play because of the things going on around them, because of the things they have seen. children should be more than another statistic nameless faceless on a chart. They have a right to sleep and play, a chance to be able to go to school, they deserve a safe place to do those things just like they have a right to air to breathe and food to eat. children should be able to sleep, eat, go to school and play, they deserve a childhood.
We expect no less for our children, why should they be any different?
ZIP code of death
Memphis babies
Zip code 38108
How can any place in America, in the civilized western world, have a higher infant mortality rate than many third world countries? And more than that, how can it be repeatedly ignored? Little seems to have changed since the local paper brought the subject to light in March 2005.
Actually reading the original article makes me want to ask some serious questions about toxins and pollutants BUT I'll leave that for now.
How can it be necessary for a western city to institute a program called "Get to One" just to try and help children live to see their first birthday? How can there be such a lack of care, education, support, everything that such a thing is needed? And how did it get to be like this, for so long, without anyone noticing or saying anything?
The exception being Dr Korones (see Unsung Heroes )
Infant mortality, death before the age of one, is something like 25 in every 1000 live births in zip 38108, with three times as many o those being black babies as white babies. How does this happen in arguably the richest and most powerful country in the world?
Something is wrong with this picture, people need to sit up and take notice and then DO something about it. ALL babies deserve to get to one, no matter what their zip code.
Zip code 38108
How can any place in America, in the civilized western world, have a higher infant mortality rate than many third world countries? And more than that, how can it be repeatedly ignored? Little seems to have changed since the local paper brought the subject to light in March 2005.
Actually reading the original article makes me want to ask some serious questions about toxins and pollutants BUT I'll leave that for now.
How can it be necessary for a western city to institute a program called "Get to One" just to try and help children live to see their first birthday? How can there be such a lack of care, education, support, everything that such a thing is needed? And how did it get to be like this, for so long, without anyone noticing or saying anything?
The exception being Dr Korones (see Unsung Heroes )
Infant mortality, death before the age of one, is something like 25 in every 1000 live births in zip 38108, with three times as many o those being black babies as white babies. How does this happen in arguably the richest and most powerful country in the world?
Something is wrong with this picture, people need to sit up and take notice and then DO something about it. ALL babies deserve to get to one, no matter what their zip code.
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