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“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?” – Martin Luther King Jr.
The question which was asked some while ago has gone without written response for quite a time. This does not mean it has not been on my mind, and it may well be on yours also. It just has not been written on since 2010. In truth, there has been a serious lack of writing on any and all topics on this blog of late. Perhaps that is a sign. Of what exactly I am not sure. Perhaps I have been off engaged in more pressing and meaningful tasks. There have been many topics that I have wanted to write on, a few even got started, but nothing substantial has been posted in months. Yet, the question still rings, many questions still ring. If there is one thing that has become more apparent in the past year, is that we are not really in search of the right answers, we are in search of the right questions. Thus, there are no doubt many more questions to be asked.
This date in history usually gets me pondering and reading, and I came across one of my favourite quotes, which also contains a question. Thus, King’s question goes above. It is an open ended question – much better than one requiring a yes or no response. I do not doubt we would find ourselves to be good people, and good enough more often, if we asked ourselves this question more often.
Music plays a big role in our lives throughout the entire year, but it seems to come to the forefront during this season. Thus, we continue the tradition of a Christmas time playlist to help us chill out over the holidays, and look back over the past year. This year’s collection is entitled: Stay Young, Go Christmasing. There was a lot of dancing in the past year, and so dance songs seem to feature prominently on this year’s list. For a song to be considered it must meet at least two of the following criteria:
- Is tied to a memorable event from the past year.
- Is musically meaningful to someone, or a group of people I care about, and/or have interacted with lately.
-Has been a popular song in the preceding year.
-Could be allowing me to send a message – but not always what appears to be the obvious one.
-Is a Christmas song.
-Is by an artist I think you should hear more of.
-A hands down cool song.
This is the fifth or sixth year I’ve compiled a list, but only two previous ones made it on to the blog (2009, 2010). The Killers get their usual spot with their annual Christmas single. You’ll note that Death Cab for Cutie, and David Gray are also regulars. As predicted last year, Death Cab had new stuff for us, and they did not disappoint and are recognized accordingly. The National also had a big year around these parts and they got a couple of nods, but almost got a third and fourth. Fake Empire and Conversation 16 were both last minute cuts – very difficult ones to make. Mangan gets two songs because Robots had the popularity, but Tina’s Glorious Comeback has some lyrics that could just not be ignored right now. A couple of Canadian throwbacks happily made the list in the Weakerthans and the Hip. If you haven’t yet checked out The Airborne Toxic Event, then you should.
Comments and questions on the list are welcomed, as are your suggestions for songs at this time of year. Have a very Merry Christmas, and remember to Stay Young, Go Dancing!… or Christmasing!
Stay Young, Go Christmasing
1. Angels We Have Heard On High – Sufjan Stevens 2. Helena Beat – Foster the People 3. Changing – The Airborne Toxic Event 4. Dancing Queen – ABBA 5. Home for a Rest – Spirit Of The West 6. Tournament of Hearts – The Weakerthans 7. Living Room – David Gray 8. Tina’s Glorious Comeback – Dan Mangan 9. Gold Guns Girls – Metric 10. Rumour Has It – Adele 11. Silent Night – Andrea Bocelli 12. Grapevine Fires – Death Cab for Cutie 13. Make Some Noise – Beastie Boys 14. Poets – The Tragically Hip 15. Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream – Bob Dylan 16. Raiser Your Glass – Pink 17. Livin’ on a Prayer – Bon Jovi 18. The Cowboys’ Christmas Ball – The Killers 19. Lonely Boy – The Black Keys 20. Daughters of the Soho Riots – The National 21. Stay Young, Go Dancing – Death Cab for Cutie 22. Robots – Dan Mangan 23. Dropout – Urge Overkill 24. Joy to the World – Three Dog Night 25. Christmas Time is Here – Vince Guaraldi Trio 26. Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks – The National
Today, Saturday November 19, is civic election day in British Columbia. If you are a BC resident, you should be voting today, unless you have already voted in advance polls. Voter turn out at all levels, federal, provincial, and local, is getting worse and worse with each passing election, but civic elections consistently have abhorrently dismal participation at the polls. This always puzzles me, as these elections are kind of a big deal.
Today, British Columbians will vote for the people who run the local services that we depend upon, and who manage the institutions that are the foundation of our society. Today you have a say in who will run and manage your schools, your police department, your fire department, your public transit services, your parks, your recreation centres, your public arenas and pools, your water services, your transit services, your libraries, your traffic services. Today you will vote for the people who make front line decisions regarding property development and local public sector job creation. Plus, many cities and municipalities include referendum questions on civic election ballots, where you get to directly voice your opinion on local government decisions.
It is so simple to research the candidates in your area, what with the all internets and world webs nowadays – there is really no excuse!
If democracy is something you believe in, then you have a responsibility to be involved in it. It will take you 15 minutes, and cost you nothing. Polls are open from 8am to 8pm.
THANK YOU FOR VOTING!!
For more information about Local Government Elections in BC, including where you can vote, simply put in “Local Government Election” and the name of your city into a search engine. You can also visit:
-http://www.cbc.ca/bc/features/electionconnection/ (this includes detailed information on all Metro Vancouver cities and municipalities if you scroll down).
Tomorrow you likely have a holiday – and for very good reason. Please take the opportunity to attend a Remembrance Day Ceremony near you. They often last no more than an hour. Here is a list of Veterans’ Week events, including November 11th ceremonies across Canada: http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/veterans-week/events.
Every municipality and city in Metro Vancouver has at least one if not more cenotaphs, and each one will be hosting a ceremony. A simple Google search with your town’s name and “Remembrance Day 2011″ will likely result in information about your local service..
My favourite holiday has once again risen to the occasion. I have spent time with family, friends, playing hockey, being involved in youth sports, being active outside in BC, and generally doing a lot of smiling and laughing. This is a fairly decent list of my top favourite things, and the things I am most thankful for. (There’s also been a fair amount of good food).
It has been wonderful to talk with others about what they are thankful for, and share time with those who have inspiring gratitude and values. I am so very appreciative of my family and friends that make me a better person each and every day. Even when I adventure and take risks “alone” I carry their support and guidance with me – and I am eternally grateful.
This year in particular I am very thankful for the location I live in. The west coast of British Columbia, Canada, is a beautiful area. While I will not claim that life here is perfect for all of its inhabitants – it is spot that is, thankfully, able to offer so much to so many people, in so many ways: physical activity, culture, social programs, education, nature, and so much more. It is a region that strives to improve as well. While this growth is not without its challenges, overall I have no doubts we are moving in positive directions for the most part, and I am very thankful.
I am thankful to my parents and family who instilled in me at a young age to capitalize on what this region has to offer, and I am thankful for amazing friends that I continue to share it with.
Hoping you are able to spend time with those you care about.
This immediately recalled Thomas King’s Massey Lectures that carry the same title. Having thoroughly enjoyed King’s work, and since the phrase continues to give me a great deal to ponder, I was pulled in to watching the first talk on the playlist. As Elif Shafak’s nearly twenty minutes of speaking unfolded I was pulled deeper and deeper in. I am fortunate to know a few excellent storytellers, and to call them friends. As she speaks I started to make connections to them, their stories, to language, to education, to writing, to travel, and to community. There are a few constructive criticisms if you read the comments about her talk, and while these are valid, they also highlight that her talk gives us something tangible and credible to discuss, even in the counter points. Perhaps that is a sign of good storytelling.
I enjoyed the first so much I continued on to the second by Chimamanda Adichie: The Dangers of a Single Story. I soon made connections to Binyavanga Wainaina’s work, my time in Kenya this summer conversing with people about perception, and to theme of this blog: balance. Perhaps another sign of good storytelling is weaving a tapestry that allows the listener or reader to make numerous personal connections. Both of these first two talks in the playlist certainly did for me, and when they struck at balance I felt like sharing them with you.
The third talk has some interesting ideas and allows Jonathan Harris to share some very interesting projects, but I do not find it as compelling as the first two. I will let you be the final judge.
I encourage you to at least watch the first two – it’s a better way to spend 38 minutes or so than watching some reality TV this evening, and I do not doubt you will make some tangible and personal connections of your own.
Finally, listen and watch for two quotes in particular that strike at balance. They both made me smile, and reaffirmed that storytelling – from all sides – is valuable on a number of levels.
Shafak quotes Chekhov: “The solution to the problem and the correct way of posing the question were two completely separate things.”
Adichie ends with: “When we reject the single story, when we realize there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise.”
I can say it no better than what is written on the Terry Fox Foundation website:
Many years later, Canadians adopted Terry’s mission of finding a cure for all cancers with an enthusiasm and passion that has done him proud. In keeping with the approach of its founder, The Terry Fox Run (1981 – ) is an innovative and volunteer-led event, all-inclusive, non-competitive, with no corporate sponsorship, incentives or fundraising minimums.
It has become a fall tradition in Canada to gather your friends and family, lace on your shoes, bring our pledge sheets and attend your favourite Terry Fox Run site, where Organizers have no budget for expenses but have unlimited appreciation for your attendance!
The Annual Run in Canada is usually hosted on the second Sunday after Labour Day, the month chosen by Terry to reflect when he had to stop running and when Canadians had to start.
This Sunday is not about a colour, or a bracelet, or sponsors, or a flashy symbol. Perhaps those things have a time and a place, but I hope Sunday is about family, friends, Canada, and moving beyond something that unfortunately touches all of our lives. Continually, the Terry Fox Foundation is a leader in having 85% of funds raised go directly to cancer research.
This post is now firmly an annual affair. However, the writing this year has been more challenging as there are a number of posts I have started in the past three weeks, but none have made it to completion. Thus, this post, somewhat unsuccessfully, bears the weight of those, while trying to stay true to the Labour Day theme established in previous years (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010). The result is the following.
The Tuesday is nearly upon us and transition is in our thoughts and actions. Each Eve of Tuesday post in years past has made some reference to transition (2007, 2008, 2009, 2010), but this year the concept seems to be a particular focus. As you approach tomorrow’s renewal you likely have some thoughts and feelings of transition as well. The academic year, and sport seasons that so many of us follow, reach a point of change on this date or in the approaching weeks. As usual, it is important to take stock of where we have been. I know that so many of you have been on adventures again this summer. Some have left for new homes. Some welcomed new family members. Some went abroad. Some of you volunteered. Some of you set goals around health and fitness. Some of you spent quality time with family and loved ones. Some of you went into the outdoors. Many of us took risks, and experienced new adventures. Congratulations! I am so fortunate to know so many extraordinary people who strike out and engage in adventures and renewal! We shall carry our summer with us into the coming transitions. This includes carrying its victories, defeats, experiences of growth, celebrations, and trials. New jobs, new challenges, new schools, new teams, new relationships, fresh starts – all of these we will face with greater courage because of our summer, the past twelve months, and all the preceding years that have brought us to this point. We face times of transition not with mysterious strength, or merely depending on luck to steer us through unchartered experiences. Instead, we enter with the strength we have built through our past experiences, relationships, and previous transitions.
Perhaps one of the important factors of transition we are getting at here is growth. It is a topic that has been on my mind quite a lot lately. I was fortunate to go on an adventure this summer that allowed me to experience a completely new type of interconnected growth. In working with teaching colleagues from Canada and Kenya to further professional development, I experienced personal, social, emotional and professional growth. At the same time I witnessed, and was a part of other people’s growth in all of these areas, as well as the growth of community. However, I believe the effectiveness of this growth would not be fully realized if I was not able to capitalize on some transition time between that adventure, and beginning a new adventure tomorrow. The reflections, conversations, recuperation, and questions of that transition time have allowed the growth to fully set in. Now, as I transition into tackling the challenges and adventures of the next few weeks and coming year I know that I will call upon the new resources that this growth has provided. (The complete analysis of how growth and transition are interconnected is best left to another time otherwise this Labour Day post would turn into chapters).
For now, let us look towards tomorrow, the coming weeks, the twelve months ahead, and the excitement, nervousness and challenges that we are all no doubt faced with on some level. As usual, the foremost reminder is to be willing to turn to those around you for help. Times of transition are better managed with support. Further than this though, is recognizing what type of support you can give yourself. A few minutes ago I read an email from a travel mate – one who was an integral aspect of some much needed transition time I spent in London a couple of weeks ago. With the Tuesday and all the busy times of the autumn looming, a line in his email clearly reminded me to ask myself “What do I need?” It’s a question we should all be asking ourselves when we face transition, adventure, and challenges. It is not selfish to make sure we take care of ourselves. Often we remind each other “take care of yourself” “watch out for yourself”, but often we do not heed our very own advice – as more than one of you have reminded me recently. Transitions can be a costly event, but if we do not pay the price in taking care of ourselves during the time of transition – emotionally, physically, socially and mentally – then we will pay the price later in exhaustion, stress, or disorganization. The result will be an inability to be at our best, either for ourselves, or those we care about. In other words, at the time of transition, at the time of change, is when one should take the most care to ensure optimal health, and optimal growth.
Have a wonderful Tuesday. Take care of yourself and each other. I look forward to hearing about your coming adventures and experiences – please keep me up to date. I am excited about this year. While it may be sounding cliché, the words are true: we will accomplish a lot this year, together.
As has become the custom, some music will conclude our Labour Day post. Two songs this year. The first, a classic, speaks of courage, as that’s what we need sometimes to take care of ourselves. (The video also, begrudgingly subtly recognizes the Cup champs). Then, even with the holiday ending for many that read here, the second song reminds us to have fun!! (Come’on youz gotz to smile at playing with baby animals, regardless of the safety factor). After all that blah blah blah above, it’s a good take home message for tomorrow and beyond: have fun!
The human energy that I have witnessed, and connected with during my time in Kenya has been nothing short of electric. I have been fortunate to be a part of a birthday party, a closing ceremony, daily openings, energizer activities, and have watched numerous dance and music performances.
I suppose this awareness and connection to energy all began one day that I was in Nairobi, almost a month ago. I was bustling along the sidewalk, thinking about where I was going, and what I had to do. Likely with what could have been interpreted as a slightly aggravated expression on my face – as my thoughts were firing away on what I needed to get done that day. Quickly, as I was rushing past, one man leaned in front of me, and with an enormous grin on his face he exclaimed: “Smile!”. I did, and I think I’ve been smiling ever since.
Our trip to the jua kali the next day saw me physically interrupted by an elaborately painted and enthusiastic musician, and immediately I smiled back and felt the only way to truly gain experiences on this adventure – including those unexpected ones that I had no way of preparing for, or even knowing existed – was to accept energy, and put it back out.
Thus, in the past few weeks I think I have done a decent amount of dancing and moving to clapping and singing – and that’s a good thing. After all, every dance floor – whether it be an official one, or one you just create on the spot – is a good floor!
One of the highest points of energy, and definitely one of the top highlights of my time in Kenya was watching a group of Masai high school boys practice their singing and dancing for the national music festival that was in Nakuru last week. They were staying at the same school we are staying at and would practice late into the night in the classrooms. The energy was palpable, and their performance was completely lights out!!! They were keen to have it videoed, and while it took 5 minutes and 35 seconds, I’ve put a minute of it here: http://flickr.com/gp/irober/56Q2T1. It certainly doesn’t do it complete justice as I sat in awe the entire time. If you want, I can show you the entire clip on another occasion, and I have no doubts you will agree that high energy will make one smile.
