Tag Archives: musings

Friendliness

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Since I got home from Offshore, I’ve noticed a big difference in friendliness between strangers in North America and strangers in other countries.  Perhaps those of you who have travelled outside the continent, especially to developing countries, can relate.

Here, people are strangers and are very content to remain that way.  There is no eye contact as you walk down the street, no one smiles at anyone else, and they certainly do not say hello.  Usually when someone does that it means that they want something: I am smiled at and greeted by the people who are asking for money or for me to support their cause (we have lots of that in Victoria).  Smiling back only seems to encourage them and I’ve found myself cornered on occasion by people wanting money.  So much for being friendly.  There were a few people panhandling who I used to pass every day on the bank run when I worked downtown and we would smile in greeting and there were no expectations.  That, however, seems to be unusual.  Why is it that a smile often ends in guilt even though I may truly have no money to give right now (my wallet is empty…).  I smile because I want to acknowledge their existence as a human being and I am unusual because of this.

Contrast that with a place like Fiji where everyone smiles all the time and says “Bula” (Fijian all-purpose greeting) constantly to everyone they pass on the street.  People who are asking for money do so with no expectations and are cheerful about it, whether or not you have anything to give them.  In many of these places, not smiling at people you meet in the street is a social faux pas – the complete opposite to here.  There is really no such thing as a stranger in a place like this, only people you have not talked with yet.  And there is no fear of saying hi to people you have never met.  Great experiences are had as a result.  There are many things we would not have done and many things we would not have experienced on Offshore were it not for the kindness of “strangers” we randomly met.  Strangers who soon became friends.

And we call ourselves the “developed” world?  It is unfortunate that people in developing countries want to gain a lifestyle like we have.  They think that they will be happier.  In truth, some of the happiest people I have met are those with nothing but what they need for today.  Forget the need for a bigger house, a second car, a flashier TV or computer.  That isn’t happiness and doesn’t bring happiness.  Happiness is living today well and being living with what you have, even if it isn’t much.  It is being with friends and family and not needing to one-up them in material goods or stories but enjoying their company.  It is enjoying life.  Just a thought.

I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas

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Starting to feel a little better this morning – I didn’t get woken up by the phone to cover a shift so I slept in a whole half hour.  Then I sat it bed for an hour and decided that I needed to get on with things.

So Christmas music is now playing, really for the first time.  Maybe thats been my problem, I just needed to get some serious Christmas music going: of the good kind (no sappy carols yet.  Perhaps I’ll play the How the Grinch Stole Christmas…)

And I had leftover homemade pizza for breakfast.  On reflection, maybe my mood is entirely due to the pizza. 

I’m also trying not to look outside as that will almost dampen my spirits.

Thoughts

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My evening reading has been, for the last number of months, snippets from various works of the wonderful Madeleine L’Engle, one of my all-time favourite writers.  I read from And it was Good: Reflections on Beginnings last night:

We can recognize the holy good even while we are achingly, fearfully aware of all that has been done to it through greed and lust for power and blind stupidity.  We forget the original good of all creation because of our own destructiveness.  The ugly fact that evil can be willed for people by other people, and that the evil comes to pass does not take away our capacity to will good.  There may be many spirits abroad other than the Holy Spirit (the Gospels warn us of them), but they do not make the Holy Spirit less holy.  Our paradoxes and contradictions expand; our openness to God’s revelations to us must also be capable of expansion.  Our religion must always be subject to change without notice — our religion, not our faith, but the patterns in which we understand and express our faith.

Just a thought.

Wise Words

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Without asking permission (sorry…), but taking the chance that it is okay, I want to share my uncle’s wise response to a post I made on my work situation.  I think that they should resonate with all of us.  I certainly appreciated them.  Thanks!

You’re right, a job should be more than simply doing something to earn money for food and other living expenses. Ideally you want to find a calling in life that provides you with the ability to manage these necessities, but that also provides an opportunity to stimulate your intellect and spirit, and that provides a sense of self-worth, and one that provides a service of some sort that others can benefit from. Actually the real trick is not in trying to find a job that does all these things – the joy-filled person discovers how to achieve all these things regardless of what job they have and regardless of their circumstances. We don’t always recognize when this is happening in our own life, but we can certainly see it in others that we come across in life.

Thanks!

Who are we to decide?

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That was one of the the big questions Gen. Romeo Dallaire challenged us with last night at the Child Soldier Initiative Benefit Concert.  I originally found out about it because Bruce Cockburn was playing and when I saw the General was also speaking, I thought it would be something interesting to attend.

The evening was at once deeply disturbing and moving and thought-provoking.  General Dallaire began by speaking about the use of children as soldiers: explaining its origin (Mozambique in the 80s), how it is perpetrated, and the dangers it presents to all of us.  He was condemning of the apathy of the world and how self-serving out interests are.  We think, if there is nothing in it for me, why should I step in?  Why should I become involved in a conflict that will most likely result in loss of life of people in my country and be potentially damaging to my political career if I will get nothing out of it?  His question in response was Who are we to decide?  To decide who to help and who to abandon?  To decide who is human and who is not?  We cannot and should not presume to do so.

Bruce Cockburn’s set of songs included a number of favourites and many discussed social issues.  He shared stories of how they came to be and why he wrote them.  His lyrics, as always, are profoundly moving and his imagery stimulates thought.  He is an amazing guitar player.  You realize it on his recordings, but to see him live is something else.  Things I has assumed were two guitars he does all at once on one guitar.  And he only used a 12-string once.  Crazy.  There is something special, even magical,  about seeing an artist perform their work in benefit of a cause they feel passionately for.

One of the best parts of the evening was when the two of them were on stage together.  Bruce was playing some instrumental on his guitar while Gen. Dallaire shared stories and impressions of Rwanda.  The combination was stirring and you could feel the passion in his voice as he challenged inaction with action.

I was glad of my 20 min walk home from the university last night.  After a day of strong winds and rain, the night sky was clear and the stars were able to shine brightly through.  There is a park just down the road that I walked through, stopping for awhile in the middle to gaze up and admire the majesty of the heavens and think.  Hearing Gen. Dallaire talk about his experiences in Rwanda and challenge the world to do something is one thing; actually acting and attempting to affect a change is something else.  The task seems as daunting and makes one feel as small as one does when looking at the vast expanse of the night sky.  It brings to mind the psalm:

When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have sent in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?

Yet, even in this vast expanse, He is mindful of us.  Is it not time that we are mindful of each other?

Sunny skies and logs on beaches

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I enjoy wandering.  I love wandering even more if it is a nice day and I have a final destination but lots of time to get there.  I gave myself three hours yesterday to walk from Jericho Beach to Waterfront Station and it was fantastic.  

Vancouver Folk Fest was underway and there were hoards of people down there, but I managed to find a nice tall log on the edge of the beach that was in the shade.  I perched upon the log for a good three quarters of an hour or so reading, writing, and people watching.  I was able to survey most of the beach from the log and it was fun to pause what I was doing every so often and look up and look at people.  I would catch snippits of conversation now and again as people walked by.  It was amusing.  
It began to get cool in the shade, so I began my wander towards downtown along W 4th.  First, I zig-zagged through some residential streets and enjoyed the beautiful houses, lush gardens, and fragrant flowers that seem to be a requirement for living in this area.  I always enjoy walking along W 4th.  The street is full of quaint coffee shops, organic markets, and lots of fun shops.  
I love the ability to stop and browse when there is lots of time to get to a given destination (but the destination is essential to ensure that I don’t loose time altogether when wandering).  I stopped and grabbed a snack at one shop and munched as I walked.  Then it was time for coffee and a read outside of an organic fair trade coffee shop.  If I can ever find it again, I’ll go back.  It was great coffee and there was lots of outside seating.  Plus, there is free wireless (a rare commodity, it seems, in Vancouver) should I ever need it.  That is a downside to aimless wandering: it is often hard to find where one has been when one wants to go back.
Eventually, I crossed Burrard St Bridge into the main part of town.  It was like the whole atmosphere changed.  Suddenly I was out of the laid back, easy feel of small shops just up from beaches to CBD and tourist central with lots of large chain retailers.  Quickly, I made my way to Waterfront station, mourning the end of my wander but with eager anticipation of meeting old friends.

My Home and Native Land

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It was the weirdest sensation yesterday sailing up from Port Townsend, past Victoria, to Bedwell Harbour on Pender Island. Past Victoria… there it was, Mt Doug, Cadboro Bay, Oak Bay, the golf club… So familiar but not because I haven’t seen it in over a year. I’d never been down in the San Juan’s before so coming back up and seeing Victoria in clear daylight really brought it home. We’ve checked into Canadian customs finally.  Officially in Canada.  This is the last customs we will have to clear on Offshore!  We’re here, even though we don’t sail into the Inner Harbour until Saturday. Now all that remains is to make the most of the last few days that we are here together on the boat and prepare for sailing in next week. The Swift will be doing some schooner ballet with us outside the waterfront for a bit before we sail in at 3pm. There’s going to be a big ceremony in the Inner Harbour complete with some speeches from Skipper and a couple trainees and there will be some photos from all over place! Come and party with us!

Port Townsend


The Day the Sea was Lighter than the Sky

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Having passed Cape Guadarfui, we have entered a zone of absolute calm.  For the last 48 hours the sea has been smooth and oily, except where a slight breeze ruffles its surface or covers it with a network of minute wrinkles as regular as the weave of a tapestry.  Upon this mirror flying-fish rise up, glide, and take off again, like swallows skimming the water.  In the middle of this great shoreless lake the evenings take on an exquisite beauty.  Yesterday I could never tire of looking to the east where the sea was uniformly milky and green, with opalescence that was still not transparent, lighter than the background of the sky.  Suddenly on the horizon a thin diffuse cloud became tinged with pink; and then with little oily ripples of the ocean still opal on one side and turning to lilac on the other, the whole sea looked for a few seconds like watered silk.  Then the light was gone and the stars began to be reflected around us as peacefully as in the water of a quiet pool.

– Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Letters from a Traveller, written somewhere between Egypt and India, 1923.
We have returned to the Pacific Northwest after being gone a few days over a year.  The foreign yet familiar smells of the coast: the salt and seaweed, the rocks and the trees were one of the first things to assail our senses, quickly followed by green.  Despite being in many different and stunningly beautiful far-away places for the last twelve months, this is home and there is a strange beauty to this countryside.  Strolling through the quaint streets of Port Townsend, Washington, I realize how good it is to be home, even though I’m not quite there.  Sailing down the Strait of Juan de Fuca a few days ago was a surreal feeling.  The lights of Victoria offered a glow on the horizon off to port, escorting us along.  Are we really back?  Yes, but no.  There are still ten days left before we sail into Victoria’s Inner Harbour in all our glory.  Ten days to keep living this isolated, simple life that exists on board.  Ten days to continue to enjoy life with this wonderful group of trainees and crew that I’ve spent the last three weeks crossing our final stretch of Pacific Ocean with.  Its been an epic adventure; one full of amazing experiences and valuable lessons and lots of good times.

mourning

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I’m in mourning. Montreal lost tonight. Again. That means the series is tied at 2. Quite disappointing really. Montreal was actually doing well for the first 2 games (6-1 against the one of the best teams in the league! I’d say that’s pretty well), but now they’re back to normal. Maybe someone needs to take Williams out before he 1) scores more goals and 2) injures yet another key Montreal player (count is at 2: Koivu and Markov). Back to Carolina for game 5. Habs had better win!