Happy New Year! It’s the year 2012 and,
interestingly enough, I am in Guatemala. The Mayans, the indigenous population
in the region, believe that December 21, 2012 is the end of the world as we
know it! Wow! How does that affect my life? Actually, not much…
The new year is an opportunity for me to
reflect. I have never been one for making resolutions. I find myself trying to
be better each day of the year, and, making promises that I often don’t keep
just gets depressing. So I don’t do that anymore. Instead, the secular New Year
is an opportunity for reflection and a time to dream. Some of those dreams actually
happen! So what are my thoughts this day, the 1st day of 2012?
About work: Kahlil Gibran says:
“You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the
earth.
For to be idle is to
become a stranger unto the seasons,
And to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the
infinite.”
I have traditionally been driven by my
work. During our child-rearing years I was immersed in my teaching. Most of my
day (often 12 -15 hours a day) was occupied with work. I love my work and find great solace in
knowing the effect I have on others in the educational world. And, even those
years of obsession, I remember feeling extra gratification that I was actually paid
for the work I was doing! What a bonus!!! I know I have something more to offer
than the ordinary practice of teaching and I feel confident in my ability to
help affect change. I want to continue to do that. And, I think there is more.
As I explore new places in the world I am
learning that people in other lands think differently about work. The work they
do is no less valuable, nor is it any less valued. Work, for most, is a means to
make life more enjoyable. But it is not life itself!
I remember my father who was so absent from
my life because he was always working, trying to make ends meet. In the last
days of his life, he shared with me his regrets of not knowing me enough, of
being separate, and of having lost time because of his need for more money.
And, that no matter how much money we had, it was never enough. Time together
was what he lacked the most.
In my own life, I saw around me the
business of people’s lives… the focus on work, on paying the bills, and of
being able to buy more things. I too was caught up in that, and I knew it wasn’t
where I wanted to be.
I remember exactly when it happened. It was
2005 in a Yoga class when, at the end of the class, I stopped to talk to a Yoga
buddy of mine, Jacqueline. Jacquie is a photographer by profession and, at that
time was studying to become a yoga teacher. “Do you work everyday?” I asked her
one-day. “Whew”, she responded with a lift of the side of her mouth and a
scrunch of her forehead. “Are you kidding?’ she said. I realized then that the
unfulfilled quest for income was relentless and I also recognized the
possibilities that I was missing. Perhaps it could be possible to work, to make
an impact, and also to fill my life with other activities, interests and forms
of creative expression.
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| Guatemala, City |
My work has changed drastically over the
last few years. My attitudes about money have helped shift my intentions and
motivate me to change the way I work. Instead of maintaining a constant
direction of ‘making money’, I want to share my gifts. That means that, often,
I work for no money. I do it in different places of the world. I try to make
myself available wherever in the world I am asked to go, and I get to travel at
the same time. Paul and I find ‘alternative’ ways of generating income (like
renting our Toronto home) and have modified the way we spend substantially.
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| Fort Cochin,India |
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| Friends from the streets of San Marcos, Guatemala |
I am more mindful of the benefit I provide
to Giovanni, for instance, in spending hours with him practicing his English so
he can talk to tourists who want to buy his artwork. Or the kids hanging out on
the street in San Marcos, with whom I am setting up a time to cook together so
they can both learn cooking skills and
eat! Or spending time in the local schools in Kerala, India where teachers
benefit from direction and guidance in creating inclusive and exciting co-operative
classroom communities.
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| Eurnakulam, India |
I am excited about learning new ways of
providing. I am involved with learning how to teach through technology, of
bringing the concepts of co-operation and building a less competitive
environment into each small community where I am. I bring new ideas to cultures
that yearn for global education and haven’t yet figured out how to educate
their youth in a world that is constantly changing and needs to shift paradigmatically
and practically.
I don’t know what is in store for me in
2012. I only know I remain open to possibilities, seek out ways of helping, and
continue to hope that my presence in this world makes a difference. If the Mayans
are right in their predictions, I know I want to do everything I can to change it. As Kahlil Gibran says:
“Work is love made
visible.
And if you cannot work
with love but only with distaste, it is better that you
should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those
who work with joy.”
In the meantime, I wish all of you who
are reading my blog (and even those who are not) a new year full of adventure,
joy, excitement and love. May we each find health, balance, strength,
meaningfulness and purpose. And
may we all work less, play more and realize the joy of both.
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